This piece of flash fiction originally appeared in Reflex Fiction, a quarterly run by Reflex Press, in October 2019.
Death by GPS
Starting route to Death. Head out of Birth Canal and continue past Parents onto Childhood. Merge onto Primary School. At the next roundabout turn right onto Rote Learning. Take exit 13 onto Adolescence and plunge blindly into Sex. Push boundaries. Test patience. Make stupid mistakes. Continue onto Drugs and wander into Tall Grass until parents or teachers notice.
Proceed to the route.
At the next junction turn left onto University if you can afford it, otherwise head straight onto Underpaid Labour. Take the mandatory exit onto Adulthood. This route is correct and incorrect. Continue onto Dating and Sexual Mismanagement. Turn right onto Career You Will Later Regret. Take the third relationship onto Marriage. Continue onto Children. Move house multiple times. Gain weight. Lose hair. Suffer wrinkles gladly. Halt abruptly at Midlife Crisis.
Proceed to the route.
Continue onto Divorce. Use the desperate lane onto Career Change. Get on Second Marriage. Head north to Entirely New Set of Mistakes. Continue east and west onto Menopause, north and south onto Prostate Enlargement. Support children through early adulthood. Retire. Downsize. Forget recent events. Merge onto Arthritis. Continue onto Hearing Loss. Consider the route from your deathbed and see how little it reveals, after all. Destination is everywhere and nowhere at once.
