His mind was a flush of faint bullet points, each breaking free of his imaginary checklist and trickling off into the midday air before he could get a handle on them. He simply couldn’t hold a thought and when he stopped to look around he saw the lush green grass and scattered oaks of the park he had aimlessly wandered into. Continuing to walk, he released his vain attempt at tracking bullet points and allowed his thoughts to rest freely. Breathing in deeply his lungs filled with encouragement, with stability, with hope… with peace. Stephen looked up to the sky and outstretched his arms in humility and gratitude.
The noise of the excited crowd was unexpectedly sudden as he rounded the corner, almost as if they were waiting for Stephen to reveal himself before the roaring applause began. The course was becoming more dense with onlookers yelling out their encouragements.
“Keep it up, you’re almost there!”
“Looking strong! Way to go.”
“Great pace!”
“Less than a mile to go. You got this!”
Less than a mile?
Stephen gave a puzzling glance to the encouraging spectator who was already cheering on another oncoming runner. In his mental drifting, Stephen’s body had carried him across an unknown mile with minimal cognitive commitment. With his body on empty, fueled by little more than willpower and spikes of adrenaline, Stephen fought the soreness which grasped the length of his entire body and extended his stride to increase his pace for a final push to the finish.
Something happens to the mind when it realizes the body is about to do what it didn’t think it could do. Stephen’s mind burst with emotions as it made the connection between task at hand and the eventual certainty of crossing the finish line; a finish line which held so much more to him than the completion of 26.2 miles. From the time of his initial deployment, he had been fighting to finish a race with no finish line in sight. The struggles his family incurred along the road had not been smooth; some travels had pruned him while others crushed him. But in spite of the difficulties, he could feel the strength each turn had added, placing him onto the path where he could genuinely appreciate the yearning for perseverance and the accomplishment of the grand feat before him. His mind melded the pairing of contradictions between his pain and gratitude, his solitude and community, his despondence and his joy. As Sarah would tell him, it had all been used for good.
The crowd grew increasingly energized as he approached the final quarter mile. Distant noises which previously sounded as urban echoes now revealed their origin. He stole glances past the block’s spacing between the city buildings and could see the crowd in flashes as if they were dancing in glimmers of an old film reel.
Stephen picked up a rhythmic cadence from the distant music and emphasized each breath, causing his chest to expand and contract to the quickened beat of his own feet. Each yearning from his lungs sucked in air as if it were coal fueling the train down the tracks. His body still ached in pivotal places but tendons no longer resisted him as they fell to the will of his mind’s desire. His stride was steady and seemingly oblivious to the hours of punishment he had put them through. Previously failing legs procured new life and propelled his body forward with determined might. As a result, he passed several other runners who hobbled about, having succumbed to their bodily pains and failing to recover for the final push to the finish.
Stephen saw the crowd had reached capacity and people lined the street shoulder to shoulder congratulating and encouraging each pained runner which passed. They fed off Stephen’s energetic display of fortitude and their voices rose to an approving eruption. Flags streaming along the crowd barriers told him that he was close to the finish. With the music pumping and his body drifting across the pavement, he emerged around the final turn and saw an archway within sight with a giant banner which had the word FINISH written across it. He could feel the wind blowing cool sweat off his face amid deep breaths and his pounding heart. He looked up and sprinted through the final steps at his fastest pace yet. His head elevated and his arms outstretched to feel the glory of the late morning sun. An uncontrollable smile burst from within at the change in texture he felt as his foot pounded onto the slightly raised blue mat of the finish line.
A small army of volunteers stood just beyond the finish line to greet and encourage runners. They held a stack of medals in their arms and met each of the finishers in a personalized private ceremony, draping them with a finisher’s medal while meeting them with a warm smiles and congratulatory praises. Stephen saw a particularly joyful volunteer staring directly at him. His face fell into a smile as he began walking towards her. With the unpleasant reminder of the day’s torturous journey, his muscles stabbed at his back and then stiffened into a tight knot when he attempted to lean over to be presented with his medal. He laughed and instead offered an awkward tilt of the neck to her.
The volunteer grinned her large cheeks while pursing her lips and crossed her arms, causing the three dozen or so medals she was carrying to clank together. She exaggerated her head from side as if she were declining a child’s request for a cupcake before dinnertime, “Uh-uh… I’m sorry, honey. I do NOT have a medal for you.”
Stephen stood confused between a mix of disbelief and physical disability, “Huh? Are you serious? I mean, I’m sure I smell pretty bad but… really?”
“Honey, your medal is waiting for you over there.” She stepped aside and pointed further down the finisher’s chute.
Toward the end, Stephen saw a swarm of people moving around a food and beverage section. It was chaotic and filled with the buzz of overjoyed runners still riding high from the euphoria of crossing the finish line. Then, among the shifting sea of torsos, he saw them. Sarah stood behind their daughter, waved at him and reached her neck up for a better view of his location. Hailey, still using the wheelchair for precautionary purposes, was saying something to her mother and attempting to see from her lowered vantage point.
Stephen began moving forward, shuffling his way past the limping bodies. Unable to see through the masses, he focused on the area he had glimpsed Sarah and continued pressing forward. His body fought in vain for attention, yet none could be spared and he blocked out everything else as a single thought hovered in his mind.
They are absolutely beautiful.
Hailey saw him and her eyes popped with excitement. Her smile broke through and overwhelmed his physical pain, emulating the sight of the sun’s refreshing beauty as it breaks morning over a misty pond. Her long sandy blonde hair danced in the wind along with the strings from her purple hoodie. She had a finisher’s medal draped around her neck. Sarah, with her hands resting on Hailey’s shoulders, gave him a flirtatious grin and winked. As Stephen began moving closer, Hailey reached down and grabbed the padded armrests to begin pushing her body upwards. Concern swept over Stephen and he quickened his pace to help his fragile daughter. Sarah placed a hand on Hailey’s arm and said something he could not make out, but Hailey appeared to reassure her and removed her foot from the rest.
Stephen arrived to them at the moment Hailey unsteadily came completely to her feet. “Hey there, sweetheart.”
“Congratulations Daddy! You did it!” Hailey lifted the medal off her own neck and lovingly placed it over Stephen’s head. “I think you’ve earned this.”
He received his medal and held her shoulder, not really certain who was stabilizing whom. “Thank you, Hailey.” He kissed her forehead. “Sweetheart, I didn’t think you were going to make it but I’m so glad you’re here.”