Authoress’ Notes:

I doubt many people will read these notes, but here they are anyway. Thanks for considering to read my story. I’d be very grateful if you reviewed it. It doesn’t need to be long, or even a nice one. Just a review telling me what you think. I welcome criticism (and praise, of course). This was written as an English assignment and is based on one of my past experiences. If there doesn’t seem to be much originality or seems a bit strange, I apologize. Anyways, thanks for reading, hope you enjoy reading my story, and don’t forget to REVIEW!! (thank you) ~ Kuri

Thread of Determination

By: Kuri

Unsteadily, I place one foot in front of the other. Beads of sweat drip down my moistened face and cling like gnats. The afternoon sun beats down upon my bowed head, and the concrete ground lurches up towards me, a lone adolescent girl on a deserted street faltering home, trying to throw me to my feet. The plant life, seemingly full of assailants, shoots blinding bullets of light: they taunt as I shakily continue walking. “Almost there,” I lie to myself. I know how much further I must continue, and I know that I might not last that long. “This never would have happened if... if...” I grasp feebly at the noontime memory.

*

“There’s no backing out now... just place one foot in front of the other,” I remind myself. I can already feel my strength draining away. My parched mouth beckons for a drink. Mockingly, water rolls down my cheek in the form of sweat. The clammy substance does nothing but add to my misery. My lungs burst within my chest, and the lack of air begins to make me dizzy. Stubbornly, I continue moving forward. A fleeting thought of collapsing under exhaustion flashes through my mind. I pay no heed. “If strength will not carry me through this, then determination will.”

I allow my weary body to rest after what seems to be an eternity of time. Soaking up water like desert sand that has never seen rain, I quench my thirst only to find that drinking only increases the pain throughout my limbs and head.

My eyelids flutter like a limp butterfly trying to escape the web of a spider, I force myself to resist the urge to fall asleep. As a determined mind trapped inside the cage of a collapsing body, I wait for a portion of my strength to return. Drop by miniscule drop, I regain the energy previously lost. To my despair, however, the appeal of collapsing grows at a continually intensifying pace. Fatigue almost completely encircling me, I fight my way to my feet. I cannot afford to wait any longer. “Just place one foot in front of the other,” I echo in my mind.

*

Determination and resistance course through my veins. Even though they are not physical strength, they keep me standing. I stay on my feet to defy the tumbling world. I refuse to close my eyes to defy the sun. I stay awake to defy exhaustion. True, I feel entirely rebellious, but I ignore the perspiration on my forehead simply because I am too tired.

A hot, unwelcome breeze rustles the trees as well as the hair plastered to my back and shoulders. Through the heat-distorted distance, I see my destination: it is a shining patch of white in a tapestry stained with shades of green and brown. I smile thankfully and stagger forward. Then, my smile droops to a helpless look of hopelessness. Even after placing each foot in front of the other, it appears I advance forward no distance at all. My prize, my goal, constantly takes a leap backwards for each step I stumble forward. Determination dissolved to a single thread, I carry on despairingly.

Inch by pitiful inch, I approach the home. Knowing that sooner or later someone will find me, I seriously consider dropping to the ground and falling into the dark void of exhaustion. However, the single thread of determination that I dangle on remains unbreakable. Desperately, I drag myself towards the door...

A burst of frigid air and frantic chastisement from my mother hits me as I step inside. Water and oranges await me on our kitchen table, and I pounce on them with vigor. The water that trickles down through the corners of my mouth as I drink tastes nothing like the water I had practically inhaled earlier: it tastes like nectar, pure and energizing. Almost savagely, I shove an orange slice into my mouth. Its sweetness is refreshing, and I grin as the juice rushes lavishly through my mouth. I have made it home.

I have won against heatstroke and exhaustion wielding a sword of determination. I am immeasurably proud to have achieved this victory, but I cannot denounce the fact that all of this could have been avoided. None of this would have happened if I had not ran, and ran, and ran. None of this would have happened if I had not excruciatingly kept on placing one foot in front of the other. None of this would have happened if I had not tried to push myself beyond my limits. And, of course, none of this would have happened if I had not gone to track practice. Nonetheless, I have won.

~ ~ ~ The End ~ ~ ~

Did you like it? I hope so. Tell me what you think! Thanks for reading! ~ Kuri