shades of red

scarlet red;

The pounding of my heart
fell in rhythm to the steps
I made on the concrete pathway.
The wind tickled my ears as I
ran down the cobbled streets.

"You hanging in there, Charlie?"
I called as I saw him panting behind
me.

"You said this w-was going to be
a refreshing r-run." He squeezed
his side, "I-I can b-barely breathe."

"Keep goooooging," I called
with a smile on my lips as I quickened
my pace.

"Oh, y-you're not g-going t-o b-b-beat me," he
shook his head playfully and began
racing me.

The colors blurred in front of my eyes
as we ran under autumn trees and
heard the dried leaves under our
sneakers. Our hearts and lungs
captured all the air in the skies
to stop our muscles from failing.

The bricks, stop signs, all blurred
into reds and the sidewalks and
roadways all into a single grey.

A myriad of colors to distinguish
what from which from why from
where, no longer did their jobs,
all merging into a solid block
of help.

My head spun and the world decided
to spin a little faster than our human
bodies would notice. Or perhaps my
mind decided to crash under the weight
of gravity.

As my legs began to give out, and my
knees buckled, I felt Charlie's hand
around my waist and him pulling me
into his arms.

"Hey, it's o-okay. I-I'm here.
A-Are y-you okay?" A worried
look stamped onto his face.

"I-I'm okay, don't worry." I took
in a deep breath. "Just got a little
light-headed."

"How a-about we walk the res-st-t of
the w-way?"

"Yeah, that'll be great.
Thank you."

"T-Told you that you'll never
beat m-me-me. Just look at you, you
al-almost died trying." He winked
with a smirk replacing the worried
frown.

"I hate you," I glared at him.

"You w-would n-e-ever," He whispered,
"Let's go."

And the entire time, I never
let go of him.