Page 9 - Sample Flip Builder Project

their sex life had lost all spontaneity. Yet she had failed to fall pregnant—an outcome for

which the man is secretly thankful.

‘We’re through, Louise.’

‘Jack—’

‘It’s over.’ He places the receiver in its cradle, leans back in his chair and allows the

magnitude of the moment to sink in; it isn’t as liberating as he expected and delivers

only a pint-sized measure of relief countered by the unmistakable ballast of guilt.

Finishing his drink, he closes his eyes once more. Outside, the neon sign continues to

pulsate while, deep within the man’s brain, electrical charges leap across his neurons.

This strange combination of stimuli contrive to remind him that he remains tethered to

the world, anchored by the weight of corporeal existence and all its terrible truths.

Far above the hotel, in the deep recesses of space, stars track their way through the

infinite loop of time, hurtling towards self-destruction. Compared with these blazing balls

of gas, the man is no more than a miniscule speck of stardust. Yet, fastened to the

centre of his private universe, he remains convinced of two things: his choices matter;

and he is the master of his destiny.

But, if the stars were capable of cognisance, they would surely label his beliefs as folly.