Thursday’s run was the worst yet.
For the first time, I wondered how many people had seen this without saying a word.
I told myself this was just my life now.
That tomorrow would be the same as today, and the day after, and the day after that.
Each morning blurring into the next, my body weaker, my spirit thinner.
I had no idea that everything would change the following morning.
***
Friday started like every other day, but it ended with Ryan on his knees.
Each morning blurred into the next
“Move it,” Ryan called from the SUV. “We’re already two minutes behind yesterday.”
I dragged myself onto the pavement, my sneakers feeling like cement blocks.
“Faster.”
I tried.
I really tried.
As I approached the corner, I noticed something strange.
“Move it,”
A silver sedan was parked along the curb.
I slowed, confused.
Ryan honked. “What are you doing? Keep moving.”
I kept shuffling forward, but my eyes stayed locked on that car.
I’d seen that car before.
What was she doing here?
I’d seen that car before.
Then the driver’s door swung open.
A woman stepped out, and my legs nearly gave out underneath me.
“Diane?” I whispered.
She didn’t look at me.
She walked past me with the kind of purpose I had never seen on her before.
Diane had always been quiet around her son.
