The Sudden Appearance of Hope

Chapter 88

Running.

A bad sport, really. Terrible on the knees — they say running is free, the cheapest sport there is, but good shoes cost a lot these days

the ancient peoples of Australia going walkabout, a rite of passage into manhood, barefoot, following the songlines, they didn’t need expensive shoes

what did Pheidippides wear when he ran to Marathon?

I run from

I run to

I run to be free

freedom from thought

Luca Evard’s hand wraps round my throat, and he weeps, and he forgets, and I carry the memory of what he did where he does not and that’s

fine

another part of the journey.

His journey, but I’ll take it for him, just this once. I’ll make the pilgrimage he doesn’t have the courage to take.

Look out across the lagoon.

Count my heartbeats

and stop.

Find that I do not need to count. Not any more.