Hot rivers water ran down my shoulders, pulling some of the aches and pains of the morning’s workout away with it. Even during the summer, no longer bound by my regular collegiate soccer regime, I tried to stay in shape. Better to put in a little work now than play catch up later, I figured. This off season in particular had been easier than most to remain focused; I had found a bottomless well of determination from which to draw from, filled ever to the brim with the mixed emotions of a sudden breakup.
I tilted my head back, allowing the shower head’ s stream to wash over my forehead. She was gone for good this time. Not much I could do about it, and the many miles I had run since had carried me beyond caring until the raw hurt had been scarred over. Perhaps now it was safe to return to such thoughts.
Small flickers and vignettes of memories passed across my closed eyelids. Our first backpacking trip; dinner dates in the tiny college town I now called home; the time we ran naked across Avett Cove, moonlight streaming across her hair. I smiled in spite of myself, knowing such times were now over. Yet still the fragments stuck with me.