It was the final 48 hours

Not the search for a missing person

Or a list of unbearable burdens

She’d been running all year long

Waiting all year to get in with that throng

Up north, running through the town

To conquer the hills, all the ups and downs

Nutrition just right

Sleep light

Ironically so – the nerves and anticipation made her restless

Every morning out the door

Before saying a prayer

Wasting away

Not sure what she was vying for

It never felt feckless

Till she stepped into a hole and her ankle rolled

One day before that big race

There was a snap

She was instantly taken aback

When she fell down

Her body hit the ground

For the first time in a while she was still

Looked down at her watch – it was frozen in time

Even the seconds remained

She sat in the grass, pained

But noticed the wildflowers

In the last 12 hours

Recognized the health she’d had

Forgot about competition

She watched a grasshopper

And the old man across the street climb the stairs

Her foot swelled

She knew well it had stopped her

She couldn’t run that race

To heaven she turned her face

In those last hours she prayed

Found a new way

In just a few months she was running again – with purpose

At times a little nervous, thinking about the imminent finish line

But she kept running, kept praying, talked to some others and in time

The nerves began to fade

Less than 48 hours away