Joy Ride

I stared up at the popcorn ceiling. A record spun in the background, and lying there I had never been more aware that the world was spinning too– time was flying, my youth was slipping away.

My head lolled to the side, and I watched the busy street from the apartment window. Warm street lights glowed, orbs in my hazy eyes. Red brake lights from cars seemed so bright, so friendly, in the night. The pavement so welcoming.

On the street corner, a young couple held each other close, coming together for a kiss. It was so deep, so meaningful, I felt it from my sprawled out position on the bed. I wanted to feel. Anything.

I forced myself up from the bundles of temptation, calling for sleep at that late hour. Up and out the door, down the street to a bike rental station. One clicked free from its restraints with the quick tap of a card, and I was off.

People milled around the streets, arms linked, or smoking off another bad day in the mouth of an alley. I rode past them– I couldn’t look at them. It felt like an acknowledgment of my future.

I rode down the street, and the tall buildings began to fall away, turning into small neighbors, and eventually nothing but nature. It was quiet, late at night, and nothing went on outside the constraints of the city.

The frigid air nipped at my cheeks, made them raw and numb. My calves burned as I pumped the bike up a hill, an inferno. At the top, I stopped pedalling, and let gravity do the rest. The descent came with the rush that everyone wanted to get high on: exhilaration. The wind rushed in my ears, my stomach flipped, but I just let it happen. It felt like living, and everyone was too caught up in trivial things to feel it too. Too stuck in their ways, never taking a moment to appreciate the quiet.

I rode on like that for some time. The bike’s time limit was sure to expire soon, but I couldn’t make myself turn back around. I just pushed onward, reaching my hand to the cloudless sky to feel the air, skim the stars. Live in the moment. I couldn’t let life pass me by. I wouldn’t.