Balance

I closed my eyes and took a step...

It had been a couple months since taking the transformation seminar in the city, only a handful of short weeks, and the memory of that celebration of rebirth was already fading.

"Why are you running?"

She was a friend, acquaintance really, someone close enough to be comfortable asking the question, yet distant enough to keep her judgement to herself.

Why was I running, indeed, literally running from one client meeting to the next, from building to building, block to block, out on the streets of the town I called home? What could I say? What would I say?

"It just feels good to run."

The words tumbled out, like children rolling down a grassy hill on the first warm day of spring, laughing as the world turned upside down. The smile on my face stretched at my cheeks until a laugh bubbled out.

Anita, that was her name. Anita laughed, too, sharing the joy of that moment. Our eyes met. How had I never noticed how beautiful she was? I looked away, my heart pounding with the "I want to make love to you right now" feeling that swept over me so often these days. When I looked back up, she was looking past me.

"Got to go," I said, looking at my watch.

I had only three minutes to get to a meeting back at the office, down by the old railroad tracks, abandoned tracks, where I challenged myself every day with how far I could follow without falling. Today, I would walk the line blindfolded.

I closed my eyes and took a step...