Scott had died the loneliest of deaths.His last hours had been full of nothingness.

I glanced around,then looked again at the body of my friend,frozen into the slope. I spoke out loud. "Hey ,Scott", I said,"How you doing?" Only the sound of the wind answered me.

"What happened,man?".

- No shortcuts to the top

This is one of the most painful lines i have read.

I remembered the song 'Seasons in the sun' by terry jacks. The following words came floating by in my mind.

Goodbye to you, my trusted friend. We've known each other since we're nine or ten. Together we climbed hills or trees. Learned of love and ABC's, skinned our hearts and skinned our knees...