The Sidewalk Challenge

She shouldn't have done it, that much was painstakingly obvious to both her and everyone around watching. But she was born of that rare breed that saw challenge and daring as an undeniable opportunity to test their own metal. In her mind, she was a direct descendant from those brilliant explorers and pioneers who looked right into the face of danger and decided to use it as an avenue to change the world forever. It was a trait that both cursed her and defined her.

"Really?" said a shaky voice from one of the small boys deep in the crowd of gathering onlookers. "Y-you're really going to do it?"

Nina didn't bother looking at him, her eyes were now set on the momentous task ahead of her. "Of course, I said I would didn't I?" Her voice was cutting, she didn't have time to waste explaining what was obvious to her. If she said she was going to do something, she was going to do it.

Before Nina was the proud boy who had first dared her to do it, Roger. He did it knowing that she'd either have to accept or back down for once in her life. He was a tall skinny boy whose features seemed to give him the appearance of someone much older than he actually was. Nina hated him.

"Well," Roger said with a gleaming smirk. "Get going bull."

'Bull' was the nickname he had given her, saying it's because she was "always so damn bullheaded about things." Roger was also the first among them to curse. Another reason he was the quasi-leader of all the boys.

Nina stood silent, glancing into the open, yellow lawn that now held her forsaken goal. It seemed to spawl out before her view, reaching out into the corners of her vision and expanding into infinity. She had to stop her hands from shaking, she balled them up into fists and clenched her jaw.

"Wait are you waiting on?" Said another kid from behind her.

Nina stomped her foot and yelled out, "Shut it! I don't see any of you brave men out here with me." That seemed to have the effect she wanted, everyone fell silent and just stood around waiting. It felt like a frozen scene to Nina, boys standing like stalks of corn waving in the wind and breathlessly gazing at her. They were waiting for something violent, she could feel it, something they could tell their friends and parents about. They had a gross hunger for a tragedy and were willing to wait for it. It sickened her, but she wouldn't back down.

Nina took a slow and deep breath, filling in her lungs to their maximum and feeling the warm summer air. It was game time. She took her first step onto the lawn and felt the crunch beneath her bare feet as the yellowed, dead grass folded from her weight. Behind her, slight gasps filled the air and seemed to almost push her further into the cursed land she was entering. In her mind, she was now at the point of no return, stuck in whatever consequences her actions chose to drag her into.

As she walked, she was reminded of a line she read from one of her books 'It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.' That was not her, it couldn't be. She remembered a string of her earliest memories, back when her father had just died. It shattered her mother, who couldn't speak the language of the country and felt like a lost soul without her husband. Nina had to navigate the world on her own, had to figure out its workings by trial and error instead of teaching. Every time she felt a jolt of fear it brought her back to that time, when everything was scary and mysterious, when the world refused to explain itself. It was a time of her life that she was willing to fight tooth and nail to never return to.

Now, as she inched closer and closer to her target, she could feel the weight of her past lay on her like a wet blanket. It felt like it was trying to whisper in her ear and bring her back to who she was before, it sent a shiver down her back and make her face run white. Nina couldn't give up though, she bit down hard on her bottom lip and thought about all the great explorers she had read about, and how they dealt with the terrifying unknown.

She was there, about six feet in front of her stood the fortified house of all the kid's nightmares. A large, beaten doghouse that was home to the most ferocious beast that roamed the neighborhood at night. The front was facing away from her, so she would have to sneak around the sides to get what she needed. She wanted to look back at everyone else, see what they were thinking, but she couldn't. She refused to give them any sort of acknowledgment.

So she inched, she inched and she inched around the doghouse, slowly giving the grass time to silently crunch with each toe that hit the ground. Her hand glided along the splintery wooden walls of the brownish house and gave her a feeling of safety in the wide-open yard. As she peered her head around the corner she saw it, the Cerberus, the Cujo, the gigantic hound that policed the neighborhood every night. He was laying halfway out of the doghouse sleeping, his large, black back arching like a mountain with each breath, blowing a swirling tornado of dust with each exhale. Its paws looked like clubs and its jaw like a canon, Nina could see its teeth bearing from just under its hanging lips, like little hints of the horror that was hiding just underneath the surface.

She stood for a second, heart flying away from her at a frantic pace. At any moment it could wake and tear her to shreds, end her life on that lawn and give the boys the violent story they were all foaming at the mouth for. She hadn't thought of a plan, she was hoping it would come to her in the walk over, but as she was staring at the monster she realized a plan was impossible. All she could do was do it and run. That's it. That's all she could do.

She felt it all again, the heavy weight of her past trying to pull her back into the dirt, the snickering of all the boys who thought she was going to die, the feeling of not being enough, it sickened her. She wanted to run, she wanted to kill every kid on that sidewalk and run home crying. She couldn't do it, it was too much, the dog would kill her and she'd never be seen again, she had to turn away.

Just before she did, just before she made the walk of shame back through the yard, she got a flash of anger. She felt the burning blood stream through her veins and warm the sides of her face. With a valiant scream, she grabbed the nape of the dog's neck and pulled out a piece of hair with it, palming a prickly lump of black fuzz. The moment she did she turned face and took off with all the might her feet could give her, launching into the yard and aiming for the sidewalk of boys that was now scattering like ants. Behind her she could hear it, the sudden yelp from the pull and then violent, frothy barkings of an angered beast. She could hear the rhythmic beatings of it's paws hitting the ground in sprint, the heavy breathing that she felt she could feel on her neck. They were locked in a race and she couldn't see it, all she could do was run.

She knew this was the worst part, that she should be focused and serious, but for some reason, as she was running she couldn't help but laugh. As she was dashing across the yard she cackled like a maniac and smiled the whole way. She couldn't explain it but at that moment she felt fulfilled, like if the dog got her it would be okay. She'd done her duty and didn't back down. Life couldn't hold any mysteries to her.

To her surprise, she eventually felt the hard thump of her feet hitting the steamy sidewalk. She hadn't been caught, she was sure the dog was faster than her, how had she not been caught yet? She turned around and saw the dog about halfway across the yard and viscously barking at her. It was chained up! "Ha!" Nina yelled in surprise. The dog was chained, she couldn't believe it. They must only unchain it at night to fight off coyotes and would-be intruders, she thought. Nina burst into laughter and laid out like a starfish on the warm sidewalk, raising her hand with the dog fur high above her and watched it all blow away in the wind, smiling from ear to ear as it did.