Just Ride

Just ride.

The wind whistled as it whipped around his glasses. Normally, the stinging blast would have made his eyes water, but he was already crying. "Thank you for that" he whispered to no one. The wind carried the tears back across his face.

Just ride. Harder.

His thoughts came faster than he could pedal them away. With each exhaled breath, he breathed away a worry. With every exasperated thrust of his leg, he pushed away a fear. But with every revolution of the wheel, something bad came back to him.

Just ride. Harder. Stand up.

He stood up. The tears now streamed down his nose and fell off to the pavement speeding below. His body rocked up and down with every turn of the crank, his legs screamed fire, his arms pulled unceasingly on the bars. The bike creaked and moaned the agony inside him; he said nothing.

Just ride. Harder. Stand up. Faster.

The sun beat through the broken clouds and warmed the shivering pavement. A layer of steam clung to the road as if it was afraid to fly away. He cut through that mist like a ship through water and left it swirling in his wake. The sun tried to warm him as well, and for a moment he welcomed it, but with the spin of the wheel another sorrow came. He ached for the speed to get away.

Just ride. Harder. Stand up. Faster. Longer.

The wind tried where the sun had failed. It blasted him from all sides, tried to slow him, tried to stop his hurt driven madness. But he sustained. The sun could not entice him. The wind could not slow him. The tears continued to fall and the wheels continued to spin.

Just ride. Harder. Stand up. Faster. Longer. Stop.

She can succeed where the others had failed. He came to the crest of the hill and she revealed herself to him. Her vast blue expanse stretched out in all directions. At the oceans edge he was forced to stop. His breathing slowed to match the breaking of the waves. His muscles relaxed. The tears rolled slowly to a stop. The thoughts stopped.

Breathe.