Single Wide Female: The Bucket List Mega Bundle - 24 Books (Books #1-24) (17 page)

They were always decked out in bright green or yellow running gear. Most of the time I avoided looking at them but today, for some reason, I couldn’t look away. Today it struck me that
that
was what I wanted. I wanted to wake up each morning and go after life, not at a casual walk, but at a run. I was sure that I could do it. It would take some time for me to build up my speed but I had the time to do that. I was so inspired that I sped up to a jog for the rest of the way to work.

I’d worked up a bit of a sweat by the time I arrived at the laundromat. I unlocked the door and prepared for the day by checking all of the washers and dryers and making sure that the items in the small shop were all in the right places. But my mind was with the runners. The ache of my feet told me one particular thing, however. If I was going to become a runner, I would need better shoes.

The thought reminded me of something on my bucket list. One of the items I wanted to accomplish, now that I had slimmed down quite a bit, was to run a marathon. It had seemed out of reach in the past. After my short jog along the block it
still
seemed very much out of reach. But it was on the list, and I was feeling just brave enough to check it off. Of course it would probably take several months of training to be ready, but before that, it would take one of my favorite things
—
shopping!

I spent my free time at work researching running shoes on my cell phone. If I was going to do this, I had to do it right, of course. As soon as another employee showed up to cover the evening shift, I headed out to browse at the shoe store a few blocks down. I was determined that whatever I bought would not end up in my “closet of no return.”

The “closet of no return” was a closet off of my kitchen. Inside this closet were the ghosts of exercise fads past. I had everything from balance balls to ab zappers in there. All things I was sure I would use every day
—
that had been relegated to the closet within a week. It had taken me a long time to realize that there was no quick fix, that I had to move forward with determination, no matter the speed.

Chapter 2

When I stepped into the shoe store, the scent of leather greeted me in a way that made me feel excited and a little frightened. This wasn’t a heel and pump store, this was a real sports store. There were images of athletes plastered all over the walls. Of course my body didn’t look anything like those on the posters, but I did my best to ignore that. As I walked down the aisles I reminded myself that I was on a journey and this was just one step of it.

I stood in front of the rows and rows of running shoes. I had no idea which ones I should buy. I was someone who spent a fair amount of money on shoes to go with my dresses and fancier outfits, but I had rarely put much thought into what kind of sneakers to wear. Nor did I have any idea how many there were; and the variety of colors was mind-boggling. There was even a pair that I was sure would make my feet look like rainbows if I were to wear them. As I picked up a pair and studied them, I noticed someone a few rows down. It was Stephanie, a woman I had met in the art class that I’d been taking recently.

“Hey, Stephanie.” I smiled as I walked up to her.

“Samantha, it’s so good to see you,” she said. “I was wondering why you didn’t come back to art class.”

“Uh, well
—
” I blushed a little. “
—
I figured that everyone had seen enough of me.”

“I guess so.” Stephanie laughed a little at the inside joke.

“Are you shopping for running shoes too?” I asked.

“Yes, I was thinking about signing up for the Mountain Marathon.”

“Me too,” I said, surprising myself. “I mean, it would be my first one, but I thought it might be fun to try something new
—
get out there in the community a little.”

“It will be,” Stephanie assured me. “I ran in something similar last year, and the enthusiasm of the people is just incredible. I can’t wait to experience it again.” She paused a moment and looked thoughtful. “We should train together,” she added. “Would you like to? We could get together each morning until the race
—
I mean if you want to.”

“That would be great,” I said, a little surprised that she was so willing. I was still getting used to having a female friend. I hadn’t been sure if she would still want to hang out after the last art class we’d shared. Not to mention that I was fairly certain she and Max were still seeing each other. I felt a little queasy at that thought. I was used to seeing the women Max was with as vapid and ditzy, and I didn’t see Stephanie that way.

“Great, let’s meet tomorrow morning
—
around six?” she said. “We can run down by the pond off of Third. Do you know it?”

“I’ve seen it.” I nodded.

