Imagine That: Fate

We were having an argument. Weed and me. We were always having them, but they were usually a bit of a laugh. This time it was really serious.

"You mean to say," said Weed, "If I lay down on the railway tracks and waited for a train to run me over, it wouldn't run me over if it wasn't meant to?"

"That's right," I said "If you weren't meant to be run over, the train would miss you completely."

"But that's stupid!" said Weed, "A train can't jump off the tracks! If I'm lying right in front of it, I'll be mince meat!"

"It might break down, or there might be an earthquake, or someone might grab you just before it arrives." I said.

"Yeah, but what if I go somewhere all by myself, and there's no earthquake, and I'm tied to the tracks with chains?"

"The driver might see you."

"I might be round a corner, so he doesn't have time."

"A helicopter might be going over, and the pilot could radio the driver to stop."

"What if there's no helicopters, or airplanes around?"

"The train-driver might have a heart attack and pull the emergency brake."

"What if he doesn't have a heart attack?"

"The train would still miss you."

Weed was getting angry.

"Look," I said, "There was this man who tried to kill himself. He tied a rope to a tree on the edge of a cliff, and put the noose round his neck. At the bottom of the cliff there was rough sea and jagged rocks, then he drank some poison and jumped off the cliff. Guess what happened?"

Weed waited for me to tell him.

"The rope broke so the man fell into the sea. He jumped so far out he missed the rocks. He drank some sea water and threw up, so that got rid of the poison, then he swam to shore. See? He just wasn't meant to die!"

"But that was just a fluke!" said Weed, "If he'd gone back and tried again, he would have got it right the