She calls it back, as clear as she can, when her lungs are starting to feel thick and the oxygen levels are thinner now than she's used to. It's not that Hawaii is all that high above sea level -- it's not, and getting lower every day, every year, as the sea eats away at the islands -- but it's nowhere near the same as being aboard ship.
And yet, they hup to it, feet hitting faster, back on solid ground that she trusts more than she did that bridge, and she's all warmed up, now, can slip into the next gear. Faster, along the flat, and launching up the incline. Barely letting her feet hit the steps before she's onto the next one, because it's the only way, like running a stadium. Can't let gravity catch her, can't let the mind get caught. Just one foot in front of the other, up, up, up. Bouncing off the balls of her feet. Breathing hard, but steady.
Never allowing it to get out of rhythm. Fall out, and it's over. Just keep going. The top in view, muscles burning, lungs burning, adrenaline pumping into every vein and breath. Making the sun brighter, hotter, the stairs faster.
Up, up. Consoling herself with images of payback for him, when they're back off the mountain and she can breathe again.
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2013-01-27 05:29 pm (UTC)She calls it back, as clear as she can, when her lungs are starting to feel thick and the oxygen levels are thinner now than she's used to. It's not that Hawaii is all that high above sea level -- it's not, and getting lower every day, every year, as the sea eats away at the islands -- but it's nowhere near the same as being aboard ship.
And yet, they hup to it, feet hitting faster, back on solid ground that she trusts more than she did that bridge, and she's all warmed up, now, can slip into the next gear. Faster, along the flat, and launching up the incline. Barely letting her feet hit the steps before she's onto the next one, because it's the only way, like running a stadium. Can't let gravity catch her, can't let the mind get caught. Just one foot in front of the other, up, up, up. Bouncing off the balls of her feet. Breathing hard, but steady.
Never allowing it to get out of rhythm. Fall out, and it's over. Just keep going. The top in view, muscles burning, lungs burning, adrenaline pumping into every vein and breath. Making the sun brighter, hotter, the stairs faster.
Up, up. Consoling herself with images of payback for him, when they're back off the mountain and she can breathe again.