I was a little thrown by two things about her invitation. Actually I was more thrown by the idea of arriving somewhere by six in the morning, as well as the word “run.” I wasn’t even sure if I could sustain a swift jog, let alone run. I didn’t want to miss out on the chance to spend more time with Stephanie, though; and it was on my list, after all.

“I can do that,” I said and then grimaced. “But I should warn you, I’m a little out of shape.”

“Don’t worry,” she said quickly. “We’ll take it at your pace. No one starts out as a runner, Samantha,” she assured me. “Make sure you get some shoes with good ankle support. Wear them as much as you can so you can break them in.”

“Alright. I will.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Stephanie called out as she headed to the register.

I nodded and waved. I was sure that I should have told her “maybe” so that I’d have an excuse for not showing up that early, but I was hoping that the commitment would make me force myself to be there. Change didn’t happen simply because I wanted it to, change happened because I actively made it happen.

With this in mind I grabbed a pair of very bright green shoes and slipped them on my feet. They were a perfect fit. With these emerald shoes on, I felt as if I could run around the globe
—
I could run down highways and through tunnels. I caught sight of them in one of those ankle-high mirrors and started to step forward to get a closer look. What I hadn’t planned on was the tiny clear piece of plastic that tied the two shoes together.

I stumbled and waved my arms through the air, attempting to regain my balance. Unfortunately the only thing around me to grab on to was a tower of shoeboxes. I knew that it was a bad idea, but in the split second before falling to the ground there wasn’t a lot of time to think these things through.

I grabbed hold of the tower of shoeboxes as I fell forward. Of course the tower simply gave way as a result of my futile grasping, and the entire pile of shoeboxes fell directly on top of me after I had landed hard on the carpeted floor of the shop. From beneath the pile of boxes, I could hear the sounds of people gasping and muttering. I heard the distinct footsteps of someone in charge approaching me. I could only hope that Stephanie had made it out of the store before I had embarrassed myself so thoroughly.

Chapter 3

I hadn’t even thought about how I actually felt and whether I might have injured myself. Of course the thought that I might have twisted my ankle sparked some hope that I wouldn’t have to arrive anywhere at six in the morning.

“Ma’am,” a deep voice asked from beyond the pile of shoeboxes. “Are you hurt?”

I didn’t want to answer. I didn’t want to think about what had just happened, or how many people would be staring at me when I emerged from my cavern of shoeboxes.

“I’m fine. I just need a minute.”

“Ma’am, let me help you,” the voice said. Its owner picked up one of the shoeboxes blocking my face. I looked up into deep green eyes, curly blond hair, and about twenty years of life. I couldn’t help but notice that his pink lips were struggling to hide a grin. Reluctantly I sat up, knocking more boxes off my back. I did my best not to look at the stares around me.

“Sorry about the mess,” I said quietly. “But they really should put a warning on these things, you know. I mean, why would they use clear plastic to tie shoes together? Who is going to see that?”

“Well
—
uh
—
most people,” the manager said as he collected a few more shoeboxes from around me. “Are you planning on buying those?” he asked.

“I suppose I am,” I said.

Luckily most of the other customers had returned to their shopping. I was mortified, but it was something I was becoming accustomed to. It seemed to me that if it could happen to anyone, it usually happened to me.

“Here, let me get that,” he offered and pulled a small pair of scissors from his pocket. He reached down and cut the plastic that held the two shoes together. “There you go,” he said as if he was talking to a child. “All better now.”

I stared at him for a long moment. It was hard to imagine that I was ever his age—young and arrogant, believing that the world was designed just for me. It was hard for me to imagine still having that bright shimmering in my eyes indicating that the best was yet to come.

“Thank you,” I said. “Do you want me to help you with this?” I gestured to the mess of boxes.

“No, that’s alright,” he said. “Trust me
—
it happens all the time.”

“Really?”

“Well, not exactly like this.” He laughed a little. “Usually it’s kids that knock them over, but it’s just a pile of shoes, you know
—
no big deal.”

