It was a brisk winter morning and my body was compressed under the pile of blankets I had ‘ burrito wrapped ‘ myself into. As I lay there, trying to find the willpower to get out of my warm cocoon, a low rumbling in my stomach did the work and motivated me to get out and walk towards the kitchen. I feasted on pancakes and milk and then lazed around the house, occasionally moving to grab a snack or two. As I was going through my mail, I came across a flyer exclaiming :
CYCLING MARATHON
DATE: 10th December 2021
ADDRESS: Central Park
Please do bring your cycle
Holy moly it was today! I felt a sudden urge to participate in it and within minutes I was out on the streets, bike in one hand and my free hand clutching the flyer. I made a mental note of the location of the marathon and started pedalling towards it. The cold wind whipped my face, forcing my eyes shut and threatening to blind me, other people in cars kept shouting encouraging things like “move faster you fool” at me, I finally decided to stop next to a felafel shop and me being me, eventually started skimming through its menu. I saw an old lady also at the shop, confusion etched in every wrinkle of her face, she then seemed to notice me looking at her, and made her way towards me and asked me “Do you know the way to the vegetable market?” I told her the way and she walked towards it. As I took my leave from the shop and gazed at the scenery I lost my breath. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Snowflakes made their way to the ground and flaunted their sparkling bodies in the sunlight. Little kids engaged in a snowball fight and the adults seemed distressed by the surprise snowball attacks. Riding my bike through the snow felt oddly dangerous. I had no snow chains on my tires and my poor driving skills did not make it any easier. I cycled slowly, stopping whenever I felt like I was losing control of the bike, I started to increase my pace, I had to reach the marathon on time. The snowfall had increased and my vision had been diminished to white patches and a few of my surroundings. I braked but the bike didn’t seem to have any plans to stop, Oh no! Why weren’t my brakes working? I pressed them with no mercy, occasionally screaming “coming through '', “my brakes have failed” and that’s when I felt my cycle crashing into a car. I was thrown onto a blanket of snow, my cycle landing next to me. My head was pounding, I heard an extremely concerned man shout “please don’t let there be any scratches on my car, please God!” I sat upright and looked around, an old woman-wait it was the old woman who I had helped earlier rushed towards me and I felt even more grateful than before for having helped her, she was going to return the favour now. She helped me up and asked me my name and how old I was. I answered her questions while picking up my bike and examining my hand where most of the impact of the fall had come, there were no visible bruises although I felt like the felafel I had eaten earlier was going to come out of my stomach and be
visible again soon enough. I trudged back home, in ankle-deep snow and spent the rest of the day at home in the warmth of the hearth.
A few months later
I was sitting in the dining room, sipping through the iced tea I had made for myself, the only solace in the scorching heat. As I was going through my mail, a flyer caught my eye, I picked it up and read what it said-
CYCLING MARATHON
DATE: 9th May 2021
ADDRESS: Central ark
Please do bring your cycle
Holy moly! It was today. I let out an evil laugh before grabbing my cycle and pedalling away to central park.
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