The Long Run

by James Acker

when I stood completely still, the group kept on without me. I’d been spending so much time trying to match their pace, trying to stay in step, because I thought the cluster would crumble without me. Their captain. I’d been holding myself back, running how I thought they would run, because I thought that’s what was expected of me. I made myself slow for them. For years. I made myself so much worse for these fucking people and they won’t even miss me when I’m gone.