Fiction: Breathe

Taking a deep breath, I happily closed my eyes.  I was glad to have some "Me" time after a tough week.  While I stood on the wooden floor of the gazebo, I focused on the cool mountain air moving into my lungs, expanding my rib cage until I felt as though I might burst. Then I slowly exhale, mentally pushing out the negative thoughts that always float to the surface as I begin my meditation. I lifted my arms into the air to begin my Sun Salutation.

"So, is this the place we're supposed to meet for the walking tour?" The deep baritone seems to be right next to my ear, and I leap away from it, my heart suddenly racing.  Speechless, I looked up and stared into wild brown eyes and a smiling face that seemed incongruous. A shiver raced down my spine. He towered over me, and his shaggy brown hair and unkempt beard dropped leaves and twigs as he moved.  How the hell had someone so big moved so quietly?  I felt another twinge of nervousness, recalling old news stories of a survivalist who escaped into the forest after slaughtering his family.  Was this the same man?  Had he been watching me? 

"What are you doing here?" I asked, rubbing my hand over my chest to slow my heart.  "This is private property."  

"So this isn't the place for the walking tours?"  Still smiling, the man took a step closer to me, invading my personal space, as if daring me to move away.  My gut clenched, fear soaking every pore. Somehow, I knew that I was in a dangerous situation.  Now I needed to get myself out. 

"There are no walking tours on this mountain, Mister," I struggled to sound polite, my mind racing.  The house was a good quarter mile away; I'd moved out here for the solitude. My phone was sitting next to my water bottle and towel on the other side of the gazebo.  Would I be able to grab the phone while running past?  Somehow I didn't think so.

"You sure are pretty," he breathed out, the fetid air choking me briefly.  He stepped closer, and reached out to touch my hair.  "I need me a wife, and I'm thinking that you'll do."

"NO!" I shouted in his face. In spite of my terror, I stepped forward and kicked out as hard as I could.  My foot connected with his knee, there was a horrible snap, and my attacker screamed as he fell heavily.  I took off running toward my house, my haven, my sanctuary, as fast as my legs and my lungs would carry me.

And ran right into a police officer, my momentum toppling us both to the grass.  The police officer rolled us both until he was on top of me, his hand over my mouth as I was about to scream. Kind blue eyes looked into mine.

"Just breathe, Miss Collins,"  he said quietly.  "I've got you.  You're safe."

I could hear the sounds of gunfire over the sound of my heartbeat.


Prompt: "Taking a deep breath," and/or "jagged"

Situational Awareness

Safety. We all want it. Even those weirdos who like to jump out of perfectly good airplanes or climb up to the top of insanely tall mountains want some measure of safety. It's a normal, every day thing to want to feel safe. We do a lot of things to make ourselves feel safe--lock the doors, install an alarm, move across the street from a police station--but there's one thing that most people ignore. It is called situational awareness. I may have blogged about this before, but I plan to keep yammering on about it. It is important.

A lot of people out there don't pay attention to what is going on around them at any given moment, and they therefore don't see things coming at them that might hurt them. The jogger/walker wearing ear buds that are blaring music, for example, is not going to hear a car coming or an attacker running up behind them. They've lost situational awareness, have no idea who or what is around them and are therefore vulnerable. A perfect target. I know--the music helps you 'zone out' so you can get through your workout and get back to eating pizza and watching Jersey Shore. It's the 'zone out' that is the problem.

The reason that texting while driving is a bad idea doesn't have a thing to do with perpetuating bad grammar. When you are texting, or talking on your cell phone, or trying to find the perfect song, or even trying to get a pacifier to your screaming child in the back seat, you have shifted your attention away from the extremely important job of driving without crashing. Driving is a complex task because not only do you have to pay attention to what you are doing, you also have to pay attention to what every other driver is doing so that you can respond if they do something stupid like text while driving. When you shift your attention away from the act of driving, for any reason, you have lost situational awareness in a large metal box on wheels that may or may not protect you in the event of a crash, depending on several factors over which you have no control because you aren't paying enough attention to respond. Add into that mix another person, like a random semi-driver, who is not paying attention, and it's very easy to see the recipe for disaster. It happens to even the most conscientious drivers.

People who own guns are more likely to shoot themselves or a family member because the gun makes them lose situational awareness. They rely on that gun to solve their problems and make them feel safe, and think that is all they have to do. It's a false sense of security that leads people to ignore other signs that something is going to happen until it is too late. When do accidents happen? When people aren't paying attention. You hear it all the time--about how they 'just took their eyes off the road for a second', how they 'just stepped out of the room for a moment'. A moment is all it takes.

Paying attention isn't even that difficult. Keep your head up and look around. Try it. Next time you're out there walking, look around. Know who is around you and what they are doing or not doing, and adjust your behavior accordingly. If someone makes your 'spidey-sense' tingle, pay attention to that feeling.

If you're driving, and you see someone who is texting or talking on the phone or trying to put eyeliner on, put some distance between that person and yourself. If the person putting on the eyeliner or texting is you, pull over safely and then slap yourself.

Important Safety Tip and a Side Rant

If I can see your eyes clearly from a half a mile away before I drive past you, you might want to lay off the frost eye shadow.

On a side note, frost eye shadow doesn't look good on anybody who perspires.Yeah, I went there.

And what the hell does AC/DC's "For Those About to Rock" have to do with cooking blueberry pancakes?


EDIT: Wow. I guess that I have no business blogging while I'm cranky. I haven’t been feeling well, and now Zane isn’t feeling well, and it’s been a particularly obnoxious day. I shouldn’t be taking it out on other people. That lady probably couldn't help it that she perspired and her frost eye shadow became hi-beams to oncoming traffic. She could have taken one good look in her rear view mirror and blinded herself, and I would feel sad about that. Really. I should be grateful that I was wearing my sunglasses so I didn't run off the road.

But I still don't understand what "For Those About to Rock" has to do with blueberry pancakes. What is up with that, Target? Is Angus Young a fan of blueberries? Did Brian Johnson write a jingle about pancakes at some point in his career? Are the blueberry pancakes that woman in the commercial is about to make going to be hard as a rock? Can someone please explain the connection to me? Should I be bringing blueberry pancakes to the next AC/DC concert I attend and fling them onstage instead of certain garments?
I’ve probably said too much…