A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 25

This is the 15th year in a row I’ve run this series in April.

Today’s story idea: “Can money conquer death? How wealthy people are trying to live forever.”

Peter Diamandis, a week away from turning 63, bounds out of a Starbucks on a recent morning with a cup of decaf, his daily medley of 70 supplement capsules in his pocket and, tucked under his left arm, a box of freshly deposited poop.

The serial entrepreneur is in the standard uniform of serial entrepreneurs: jeans, sneakers, fitted black T-shirt, Apple Watch, Oura Ring and puffer vest, the back of which says, “Life is short … until you extend it.”

“I woke up at 6. I meditated for 15 minutes. I took fecal samples — I hate to say that, unappetizing, sorry,” Diamandis says as he makes his way up Wilshire Boulevard. “Went through my dental protocol. Did push-ups and sit-ups and squats. And then came here.”

“Here” is a sixth-floor doctor’s office in Santa Monica, where the XPrize founder has been coming every few weeks to undergo therapeutic plasma exchange. The $7,500 procedure involves removing blood, running it through a machine to separate out the plasma and replace it with albumin and saline, and then returning the replenished blood to the body.

“I’m basically giving myself an oil change,” Diamandis says once he’s hooked up, a large-gauge needle poking out of each arm, deep red blood flowing in both directions. He’ll be here for the next three hours.

Therapeutic plasma exchange is typically done to treat a number of diseases, but as far as Diamandis knows — and he has gone to great lengths to know — he is in excellent health. Instead, he’s using it prophylactically as part of the $120,000 he spends every year to live as long as possible.

I’m thinking the reverse of Harold and Maude (1971): Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

In this version, there’s a rich guy (50s) who’s obsessed with life. Like eternal life. His behavior and entire lifestyle is dedicated to staying healthy, staying young … staying alive.

Enter a young woman (late 20s). Who could she be? A medical technician? An anonymous employee of one of the many rich guy’s companies?

Some sort of meet cute. It turns out, she knows rather a lot about a lot of things. A lifelong learner. He’s rather smitten with her. On a whim, he takes her on a personal assistant. Not secretarial, rather just someone to hang out with him and “make him smarter.”

She’s something of a post-modern hippie, lives in the spirit of the moment. Embraces possibilities to the point where she is unafraid to take risks.

The exact opposite approach to life as the rich guy.

Oh, and this. She has a terminal medical condition. It is certain she is going to die with a year.

Two different world views. Different ages. Different attitudes toward life … and death.

That feels like a story setup ripe with potential.

There’s my 25th story idea this month.

Previous articles in this year’s series:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
Day 14
Day 15
Day 16
Day 17
Day 18
Day 19
Day 20
Day 21
Day 22
Day 23
Day 24

Here are links to previous series:

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2017)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2018)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2019)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2020)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2021)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2022)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2023)

A Story Idea Each Day for a Month (2024)

Note: The articles from 2010–2016 have corrupted URLs. I am in the process of cleaning those up.

Each day in April, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are valuable skills for a writer to develop.

See you in RESPONSES to hear YOUR take on this story idea. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.