Another Way to Fall by Amanda Brooke Page B

fear of the word.
    ‘I thought I’d be giving you inspiration to write about life but this,’ he began, pointing towards a cabinet that housed the mummified remains of some poor, ancient soul, ‘this is all about death. In fact, the whole museum is about the past. It might celebrate humanity and the living world but the exhibits here are far from alive.’
    Emma didn’t reply immediately, she wasn’t sure how to, so she carried on moving through the exhibits, eventually stopping at one particular display board, which she read out loud: ‘ Knowing that death lays us low, knowing that life lifts us up, the house of death is for life. ’ It was a quote from the teaching of Prince Hardjedef and there was something she found quite profound in his words.
    ‘And what does that mean? To you?’ asked Ben gently.
    ‘It means I’m still alive and it means I want to make my own mark on the world, however brief my time here is. Those words were written nearly five thousand years ago and people are still reading them today. I don’t expect my writing will survive such a test of time but I want it to matter and that way it will give me eternal life too.’
    ‘You’re unbelievable, did you know that?’ Ben whispered as Emma gazed into another glass-fronted display cabinet, this one housing the tiny remains of a small boy.
    ‘I’m as fragile as the next person,’ she told him. Emma took a breath of warm and slightly stale air, the mustiness of the exhibits leaving a distinctive, ancient taste on her tongue. Then she set her shoulders straight. ‘Come on, there’s still plenty more to see.’
    ‘Fragile but with a will of iron,’ Ben added as they headed towards ancient Greece and Rome before moving on, with the simple press of an elevator button, to the rainforests, the jungles and the African plains. It was only when they took time out from their travels for a cup of coffee that Emma was ready to talk and make sense of the jumble of ideas that had flooded her mind.
    ‘I need to plan my first big assignment,’ she began. ‘I want to storm the business world, flitting between London, Paris and New York, but I also want to see some of the greatest sights the world has to offer. I’ve got so many ideas spinning around in my head that I’m not sure where to begin.’ She was sitting in the museum’s cafeteria, her elbows on the table, and she was holding a large cup of coffee to her lips but she had yet to take a sip. For the moment, it was enough to smell the aroma and feel the warmth of the steam as it wafted across her face.
    ‘You said you wanted to see the Valley of the Kings,’ Ben reminded her.
    Emma smiled. ‘So I did. Yes, I think that might be a good place to start. We can learn a lot from the past.’
    ‘Our own included,’ Ben said.
    Emma thought about that for a moment. ‘If I’m relying on my past, then I’m going to end up with a rather miserable story,’ she said, finally taking a sip of her coffee, which was now disappointingly tepid.
    ‘All the more reason to make some good memories,’ Ben said. ‘And I’m sure your family and friends will help, and you have Alex.’ His last words were more of a question than a statement.
    Emma eyed him suspiciously. ‘So what exactly did Steven tell you?’
    Ben’s face was a picture of innocence but Emma could see through him and he knew it. ‘He only mentioned that the atmosphere looked a little frosty between you two.’
    ‘And?’
    Ben grimaced as Emma glared at him. ‘And he sort of mentioned that you ordered him out of the restaurant.’
    Emma sighed heavily. One of the reasons she had wanted to leave so early that morning was to avoid further questioning from her mum about her dinner date. ‘So now everyone’s going to find out that we’ve split up.’
    Ben shook his head. ‘No, Steven isn’t a gossip and neither am I. We won’t say a word.’
    Emma’s anger softened a fraction. ‘I’d rather people didn’t know, for now at