Story

The sweat starts in pearls bubbling up on her forehead. It runs down the canyons formed by her furrowed bows until it drips like snot off the end of her nose. The rhythmic puff of air blown out through her teeth sends each drop flying into the air in front of her face. She doesn't notice.

She doesn't notice the sweat river down her face, or the pools forming under her arms, or the lakes rising in the cups of her bra. She doesn't notice the sun in her eyes and how the squint it's glare gives her makes her look both confused and angry. She doesn't notice the street her body carries her down like a balloon, or the houses she passes and all the secrets trapped inside each one. She doesn't see the double-take from the good looking blond she passes, and would have stepped right in front of the moving van if it's loud horn hadn't snapped her out of her jogging trance.

But only for a second. And then, again, she looses herself in the rhythm of her feet. Her heart and mind live in her knees, air born for a second that lasts a lifetime... weightless and free... and then, as her feet connect with the concrete, compact like a spring. The purple and orange soundwaves echoing from her feet is the music she runs to; her ipod exists in her head. Her shoulders swing like a pendulum, her arms move as if they were controlled by someone else.

"Steady, Jessica...''

Her target, the reason for her run, slowly pulls her out of her jogging trance. Focus comes back, and her peripheral vision clears. As she watches what is currently just a dark green dot, she slows a bit. As details clear and the green dot forms the shape of a park bench, Jessica takes one deep breath, as if to gather her entire being, all her strength and every thought into one ball into her chest. With a woosh, she frees it all and breaks out into a sprint.