People ask me why I do what I do, if I'm out of my mind or if I need a good girlfriend to calm the masochism of my actions.
A journey, that's what running is all about. Imagine for a moment having no borders or barriers to go to, you just have to run and reach that goal. That's what I feel every time I cross the window of normal, I set a place and I run. I can't lie to you, of course, I feel alone and a failure. Running is the best thing I can do, it's the right decision I've made in my life. My personal decisions have been bad for the most part.
The first time I went running was with some co-workers Wolfang, John, and Sam, three athletes since they were teenagers. I agreed on a bet, if I could make it a 5 km round trip from the sports center to the airport, they would buy me a dinner that included bacon. I'm a bacon fanatic. Anyway, I barely made it to the 5km and arrived at the sports center lonely and almost dead. I didn't run again for two years until loneliness assaulted me.
Many love failures, many business failures, many financial problems drowned me. I decided to run, I wear worn-out shoes, old red shorts, and cotton flannel. To escape and move on the asphalt was the purpose, to escape from all those bad managements. And it was not so, the next day I returned to work and society. Even so, in the afternoons I would run and try to escape. I never managed to die on the road as I thought.
One journey, one destination, and my legs are all I need.
I hate the hills, I hate the sun and I hate the pain in my legs, but most of all I hate the pain in my heart. I think this question I'm asked: Why do I run? I would answer it that enigmatic. And if I were asked why I started running, I would say because of some bacon strips. People see me and ask me thousands of questions, they tell me a little bit of everything, what would be my limit, what if I don't have enough, what if I'm an alien or unnatural, what if I'm an alien or unnatural? I started with 2 km and I'm going for 21 km, maybe I'll reach 100 km and it's still not enough, maybe until I touch the sky with my feet. Besides, I'm not a superman, if they would take a look at the window they would glimpse the real superhumans. They ignore that world that hides in the footsteps, competitors who go to the Olympics and are surrounded by fame and requited loves, they can have both.
It's enough for me to run and see the sea or the mountains, to travel in a sea of sensations, the smell, the sound, and the panorama. There are no limits to where I can go.
And even if Ana, Sofia, Gabriela, or Bella afflict my past, there will remain the option of escaping through a journey that only we runners of my kind are determined to take. Will I be the only one who will do it to escape love? These are questions that if I were asked I could never answer, if someone did I would run away. When Ana broke up with me I ran 8km when I lost that hamburger business and discovered Sofia with someone else I ran 10km, and that time I got into a jealous rage over Gabriela and lost her I ran 15km, with Bella I ran 21km, no need to mention more.
Many questions are not asked, and if they were, I would not answer them either.
Some take a quick life and take their own life, others seek psychological help, some do yoga or read. I go out and run, I am abnormal, carrying a lot of pain and the resistance to keep going forward, wherever my legs take me. That's all I can tell you.
The Cover and Banner made in Canva, Used image from Canva, Separators made in Photoshop
You do an amazing job with the prompts. Sometimes, I think we all have the feeling that we want to run, run away, even if there is no defined destination. You capture that. Despite its serious message, the story also has a bit of humor. Bacon! The featured bacon is perfect as a gimmick and also adds humor.
In a way, we all pound the pavement every day in order to distract ourselves from things we can't control. Running certainly seems like a healthier alternative than what some people might try.
Thank you for posting this story in the Ink Well community.
I took your advice and thought of a theme. The word journey helped me a lot to decide to write about running. Then I followed another piece of advice that helped me a lot:
And the bacon thing came out of nowhere. It was the perfect reason to induce my character into running.
Hello @ricardo993,
What a great story. Forgive me, but I can't help hearing, "Run, Forest Run". I seems Forest Gump had the same remedy for his heartbreak. He was not able to articulate that pain as you have in the story, but the effect was the same.
I really did enjoy this. I related to the need to move, to do something when distress strikes. Some people mope around. I get active.
You did a really good job with the prompt. Some writers had trouble with bacon, and some writers were able to create rather unusual stories around the prompt. You fall into the latter category.
Cheers! Keep writing!
hahahaha I knew it would be related to Forrest Gump. I'm flattered to fall into the latter category. The word fit perfectly to induce the character into the bet.
In the real version there was no bet, just four crazy kids who after swimming practice went for a run.
The story contains fiction and reality. Thanks for reading.
In life, we get hit time after time, and we get that urge to run and leave it all behind.
The thing is that it doesn't solve the problem as your story shows.
This is a beautiful use if the prompts. Good job.
Sometimes the problems are not solved but running them lightens the pressure on our shoulders.
I like the sound of an indicator to escape from problems. I'll make a note of it.
Thank you for reading @bruno-kema
I'm glad i did.😁
First, I was hooked in the first few sentences.
Secondly, all three prompts were fitted in perfectly within the first 40 seconds of reading...
Who are you again? Lol
Amazing story man! Amazing!
One little thing though, maybe sometimes let us face life squarely instead of running. Experience has shown me that it helps at times.
Cheers!
I'm flattered that you're hooked hehehehehe, thanks for reading me.
Yes, it is also a possibility, to face life when you are ready. That's why running helps too.
Your story is very interesting. Is it an autobiography? Is there something from real life?
I don't see running as escaping, I see it as taking distance. A totally different perspective from which to approach and solve a difficult problem. The experience reminds me of a bullring. Perhaps the spectators who are farther away, those seated on the higher platforms, can see the bull charging the bullfighter with more amplitude and see more alternatives of defense than the bullfighter himself who cannot take his eyes off the enraged bull that at any moment takes his life.
Running is great and if you have the road to yourself even better, feel the air and feel how the problems fade even for an instant is priceless.
It is partly real and partly fictitious.
But running can be different for everyone. But you are right, sometimes running is useful to take things from a distance and meditate.
Running is great hehehe, thanks for reading and I apologize for responding so late.
Don't worry about it. I'm glad you did it ^_^