Melanie ran along the wooded path. With every step she could see her breath come wafting from her mouth. She knew she would have to stop soon, but she felt so free. She closed her eyes for a second. This was the trail she ran every morning, and she knew it better than anybody else. She knew every twist, every turn, every shortcut, and almost every tree along the way. Around the next bend there was bench. She would stop there and catch her breath, just like she did every morning. This spot was right before the trail began to turn back on itself and lead to the head of the trail once again.
Melanie stopped at the bench and pulled her earphones out of her ears. She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and hit pause. Slowly, she took a deep breath and looked around. It was a crisp fall morning and the sun was just beginning to rise. It was quiet and calm. The cool air was refreshing to Melanie. She stretched her legs and kept moving. After awhile she sat down, leaned her head back, and closed her eyes. Her mind was racing with thoughts about her life. Her phone vibrated in her pocket, but she ignored it. She rarely had a calm moment, so this was her time to just relax and think.
After awhile she slowly stood up, and stretched. She began her run again, letting her thoughts flow in time with the music. She started to slowly lose herself as she kept running, her mind forgetting all of her stresses. Her thoughts slowly became clearer, as her mind slowed down, and her stress cleared. The trees blurred together and the path slowly disappeared in front and behind her. All that was left was her. She continued to run and let go of all of her thoughts. She saw them as they went through her mind, but she resisted the urge to follow them. This time she resolved not to get lost in her mind.
She came to the head of the trail, but instead of heading out of the woods, she continued on. She did not want to go back this time. She just wanted to keep going and ignore the call of reality. As long as she was running she could forget all of her responsibilities and fears. There was nothing but her. After awhile even the sound of her music faded. She pulled the earphones out of her ears and slid them into her pocket. Her phone rang, but instead of answering it she turned it off. Again, there was nothing but her. She forgot her surroundings, and the only things going through her mind were the steady pounding of her feet on the trail and the sound of her breathing. She lost track of time, but she knew one thing. She had never run this far or long before. Never had she felt so free. Her body screamed at her to stop, but she kept going. She would not lose this freedom, this amazing feeling of feeling nothing. Slowly she drowned out her body’s desperate cries for her to stop. Her head felt weightless, and for the first time in a long time she had no worries. Everything went dark.
She stood up. Her whole body ached. The feeling of nothing was gone. Her freedom was gone as well. Her heart and head were heavy once again. As she climbed into her car she knew that she would never recapture that feeling. She shut the door and sat there. She did not want to return to the real world, but she knew it was too late. She was already back and there was no escape. Even though she would never have those feelings again, she would always remember that morning. She pulled out onto the road, and left all of her hope to escape reality behind.