I smiled at him. Maybe I needed a little more of that shiny young optimism. It really was just a pile of shoes
—
no big deal. I took off the shoes and slipped my old ones back on. I followed the manager up to the register and paid for them, doing my best to avoid eye contact.

When I stepped out of the store I tried to leave the embarrassing moment behind me. I had a marathon to run, and I couldn’t let anything stop me.

I returned to my apartment and took a long warm bath. Then I headed to bed early so I would be bright and cheerful when my alarm went off at five-thirty.

When the blaring, mind-jarring sound of my alarm went off the next morning, the alarm clock somehow went sailing across the room. Luckily it landed on a discarded pillow on the floor and bounced safely to the carpet. It continued to blare obnoxiously. I groaned and forced myself to sit up in bed. I was not much of a morning person, and certainly not when I was expecting to exercise for the first time in months. Still, I didn’t want to disappoint Stephanie, and now there was no way to get to my alarm clock without getting out of bed.

I rolled over until I was half out of the bed and half in it. I stretched out my foot and tried to hit the snooze button with the tip of my toe. I only managed to push it further out of my reach. I stretched out my foot a little farther, determined to shut the alarm off. Unfortunately that caused the rest of my body to slide off the edge of my mattress, and I tumbled onto the floor. I landed with my head right next to the annoying alarm.

“Enough!” I shouted and smacked the alarm clock until it was finally quiet. I lay there for a few minutes, debating whether to get up. Eventually I pushed myself up off the floor. I stumbled around blearily until I had clothes on and my brand new running shoes tied tight.

Then I grabbed my purse and keys and headed out of the apartment. Morning looked a lot different at quarter ’til six. People were rushing to their cars, school buses were rumbling by, the trash truck was ridiculously loud. I wondered how I had slept through so much noise all these years.

I started my car and thought about turning it back off. I could always say I overslept or that I ate something funny
—
or just not call Stephanie at all. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to remember why I had even put “running a marathon” on my bucket list.

I remembered when I was about sixteen, watching a marathon. I remembered seeing the passion in the faces of the runners as they ran, knowing they had a long way to go, but still valuing each step. I had taken a life lesson from that at the time. That a journey may be long, a destination may be far, but each step matters.

Chapter 4

This was one of my steps. I had no idea what the destination was, I had no idea how long the journey would be, but this was a step on it and one that mattered. I had spent too much time being afraid to move forward in life, letting steps pass me by.

My bucket list was not just about doing fun things that I’d always hoped to do, it was about seizing opportunities in life that I had almost allowed to pass me by. So this was the next step in my journey. I was not going to take that step by crawling back into bed and hiding from something that was challenging. I was going to take it, by shifting my car into gear and driving to that pond where Stephanie would be meeting me.

It was time to leave behind the idea of fear and believe in my own bravery. That was the type of person I knew myself to be
—
strong, determined, and adventurous.

Soon I found myself parking in the parking lot beside the pond. I barely remembered the drive there, but I was feeling a little more inspired.

The air was crisp and cool as I drew it deep into my lungs. I felt how invigorating it could be to really breathe. A quick glance around showed me that Stephanie had not arrived yet. I walked over to a bench near the path and decided to look the part rather than just standing there. I pulled one foot up behind me and stretched my leg as I leaned forward. It felt good to truly expand my body. I switched to my other leg, and nearly lost my balance. Luckily the bench was there for me to grab onto and steady myself.

Back on two feet, I glanced around the path. It was a paved path that wrapped around a mid-sized pond. It was frequented by daily joggers, dog walkers, and moms pushing strollers. I had driven by it many times, but had never really taken the time to stop and explore the place. A little nature was very refreshing. Of course the hustle and bustle of the city was not far off.

“Samantha!” Stephanie called out from the parking lot. “Sorry I’m late,” she continued as she jogged over to me. She had her dark hair tied back in a ponytail and was wearing an adorable set of plum-shaded workout clothes. I, of course, was in sweat pants, a ratty old t-shirt, and my brand new sneakers, which I now felt were far too green.