Chapter 1
Hello, I've waited here for you, everlong...
Lucy slipped the earbuds into her ears as she started on her usual route. The music and her legs both began to pick up speed. She took a deep breath and scanned the tree-lined trail ahead of her.
Lucy moved to the city about a year ago. She began working in environmental compliance consulting since college graduation about 6 years ago. When a position opened up at a prestigious and well-known firm, Lucy jumped at the chance to advance her career. Not long after the interview, she packed up all of her belongings and moved into a cramped studio apartment downtown.
She enjoyed the work and got along well with her coworkers, but Lucy missed the country air. The smell of an incoming rain. The stillness when all the stars came out at night. The quiet.
But at least she had the park. A few months after starting at the firm, Lucy ventured out for a walk on her lunch break. A few blocks away, she discovered an oasis. Okay,
oasis
is a bit dramatic, but any amount of trees and trails was a welcome reprieve from the noise and stress of urban life.
The park had a relatively secluded 2-mile loop trail. Tall pines bordered the path on either side. It was a decent enough escape. She started slow, walking only about half the length of the trail on her first excursion. She came back more and more over the next several months, increasing her distance, then speed, each time.
Now Lucy was running.
She snorted aloud to herself. Who would have thought chubby little Lucy would be a runner? True, she wasn't nearly as round as she used to be. In school she was teased relentlessly for her weight. She would constantly hear things like, "Hey Chunky" and "You'd be really pretty if you just lost 30 pounds." Most days Lucy had rushed home and sobbed in her room alone. Her parents worked a lot and were rarely there. She had learned to be self-sufficient, and that included consoling herself. And if consoling herself included eating an entire pizza by herself, well then, that's just the way it was.
After college, she decided she needed to take more responsibility for her happiness. She was determined to make a change. Not to appease the bullies. But for herself. For her health. After some diet adjustments, it didn't take long for her to start seeing results. She bought new clothes to compliment her new figure and found she had more confidence in general. The running 3-4 times per week didn't hurt either.
"Yeah, I'm a regular Olympian," she joked to herself.
But today she felt better than she had in as long as she could remember. She could smell the luscious pines. She felt the wind blowing through her shoulder-length hair. Her lungs and legs weren't even burning yet. She felt alive. She couldn't suppress a wide, goofy smile as she leaped over a small puddle on the path.
Lately she even felt confident enough to run in just a sports bra and tight yoga pants. If only her tormentors could see her now!
The song in her ears continued,
"And I wonder, when I sing along with you, If everything could ever feel this real forever. If anything could ever be this good again..."
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of black in the bushes to her left. The branches swayed from the recent movement, confirming that she hadn't just imagined it.
She slowed to a sluggish jog and peered into the greenery. No sign of anything out of the ordinary.
Hmm...
she pondered. A rabbit? No, this thing was much bigger than that. A deer? No, that didn't seem right either.
Maybe someone's dog got loose?
She eventually settled on this as the most likely option and returned to her pace, if just a bit faster. Lucy had the distinct feeling she was being watched. Goosebumps rose on her arms. She tried unsuccessfully to shake the feeling.
"The only thing I'll ever ask of you, you've got to promise not to stop when I say when, She sang."
She kept looking around as she finished her run and made her way back to the office. The black figure didn't return. Why the hell did she feel disappointed about that?
Chapter 2
The afternoon carried on normally. Towards the end of the day, her boss, Ed, called Lucy into his office.
"We've got a new client. A manufacturing facility a couple hours outside of the city. They want a full compliance audit and they want it fast. I'm assigning it to you." Ed stated in his normal monotone, no-nonsense manner.
