The Runner's Tale

Once upon a time, there was a runner.

She was not like those who run marathons and enjoy being sportive. She was the kind that all dread, for she flits from place to place craving adventure and movement. Doing all she could to avoid stasis and stagnancy, she left catastrophe in her tracks, pregnant with the need to avoid anyone holding her in one place. Her movement created cacophonies in the wake of thrashing.

All in the name of wanderlust.

The little known twist to the ever fluctuating tale is the reality of it all. For adventure was merely the guise behind the truth. Running and running meant freedom. Scampering away meant that there would be no chains. All those who held her back were no longer in existence.

The words clamored against skull as she pondered to go or to stay. It was the brief quips that maybe meant nothing, or maybe something. The words so poignantly true but so far from prose.

You can't do it.
You shouldn't do it.
It's a bad idea.
You'll never do it.
You'll never achieve your dreams.
I love you.
Follow me.
You will never succeed.
Give up now.
Please stay.

The prose rang on and on, while the runner flit from place to place.

Running meant never being hurt. Never being let down. Never being asked to stay. Running meant never realizing her true feelings behind it all. Following the thing she dreamed of at night as she lie alone, pondering if it was the right choice.

Eventually, the cacophony fell into euphony. The words faded away into the brutal realization that running was the guide she avoided for so long. That in between the plan for the next adventure was a desire to stay.

To find a home. To find a passion. To find a place to have your goddamn cake and eat it too.

But like all great runners, eventually, you can't always run. Your body will tell you to stop. The universe will closely follow in succession purveying signs. And your pugilism will get the best of you. And the universe will tell you, that it is all done.

The runner stops. The world stops. And the runner is moved to tears.

Down on her knees, she realized it all. That her life had been about looking for a reason to stay. Her life, consumed by wanderlust, drive, and sixteen hour work days, was a reason to avoid a place to stay.

And then she stops.

And she has found a place to stay.

And she is moved.

And all in good time, the universe picks her up off her feet, and puts her in her place.

And the rain falls, tainting her wine glass, but holding her, washing her thoughts away, and slowly rinsing the earth of the chaos she left.

And when the rain was done, she created a euphony. For she moved again, but not in haste.

For the hopeless wanderer slowly pulled herself up, and as she glacially let one foot fall in front of one another, the euphony created a symphony that those around her held onto so dearly as her footsteps resounded joyfully as she reaches her final destination.

For the runner's cacophony had ended, and the euphony of her footsteps told the tale of it all.

That the runner decided to stay.