Tire/Paradise/Haunting

(This one was a writing exercise I did with two friends. We each had to produce a piece with the words tire, haunting, and paradise in it, and we had to do it in either a half hour or an hour, I can't remember which)

You walk a road, wide and smoothly paved
Sweet sunlight beating relentlessly down
You skip along
And the only darkness is the shade
Of trees keeping you safe from the midday heat

Now tire tracks make ruts in a winding road
Cool winds blow, breathing becomes laboured
You gasp, bewildered
And leaves carpet side trails, not taken
Leaving you and the grey sky exposed

The road inclines, whispering the promise
Of suffering, and a pinnacle ahead
Your mind haunts and dogs you
Childhood grows cold and the light fades
And the air smells like death and resignation

Darkest day comes, and passes
The highest peak of highest hill reached
You see no paradise, behind or ahead
But the road doesn't tax you as it did
And light grows every day