Morning all and happy Monday. Shall we just jump into the writing prompt and get the week started? Timers set for fifteen minutes and lets shake the weekend off of the brain.
This did not go where I thought it was going to go. I will need some details worked out, but I kind of like it. I may work on details at lunch.
Monday, September 22nd: She wheezed.
She wheezed. Hiking had never been high on her list of priorities. She walked, slowly and on paved surfaces, preferably indoors. She did not venture into the woods and certainly did not hike up hill. Jane doo a deep breath, or dried to. Her lungs were still doing that wheezing thing. She stepped to the side as others marched past her seemingly unbothered by the steep incline, the burning sun and the air she was certain was too thin to breathe.
She fumbled with her water bottle, pretending she stopped because she was thirsty, trying to hide the other signs of her discomfort. This hadn’t been what she signed up for. She was certain that nothing in the course description indicated hiking in the wild.
It was too late now though. She would have to stick it out. It was too late to transfer without a notation made in her file. Jane felt her breathing steady and was able to take an actual sip of water. She felt her heartrate return to something approaching normal and she wiped the sweat off of her face with her handkerchief.
The handkerchief had been an unexpected bonus. Cali tied it onto her bag as a decorative element to give her otherwise drab appearance a pop of color. Jane always preferred grays and blacks, Cali was more prisma-colored. The handkerchief had proven quite useful. She had soaked it in water and used it to cool herself and now it was helping which clearing her face.
Jane smiled. She doubted Cali would be pleased by the uses she put it to. In fact, jane thought she would be horrified. She tucked the handkerchief away., attached her water bottle to the side of her bag and realized she was the last person on the trail. All of the others had gone over the ridge and were out of sight.
‘No one to see me struggle up the last bit or see me panting in the back,’ she decided. She knew she would make the best of things, after all she was the one who apparently misread the course description. ‘I’ll be rereading that when I get home.’ She decided. With a deep breath, Jane stepped once again back on the trail. ‘I’ll just stick to the back where I will be unnoticed while I catch my breath. Maybe stop before I get over the ridge to cool down and catch my breath before meeting up with the others,’ she amended as she felt the steep incline in her calves.
Jane nodded liking the idea of taking a moment to regroup before slipping back into class. ‘And it will be down hill on he return,’ she reminded herself.
Thus far no one in the class paid much attention to her. In fact, they tended to be rather solitary. There was little chatter in the classroom lectures and everyone seemed very focused. Jane found it strange but hoped that people would unbend a little as class progressed.
‘Especially if I am stuck with this class until the end of the semester.’
She shrugged. It was what it was.
Her breach once again felt labored and by the time she neared the top of the ridge, she was sweating, and once again wheezing. She spotted a log under the trees slightly off the path. Deciding that a few minutes sitting wouldn’t be a bad thing. Jane moved to the log. It was deeper into the tree line than she thought but the shade felt delicious and if she had breath left she would have moaned with delight as the shade covered her. Jane sat down, her eyes facing the ridge. Soon she would be over it and could slip into the back of the class. She couldn’t have missed that much and perhaps she could get someone to share notes on what she had missed. It would be a way to make a friend in this class, possibly. As she looked, Jane saw a bright flash of light from the other side of the ridge.
Ten til Midnight 