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

exactly, just fragments. It all gradually assembles itself though, like a magnetic jigsaw that explodes and then patiently reassembles in the right order. I’m just resigned to it now. There are too many other things to keep me distracted. I must keep moving forward,” stated Sam with an air of sadness in his voice.
    “Onward and upward as a Transient, jumping from animal to animal,” he added.
    “Indeed! I have a lot to learn about that, Sam.”
    “That’s for sure. Anyway, are you hungry? I’m going to pop out and get some provisions. Before you ask, I’m not going to get any slugs or snails for you, so don’t even think about it. I’m going to assume you require a vegetarian meal and will cater accordingly.”
    “Okay then. D’you want any help?”
    “If by help you mean accompanying me and making me walk at 3 metres an hour then I have to decline. You stay here. You’ll be fine. I’ll be half an hour or so, max. Chill out and relax.”
    With this, the fox leapt up and sped from the lair, brush flapping excitedly behind. He knew just what he wanted for supper and where to get it. He headed out into the quickly darkening twilight and up along the path, away from the stream where he had met Ed earlier that day.
    “I don’t want bloody slugs or snails anyway,” Ed barked petulantly, way too late for the fox to have heard.
    Ed sat quietly in the lair, trying to come to terms with the situation.
    “This is such a massively unlikely scenario. Maybe I’m really dreaming after all? Maybe I’ll wake up in a cold sweat and realise it was all one big false alarm? How can it be possible, surviving with my consciousness and getting grafted into another creature? It’s ridiculous. What would it mean to me, my ambitions, loves and desires? Would they all suddenly become completely meaningless? How could it possibly be worth living without those incentives, just eating, shitting and sleeping? It would be totally pointless. We’re driven by our desires and ambitions and pulled into family circles with the gravity of love. I can’t be me without that; more to the point, I don’t want to live without that. This is horrible, the longest and nastiest dream I have ever had. Christ, if I had any hands, I would pinch myself,” thought the tortoise, getting more despondent with every passing moment.
    ***
    Time whittled by, with Ed alone in the lair. He started to worry the fox would never return. An empty nervous feeling brewed in his stomach as he decided to make his way out of the lair to see if Sam was anywhere near. It was dark outside with just the gentle light of a half moon.
    Mmmm, is that waxing gibbous? he thought as he stared up at the stunning celestial body. Just at that moment there was a strange rustling noise down the path. In the half light he couldn’t quite make it out but was sure it was the fox. Even so, he cautiously half retreated into his shell, slightly less nervous, bearing in mind he was planning suicide a day or so later.
    The rustling got closer as he began to see a vague silhouette in the distance. It looked mysteriously like a cardboard box coming along the path.
    Now that would be taking it one stage too far , thought Ed, resigned to his temporary reptilian form but keen not to become a cardboard box.
    As it got closer Ed backed towards the entrance of the lair. It was indeed a cardboard box. However, he could clearly see that behind it was a proud, bustling brush, erect but flexible as it swooped from side to side.
    “Biodegradable, don’t worry, the box is biodegradable,” he heard, barked out from behind the box. At that moment, the forward motion stopped a few yards short, and the fox appeared from around the side.
    “It’ll just break down into compost or something,” he added before pushing the box over with his snout.
    “I knew you’d be waiting outside. It’s dangerous you know.”
    “Well how dangerous can it be for someone… er… for ‘some thing’ that’s only got