mojodragon

I wasn't sure why I had left the comfort of my bed. Was I insane? The road passed under my feet in a steady stream. Step after step, I consumed the darkness in front of me.

I pulled the lukewarm air into my lungs, and then exhaled very slowly, never breaking my pace. The wind was nice, not too warm and not too cold. Usually it was too warm, as this was South Carolina. But tonight, as it was Fall, I was relishing in the nice, even temperature.

I realized as I was running that the air should be drowning me. This was SC, after all. The humidity that night was hovering around 90%, which was pretty normal. Eighteen years of growing up in this hell hole had prepared me for this moment, this night, this very run.

I thought about my bed, and the comfort that it held for me. My wife was snuggling up to an indention in the mattress right about now, being comforted by the scent I had left behind on the sheets, the body heat I had left in my empty space. It wouldn't last long, and she would awaken scared and confused. That didn't matter, though. All that mattered was picking up that foot and putting it in front of the other one. Just to that tree, and then I'll stop. Ok, I'm at the tree, now I'm just going to run to that parked car. I'm at the car, now what? Just keep running, make it to the next block at least.

It's funny how different a city is at midnight on a weekday. Pulsing with life at high noon, and absolutely dead Monday night. This wouldn't have been possible on a Saturday night. I would have gotten picked up for public drunkeness, even though I hadn't had a drink at all. Kinda crazy, just running at midnight. In jeans and a t-shirt, too. No reflective clothing, no obvious work-out clothes.

My life had prepared me for this run. How did I know? Because I was doing it. I was eating up the distance, without a purpose. And yet, there was a divine pull. I couldn't stop running. I was compelled to just keep pushing my feet in front of me, to strive for that next goal.

At one point, a police car pulled along side of me. I was alone on an empty street, running for no apparent reason at all. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine, huff, huff. Just running." Good thing my speech wasn't slurred, and that I was wearing all of my clothing. I might have gotten a free ride to the station.

I feared for my life at one point during my run. It wasn't rational, and it didn't happen where you'd expect it to. I ran across a very high bridge, with very little to protect me from the oncoming traffic. But that didn't scare me. What scared me was this one little bridge, that didn't have any traffic at all. It was going over another street, and I was afraid of gang activity. In my head, a group of crips came out onto the bridge while I was in the middle of it, blocking my way. I tried to turn around, and there was a group of bloods. Your veritable rock-and-a-hard-place. I watch too many movies.

I finally get across the river, and for the first time I realized how far I had run. I had run completely out of the city limits. I was now in the neighboring city, technically. Also, I realized that I was tired. I went into the nearest gas station, and called my loving, beautiful wife.

"Dear, can you come pick me up?" I said sheepishly.

"Honey, where are you? We've been worried sick!" We, meaning she and Andrea.

"I'm at this gas station, on the other side of the Gervais Street Bridge. I'm sorry, I just really felt like running. I needed time to clear my head." I was sorry, too. Sorry for worrying her. I wasn't sorry for the run, though. I needed it.