Merriton

First one foot, then another. Sierra inched her way off the couch. The last two weeks had been hell. Randy slept so lightly lately that she had a hard time sneaking away, but she still found ways to get away from him. Lately, he had taken to staying up all night, so all Sierra had to do was wait until he collapsed on the couch with exhaustion in the afternoon.

She was reminded of Edgar Allan Poe’s story, The Tell-Tale Heart, when the murderer is inching closer to the old man, moving slower than the earth itself. That was how Sierra felt when she was sneaking away from Randy, trying not to wake him. She placed her hand on the door latch and gently turned the knob. The click was almost inaudible.

Never had she been so grateful to drive a Prius as she was on those evenings when she was inching the hybrid away from the house in electric mode. As she crunched along the gravel, she kept the car under 7 MPH so that the gas engine wouldn’t kick in.

Randy would nap for at least three hours, so she had just enough time to get Up North, go on a run and be back before he even knew she was gone. She’d have to rush a little through the corridor, but there was barely enough time for a run.

The mere thought of getting a run in made Sierra sigh with relief. Just knowing that she could run soon calmed her nerves. She tried to talk herself out of it when she first noticed Randy doze off. She had gone through all the arguments, but they were all powerless against her desire to run. She ran a hand along her ribs. “Too thin,” she thought to herself. She knew it was a problem, but she just couldn’t stop herself from heading the car north to the gym in the city.

It was as if something else was in charge. Some beast within her that made her want to run. “I’ll just do a light run today,” she said it out loud to the emptiness of the car, but she knew that one mile leads to five miles which lead to ten. Once she got on the treadmill, it would be hard to stop at just a couple of miles.

“I’ll just go get a pedicure,” she suggested to the beast within her in an effort to distract it. Maybe it just needs some pampering and love and running is the next best thing. If she really wanted a pedicure, she would have stopped at the nail shop in Emigration instead of tearing past it without a look. No, the only reason to drive all the way Up North was to go to the gym.

She slammed her hand against the steering wheel. “Why can’t I keep this under control?” In San Francisco, she had a gym membership. She ran maybe once a week and had been able to keep the beast at bay. What was different now?

“I’m bored.” It was true. When she quit the firm to move to Merriton, she had no idea that working was the only thing keeping her from going crazy. She knew she should turn back the car, but it kept racing north. “Maybe I should go back to Woodleaf.” She felt every inch of her body reject the idea. “I don’t need to give them my money. They can’t teach me anything new. I just need to get control of this on my own. I can do this.”

But the car still barreled along the road toward the North Bruins Gym.