For the umpteenth time Ben and Llewellyn were on their way to hold training sessions; this time in  towns along the coast. This meant quite a substantial amount of driving, but it remained the most effective way to get to all the groupings they had to cover. Travelling by car did not pose a problem as they took turns behind the wheel and were comfortable in each other’s company. They had been presenting training courses together for over four years now and complemented each other very well.

Llewellyn took the first spell to get them started on their journey. There was some distance to travel  before they connected with the freeway and he being a feisty driver meant conversation was cut to a minimum. He needed all his attention to zig-zag through the traffic. Once they were on the freeway however the travelling became more leisurely, albeit a substantial number of kilometres above the approved speed limit. The driving having settled down, conversation could normalise.  

With the two of them this meant that it was not long before a debatable, philosophical issue became  the topic of discussion. Llewellyn by nature was the one to become preoccupied with a train of thought and provide a long discourse on the reasoning and causality behind things being what they are. He was inclined to talk through his reasoning and make up his mind as he wound his way through the explanation he was offering.

Ben was quite the contrary being a whetstone for Llewellyn as he was unashamedly practical and  would sit quietly listening only to punctuate the conversation with a question along the lines of “So if that is the case, then why. . .” or “From what I’ve experienced that’s not true.” This would set Llewellyn off on another extended, reverie-like elucidation of his point of view. All of this was ideal for the open road where the tarmac stretched like a ruler across the plain for kilometres on end without another vehicle in sight. 

At a given point Ben saw signboards alongside the road indicating there were road works up ahead  with a stop-go system in place. This was in the middle of one of Llewellyn’s trance-like spells, and, besides, Ben did not believe in interfering with another man’s driving. So, he said nothing.

Way up ahead in the road Ben saw a construction worker with a red flag casually waving it to alert  the oncoming vehicle. There was no response in speed reduction from Llewellyn. He was in his stride explaining why man is inherently evil. On seeing the oncoming vehicle was not responding the waving of the flag from the construction worker became more urgent. The red flag moved up and down with a lot more authority, but the resultant response remained the same.

With the car hurtling down on the obstruction in the road at well above 120km an hour the  construction worker changed his stance. From a slouch he drew himself bolt upright and started waving the red flag to and fro in front of him as if to ward off some evil spirit. At this point Ben also felt it was the appropriate time to say something and interrupted Llewellyn’s train of thought mid station with: “Llewellyn, look out!”

To his credit Llewellyn acted immediately: His foot left the accelerator pedal and stomped on the  brake in a split second. Despite the vehicle slowing down the construction worker’s courage left him at that moment. He made a swift turn and took off over the side of the road onto the verge and then hurdled the fence demarcating the farmland along the roadside. In his haste his judgement was not as accurate as it should have been, and his foot caught the taught top strand of wire. This threw him off balance and he tumbled over onto the ground with a loud thud and a puff of dust that shot up into the air.

Meanwhile Llewellyn used all of his advanced driving skills to try and tame the car. With cadence  braking and all the car skidded and lurched to a standstill literally a centimetre from the huge sign board with the word: STOP! A sudden hush descended on the spot and it seemed as if the moment were frozen in time.

Llewellyn opened the driver’s side window to allow some air into the tense interior of the car. As he  did so, the construction worker appeared at the window like a spectre from nowhere, the bedraggled red flag still in his hand. The ashen faced man could barely contain himself. He shouted: “Down theeeeere,” and he pointed to the road they had just come, “I showed you.” He gestured with the flag: “Slow down, slow down! And you don’t listen f*#&@ll.”

He continued: “And I showed you again.” Again, he gestured with the flag: “Slow down, slow down!  And you do f*#&@ll. Are you f*#&ing mad? What kind of a driver are you? Are you trying to f*#&ing kill me?” 

Llewellyn: “Sorry!”