Goldilocks by Patria L. Dunn

to a slow and easy pace, turning her face up into the rays of sunlight that was just starting to pierce the thick blanket of the bright green leaves overhead. Two week ago, her sides would have pinched, her lungs on the verge of collapse from lack of air, but Hannah counted her breaths easily now, the miles ticking slowly by under her trained footsteps.
    The higher she went, the colder it seemed, and despite the ninety degree heat s he knew was coming the beads of sweat that had just begun to trickle down her back, suddenly chilled her skin, causing her to shiver. The summit of the mountain was in her sights now, the tip partially blocked by the enormous trees making up the woods that seemed to continue on forever. Hannah pushed herself harder, lengthening her slower stride so that her feet covered more ground with every step.
    Back at her old high school, fifteen miles on a tread mill was expected by the end of training camp, but this wasn’t a treadmill, and her thigh muscles suddenly burned as the trail disappeared beneath her feet, soft earth turning into wild untamed forest. It was either walk or fall, her cross trainers catching time and time again on curling roots that had been absent before, the trees up here substantially bigger than the ones she’d left behind.
    Her stopwatch now read ninety- eight minutes, and Hannah gasped in relief as bright white suddenly crested at the top of the next climb. Where the trees ended, a thin strip of clearing awaited her, and she burst into it, staggering to catch herself on the nearest stable object. Her hands scraped as she flung her nearly limp body across a misshapened boulder, her fingers clinging to hold on to keep her from falling. Her breath came in ragged pants now, her heart hammering so hard in her chest that it seemed as if the air suddenly had a pulse. It was a losing battle to remain upright, a tiny cry escaping her parched throat as she fell to her knees, crawling towards the direction that she knew the creek would be in.
    She felt it before she saw it, the lush grass beneath her fingertips turning to sod and then swamp as her torso sunk down into mushy ground from her weight. The chill immediately cooled her body, and she dragged herself the rest of the way to the edge, not caring that her clothes were officially ruined by the dark earthy mud coating her front.
    Hannah drank greedy from the clear trickling water, dipping her face repeatedly until the pounding in her ears had ceased and she was able to sit up on her knees and look around. Dazed, she blinked as wide open pasture greeted her on the opposite side of the bank, wildflowers in full bloom, waving in the breeze as if to cheer her on. She’d done it!
    Her smile broke wide as she pushed to a shaky stand, her fingers curling into fist that she pumped in the air.
    “And the winner is….!” She yelled out in a fake crowd voice, doing the best boxing jig her spent legs would allow. “Hannaaaaaaaaah Adlllllllleeeeeeeer! And the crowd goes wild!!!” she laughed at herself, jerking around to stare at the mountain that towered a few thousand feet above her now.
    It was just as magnificent as she’d pictured it would be, commanding its own song from the wind that whipped over and around it, drying the wet tendrils of hair that stuck to her face and neck. She stretched out her aching muscles, walking slowly, calming her still racing heart as she inspected the strip of freedom from the woods she’d fought so hard to overcome.
    Even the cabin seemed a world away , the beauty of this wide open space incomparable to anything she’d seen in Colorado so far. She yelled her name again, listening as it echoed in the distance, disappearing somewhere across the meadow without returning to her. Her mouth opened to call out once more when a single low growl caused her spine to stiffen, her body turning towards the woods she’d just come through.
    Hannah stumbled backward in surprise, her shoes sucking down into the soft