Survival of the Fittest

By Anne Ashcroft

Kathleen + Graham's married life had been a series of disasters, tragedies and heartache; none of which was of their own making.
Despite this, they are devoted to one another; united against a cruel world plus his heartless family. When Graham suffers a stroke their life becomes even harder.
Betrayed and abandoned by her in laws; Kathleen alone, struggles to improve their situation. A move to the tangled beauty of Cornwall seems he ideal solution and they live there idyll until their new found happiness is threatened by the arrival of an alcoholic parent: and seemingly by Mother Nature itself.
Kathleen's faith is tested and strained to the limit, leading her to an act of sheer desperation. Would you have done the same to save the man you loved?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9781326580322

Book preview

Survival of the Fittest

SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST

QUICK NOTE

Thank you for downloading ‘Survival Of The Fittest’ by Anne Ashcroft.  You may be interested to know that Anne has also written a number of other stories, each as dark as this one and full of unexpected twists.

These stories have been put together in ‘A Walk In The Dark; Tales Of The Unforeseen.’

This book is only available on Gumroad and as such, click on the following link https://gumroad.com/l/ggTaz to find a copy of this book.

Many Thanks and hope you enjoy the stories as much as you enjoy this one.

THE STORY

Kathleen’s life had changed beyond all recognition after Graham’s stroke. Having worked as a receptionist at a veterinary practice for twenty-eight years she had to give it up to stay at home and care for her husband. Most stroke victims show marked improvement after a month of therapy but Graham was not one of them. His speech had been affected but he was now able to make himself understood, however, he could barely move his limbs. Sometimes she wondered if he actually wanted to get well or whether the bleed in his brain was not just a symptom of his giving up on a life that had been almost too painful to bear. Having lost their baby daughter to meningitis at just one year of age, their lives never really recovered. Kathleen wondered why God had not seen fit to send them another child to ease their heartbreak but it seemed that He had other plans for them. Unfortunately, these plans seemed to include disaster and disappointment at every turn with illness and redundancy a common theme, not to mention being ostracised by Graham’s family for being ‘failures.’ Graham would patiently explain that his parents had been spoilt as children and handed everything on a plate by their own doting parents. They had never had to cope with money problems and his father’s small business always seemed to thrive. John owned a golf course just outside London which was patronised by some very wealthy people including one or two celebrities. His mother, Dorothy, would name drop at any given opportunity, dress in designer clothes and tell all and sundry how much everything had cost. Her identity was built around her wealthy middle class image and there was no room for anyone or anything that did not fit. This unfortunately included her eldest son Graham whose inability to hold down a job despite fine schooling was an insult to her and so she liked to pretend that he did not exist. Luckily for her she did have another son, darling Richard whom she could parade in front of her friends. He lived in Washington DC most of the time where he made a very good living providing fine wines to the White House and its esteemed guests. The word spread and everybody who was anybody wanted Richard’s reds, whites and champagnes. What’s the latest from Richard, Dorothy? her friends would ask. Has he met the President again?

Kathleen had been raised a strict Catholic in her native Ireland. She preferred to look at life’s