The Fall

Once upon a time, rugged up like Michelin men, two dedicated workers set off for the office in the dark of a winter's morning.

The smaller of the two prepared to walk down the hill first but she soon found her boots sliding.

'Careful! It's really icey here', she warned.

The larger of the two stepped forward and confidently moved past her. There was a deep thud and a loud crack. He was down. Flat on his back on the footpath. She froze, worried that the crack had been his skull.

Moving forward to check him, there was another thud and crack. She was down. She lay on her back, powerless and shocked.

There was a long silence as they contemplated their possible injuries. Verbal discussion resumed on the realisation that the cracks had been the handles of their briefcases as they had hit the cement.

He coaxed himself up first, finding a less slippery path to eventually stand erect. She floundered on the ground, her legs moving as if in a Fred Flintstone cartoon.

A very careful walk to the tram followed.

Later, before their muscles cooled and the pain of their falls could be felt, they had giggled at the picture they must have made...two heavily padded individuals laid out on the footpath beside each other in the dark of a winter's morning....