The hill

[mojodragon]

Do you see this hill the way I do?
As you approach in your car, with the AC blasting, does a feeling of anticipation fill you? My heart almost bursts with the thrill of the challenge ahead. Or is that just the effect of the miles I've already run? I've run this hill every day for the past six months, but there is always the same mixture of dread when I approach. I've beaten this hill every time I've run it, but what if this time is different? In my head, I start adding the miles I've run, leading me to this point. What is it? 56 so far this week? Is that enough to make me lose to this hill? I cannot! I will not! I lean into it, set my breathing, and continue my run. My legs ache as I coax more strength from them. My heart speeds up as the exertion takes it's toll on me. My breathing becomes deep and labored as I approach the false crest. Laughing at it, I continue to run past Nature's cruel joke on me. It fooled me the first time, but never again! I cheerily wave at the cars who pass, on their way to something. They don't know it, but they're missing out! This hill is mine! I'm almost at the top! As the road levels out before me, my breaths return to me. A car passes, its driver topping the hill, never knowing the thrill that I know! The hill was nothing to him, his engine absorbing the work for him. But I know something that he doesn't. And I'm not telling!