In and Out

NOT PART OF PROMPT!

In out, in out. My feet pound against the dirty earth. I breathe in and out. One two one two one two. I leap over the puddles and over the river bends. I leap and run. Leap, run. I finally made it. I made it to the lake. I sit down at the edge. I look at my watch, 10 minutes. A new record. And with two minutes to spare. Usually after 12 minutes, I have to run back, but if I make it sooner, I get a breather. I pant and pant. I feel the hot drops of sweat rolling down my cheeks. I see Sam running to me. She’s gotten slower. I wonder what’s going on. She runs up to me. “Good job! New record!” She pants heavily. “Yup” I say. “Now to run back.” “RACE YA!” She bolts off to the west. Back over the rain puddles and river bends. I let her have a minute head start. After that short moment, I bolt off. I pump my legs, one two one two. I breathe steadily. In out in out in out. I move my arms, back forth, back forth. I close my eyes and feel the air brush against my face as I run. I pass her easily. She looks at me with shock. I pump my legs harder. So does she. “You won’t win!” She says. One rule with running, NEVER talk while running. NEVER. Sence she did that, it ruined her breathing rhythm. She has to get it steady again. So I take this to my advantage and speed ahead. The drops of sweat coming faster down my head then I could ever remember.

 I make it to the park bench. After a few minutes, she plops down beside me. “You talked while running.” I said. “It ruined your rhythm.” She breathes heavily. “You should sign up for track.” She says. “Oh come on Sam. We’ve had this 

talk before, I’m NOT going to track. There’s always a winner or a loser. What’s the point of it?” “Feeling like you!” She says. I close my eyes and feel the sun beat down on me. I open my eyes and instantly regret it. The sun flashes it’s blinding glow at me. I squint and look at Sam. “You’ll never know until you try.” She says. She gets up, and walks away. 

Later in the day I had been thinking about what Sam had said. I wanted to sign up if you could just run, but there’s more to it then that. People die sometimes because they get a heart attack, people run for something. I have nothing to run for. I think about this as I walk to poetry, the best subject. Poetry is the only way you can express how you feel without people judging you. I look around and walk into class. I sit down and open my notebook. I flip through all of my filled pages. I look at a rather interesting one. It said,

Alone

We all feel this way

Puzzling, scary, difficult

Me

I read it again and again. Why did I make this again? I don’t remember this as an assignment. Maybe it was at the beginning of the year and I don’t remember it. I flip my book to a fresh new page. I think of one word. Run. I sharpen my pencil and start writing. The led flowing in cursive. Loops and circles up and down. I write the rest of it and shut my book. I was proud. I stand up, show the teacher, and walk out of the classroom. 

Run

It’s a beautiful feeling

Sweat, wind, sun

Happy

*******

I sit outside as I watch people play tag. I would play, they even asked me. But it requires too much moving. Like zigzags, twists, turns. I prefer a straight line. I told them, “eh. I’m not feeling it today. Sorry.” They ran off and continued playing. I also had a lot on my mind. Sam and I haven’t seen each other all day. I feel like I need more friends. I need someone to hang out with. I look around. Who could I talk to… I see a bunch of popular girls. Nope. I see the jocks. Nope. I see a girl getting bullied. No- wait, bullied?! I want to run up to the bully and punch his face. But I hesitate. I stand up from the bleachers and walk over to the girl. She wore a white shirt with dark blue jeans. She had freckles all over her face. She had hazel eyes with a beautiful necklace. The necklace had an ‘B’ on it. Her name probably started with a B. I look at the bully’s chunky face. I snarl. “Leave her alone!” He looks at me and laughs. “It’s you huh?! The poet! Hahaha! A little poet is going to write me a story to stop me!” I look at the girl and give her a look that says, get out of here, now. She nods her head and runs off. I look at the bully in the eyes. “Maybe poetry can be good. You obviously need some.” He punches my face. It stung. “Worth it…” I mumble. I feel my nose tingling. I taste blood. I look at my clothes. Blood stained them. I look at the bully’s smiling face. “Leave others alone.” I walk away and go into the girls bathroom. I look at my bloody face. The girl that I helped walked out of the second stall. “Thanks.” She says. “No problem.” I say. I wash the blood off my face and then pinch my nose. She study’s me for a bit. She grabs a paper towel and then helps me wipe my shirt. “Thank you,” I say. “Mhm” she mumbles. She looks at me with her hazel eyes. They look more green than brown. “Thanks again.” I say. “No problem” she says. I look at the ground and then smile. “Do you have any friends?”