The runs

- Written in 31 minutes with crazy cats. -

"Slow down. I can't keep up with that pace."

He heard his wife panting behind him, distracting him from the peace and quiet he had come to rely  on during his daily morning runs up the into the lush hills behind their house. The crunching of the dry soil underneath his feet rhythmically like a metronome normally allows him to concentrate his breathing in a similarly tempoed pattern. Prior to discovering nature's wonderland he was accustomed to the sound of music in order to help keep a high energy level necessary to maintain a competitive pace, It also helped in distracting him from the sounds of passing cars and obnoxious people that reminded him of the real world waiting for him afterwards.

"I'm sorry honey," he windedly blurted out, trying not to disrupt his breathing. "I'm just not used to running with anyone else."

His wife softly grunted and determinedly pulled up beside him, maintaining eyesight with the ground for fear of holes or any other hidden obstacles. A bead of sweat trickled down from underneath her headband and down her rosey cheek. "Go slower for a little bit and then you can go at your speed. I'll just catch up or just go back. I just want to run with you for a while."

He had only recently discovered the treasure chest of rarely used hiking trails, stumbling across one when searching for fire wood. For the most part he had assumed the rough terrain in the backyard was simply just that. He had never even imagined that others would be interested in escaping from the mundane realities of modern civilization by getting back in touch with the very essence of humanity. "Stupid me," he would mutter to himself in response to such ignorant thinking. Once he starting to become familiar with the lay of the land, his daily runs would lead him into the woods, jogging cautiously, unaware of what may lurk. He traded in his earphones for the sounds of silence mixed in with the shaking of trees and the occasional tweet from a bird.

"Honey."

The air felt cooler, crisper out in the open, without a hint of pollution.

"Honey?"

The slight downward shift of the hill quickened the pace, forcing him to shorten his strides.

"HONEY!"

He snapped out of his daze, remembering where he was and that he was not alone. His breathing was heavy, an obvious sign of abstractedly rapid ascension in speed. Abruptly slowing down, he turned around to find his better half a good 40 feet behind, standing in a rather disapproving way with her hands on her hips.

"Shit," he cursed under his breath and casually jogged back to his clearly irked wife. One of the things he truly loved about her was her patience and understanding, but when her limits have been tested it's not a pretty sight. This was very obviously one of those times.

"If you didn't want me to come out with you then you should have just said so," the fact that she was still out of breath just trying to keep up with him made it sound more pitiful than it was meant to. "I understand we rarely get a chance to do things together anymore and that you were excited to share this with me, and I appreciate that, but it's clear that this is something you would rather keep for yourself."

And the truth was she was right. This was something he wanted all to himself, not just from her but from everyone. Even if it was only 45 minutes it was 45 minutes of absolute solitude from everything; from life from stress from reality. He wasn't angry and he certainly wasn't trying to run away from anything. For him this was an opportunity to remember that life is much simpler than it's advertised as being. Nothing in the woods requires an update or an upgrade every few months. There are no payments to be made. This was something given to all as a gift and every day it's taken for granted and ignored. And even he needs that reminder that for all intents and purposed the best things in life are free.

He looked all around him, at the towering trees, branches softly bumping into one another allowing wild formations of light to peak through. He took a deep breath and smelled the earth beneath his feet. And then he turned to his wife.

"You just don't..." and then he stopped and looked at her, realizing that everything that he wanted from out here was the same as what he had with her. He spent so much time looking forward to his time alone out in the wild that he completely forgot about what he already had waiting for him at home and why he had wanted to share this with her in the first place.

He walked over to her and took her hands in his and smiled. "I want you here, with me, right now," he whispered, smoothly brushing away a tuft of hair peaking out from over her soaked headband.

She looked down sheepishly and girlishly smiled. A squirrel, as if on cue, scurried across the path and almost bumped into her foot, startling her. Her breathing remained short, but less from the exercise. I leaned in and kissed her. She melted.

"Let's go home."

She nodded.

And then I proceeded to run as fast I could back to the house.

At least I can get some alone time at home.