Feisty and Fon were power walking along the Yarra. It was a hot Summer Saturday, nearly lunchtime. Having trekked from Armadale, Fon was feeling they'd bitten off more than they could chew. Fitzroy was still five tortuous kilometres away. Feisty decided to distract Fon from her cruel blisters and protesting calves. He pointed at a tall poplar tree.

'Look, Fonnie; see how that branch is dying off?'

Fonnie raised her sweat-soaked brow and squinted into the blinding sun. 'Yeah.'

'Imagine being a leaf on that branch, watching the die back heading toward you. Chances are, you'd forget all about the view and how groovy it was to be a leaf. You'd be consumed with the fear of death. Paralysed. Unable to think of anything else.'

'I guess so,' replied Fon wearily.

'The thing is,' continued Feisty with mounting enthusiasm, 'poplars are deciduous. That leaf is going to fall off months before the die back gets to it. When it goes, it'll have spent its whole life worrying about something that never posed a true threat.'

Fon concentrated on the baking asphalt of the bicycle path. 'Uh-huh.'

Feisty beamed at the blue sky, pleased with his keen eye for nature and powers of philosophical interpretation. The couple walked in silence for a time.

'Fonnie.'

'Yes, Feisty.'

'This is a great walk, isn't it?'

'It's a bit longer than I thought it would be.'

'Sure, but it's great to be out, isn't it?'

'Yes. It is.'

'Imagine if that whole freeway were covered in those dimpled concrete tiles they use in car parks.'

'What?'

To be continued...

I had planned to run 'Death & The Afterlife - Frequently Asked Questions' but I've learned that this story may be feature on ABC Radio National later this year. Stay tuned!