A Survivor's Guide to Eternity by Pete Lockett Read Free Book Online Page A

taken for granted. Make the most of it, try and find out if there is any common ground, any rhyme and reason why this might be happening,” replied Sam, twisting and turning in the twigs and leaves, trying to convince himself against the odds that the new position would be more comfortable than the old. A brief silence ensued, pristine and still.  
    “How did you meet your end then?” enquired Ed after a few minutes of watching the fox make minor adjustments to his recumbent position.
    “Man, if you think sending a text whilst driving is stupid then you should hear my story.”
    “I’m listening,” replied Ed wryly.
    “Well, I had gone on holiday with my wife, Elise to Marrakech in Morocco . It was such a great place and so different from everywhere I’d been before. The souks and bustling markets with their colourful produce and beautiful carvings, the architecture, the busy crowded streets and squares, it was something else. We went off for lunch to this incredible local restaurant in the depths of the little alleys and walkways. It was on top of a building in the most unlikely of scruffy little streets but was a really refined place with haute cuisine and fine wines. We stayed there for a couple of hours, eating, chatting and drinking, having a thoroughly fine time. My wife read through her guide book, planning where we would go next, and I played with my new camera that I had got especially for the trip.
    “Once our food had gone down and we had rounded off everything with a nice Moroccan coffee, we left the restaurant. It was such a world apart that I had completely forgotten about the busy alleys outside. We went down the stairs and out into the mania, momentarily shocked having left the calmness of the restaurant. We started to walk out into the alley and started to wind our way back to the main market area for a bit more shopping. People’s road manners there were a little lacking, and if you weren’t careful you could easily get knocked by a speeding bike or cart. I looked up and saw one of these carts, pulled by a donkey heading towards me at quite a lick. It was a bizarre sight because the guy driving it looked like the grim reaper with a black hooded gown draped over his whole being. He stared down at the donkey’s arse, not concerned at all with the people he was careering past. I immediately whipped out my new camera and started to snap away to get a picture. I thought I had plenty of time to grab the shot from the front and then jump sideways, even though Elise started to shout anxiously for me to get out of the way.
    “I snapped two quick shots and just as I was putting the camera down and about to dive sideways, I felt her arm on my shoulder. At the exact same second, I saw that there was a huge scaffold pole poking out from the front of the wooden cart. It came out from the rear, beside the driver, over the top of the donkey and was protuberant by about two feet. Suddenly it was as though I was in front of Lancelot himself in full flow. Sadly for me, the new camera had made it seem as though it was much further away I didn’t have time to react and got smacked in the head with the scaffold bar and then trampled to death and run over by the cart with its wobbly wooden wheels. Definitely not an impressive way to go, killed by a fucking donkey in Morocco .”
    “That’s insane. It is almost an achievement.”
    “Yes, not one I am proud of though. It can’t have been too pleasant for Elise either. God knows how she dealt with that mess. I suppose she must have had to get the body back to the UK and everything. A very nasty situation, and all because I was a fucking idiot.”
    “You can’t blame yourself though, Sam. Not entirely.”
    “Well I’m afraid I do. I hope she’s okay now, maybe with someone else in a new relationship and getting on with her life. It hurts not to know.”
    “I can see that would be hard. Did you remember the incident when you came round?” asked Ed.
    “Not