Short Story: Fire by Amber P.

Today we're featuring a short story from deviantART author ninjababy.


Fire

I pushed myself harder. My chest burned, invisible cinders and brittle ashes swirling from my mouth as I blew out each breath. Life bubbled over inside of me, and despite the pained grimace on my face, I grinned inwardly.

These moments once terrified me. The threat of exertion kept me hiding under my covers, afraid to face the unknown and the difficult.

One year ago, I struggled to walk a mile. The first time I managed more than three miles, I felt like a hero. One year ago, fear and frustration and fat held me prisoner in my house, clinging to a virtual world where I cradled imagined significance.

Today I tied on my running shoes. I shoved music into my ears and gave permission to my mind and body to do what needed to be done. I set my timer, and I went.

I ran four miles through the forest. I hurdled tree stumps, I sidestepped logs, and I lapped myself, the ghost of what I was, hunched over a tree gasping for breath.

I'm proud of my ghost. That moment, hunched over that tree, she could've quit: turned around with a resigned shake of her head and backtracked, each step carrying guilt up through her legs and tucking it into her heart.

She didn't quit. She took a deep breath, re-centered her mind, and kept going. I did that. I kept going, and I made a promise to myself that day: in one year, I would return and run the path.

One year ago today I hiked this trail. Today, I ran it. I keep my promises.

And right now, right now as I press the bottom of my foot into my butt and feel the muscles responding, releasing the rage from the fire I invited into my life, I am triumphant.

I am a spark.