The bus door opens and she catches the sight of a stadium like track filled with family, friends and scouts. The sun beats down on her bronze skin. She brushes the crystals off of her face. She walks to the bleachers and puts down her things. She steps onto the field and warms up her muscles and stretches. She is surrounded by young athletes and their wise coaches. In the distance she can see runners on their blocks and then a “POP.” They take off and the crowd cheers wildly. She feels like she’s among the runners and the adrenalin hits her and her heart picks up speed. She mentally calms herself down, nervousness is a false adrenaline. “Varsity Girls 100 meter yard dash, please report to the tent,” announces a voice. Her heart skips a beat.
She walks to the tent a little too eager and gives the older man her name. He gives her a number which she pins on carefully to her left thigh. She stretches for one last time and jogs over to the starting line. A women holds out a bin for her to put her warm ups in. She slips out of them and places them inside. “Good luck,” the women says, she nods thanks. She looks to her sides and sees her opponents talking to each other, but not her- she is silent. There will be plenty of time to talk after the race.
The announcer tells them to step onto their blocks. Her competition falls silent and walks onto their blocks. She gets into resting position and clears her mind, running is a mental sport after all. “On your mark” he booms. The wind is uncomfortably still, as if holding in its breath. This could be her last race. “Get set” she pulls her body up. She was determined to win it. She has trained her whole life for this day. She was strong, but most of all, she was fast. “POW,” the gun goes off and for a split second time stops. Then it speeds up to makeup for lost time. She pushes from the block and slowly raises her head to face her destination. She drives her arms and pounds her spikes into the soft rubber. The cheering crowd seems to fade away. She was concentrating. Her destination is ahead, she can see it. She is not alone, she feels the presence of not runners but demons running along side her, mocking her mentally, “You will fail.” They were her fears come to life. However at the same time her thoughts kept telling her, “You can do this” and “You will do this.”
The white line comes before her and she knows what she must do. She calls for her strength to battle her demons and to be freed from them. She no longer pounded on the rubber; in fact she barley touches it at all. Her arms cut though the air and her eyes are focused on her freedom, her mind clears and her face relaxes. One last push, she crosses it. She hears a loud boom from nowhere, like she was deaf, but was able to hear now. She turns and sees the huge crowd looking back at her cheering. She smiles realizing she had won the race, but most of all she defeated her inner demons. She throws a thumbs up. She was finally free.