The Godlike Story They Never Tell.

She slips.
She feels a rash in her knee and it begins to sting.
Her adrenaline still high, she pulls her body up quickly and checks her knee.
Blood flows slowly out of her skin and down her leg.
"Whoops," she breathes.
She wipes the dust away from her dress and resumes her running.
Her exposed skin stings as it meets the air, but the pain only fuels her.
Her throat itches for water, but her laugh allays it.
She reaches the gray wall and embraces it while panting.
Her friends cheer and give her high fives, while she smiles from cheek to cheek against the cold stone.
She sits down.
Her knee still hurts and her breath remains irregular, but all the cues are ignored by the adrenaline.
She cannot help but laugh, because the sun is setting and she has been running for hours.
She knows soon it will be time to go back home, but the thought does not bother her.
The stars will come out and it will be time to slip into a hot bath and her father's arm.
She will have dinner and slip into her covers.
The adrenaline and rush still lingering in her body.
The sensitivity of her knee reminding her of her freedom.