And then, she stopped.

Out of breath and out of tears, she stopped running somewhere between the cabin and forever. She stopped running long past the time when her legs went numb and her face became speckled with dots of red clay and black dirt. She stopped running not because she wanted to, but because she had to. She stopped running because of the immense power of one, tiny, miniscule rock. More of a pebble actually.

Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.

Her feet met the ground over and over. They started a beat. Then her cries started in – now it was a song. Just her feet, her sobs, and the ground. It could have been a hit.

But then that pebble. It just had to go interrupting their music. One misstep and Spencer’s right foot landed just on the corner of a small, gray stone, throwing her off balance and causing her to topple over to the side. This was probably for the best. Who knows how long she would have kept going if nothing stopped her?

Spencer didn’t bother to get up. She knew it wouldn’t be of any use. So, she laid there, on her side on that red dirt road, drenched in sweat and tears and life and panting so heavily she forgot what it was like to breathe normally.

One minute passed. Then ten. Then thirty. Then a lifetime.

Or, at least that’s how long is seemed to Spencer.

Sometime later, her head resting on the ground, she saw an ant crawling toward her hand which was resting right below her chin. She watched with wonder as the little bug fearlessly began ascending the mountain, or as she liked to refer to it as, her thumb. Not moving an inch, afraid to scare it off, she remained amazed as Marty – that was his name now – made his way over her thumb, onto the back of her hand and continued onto her arm.

You wouldn’t think an ant would be so awe-inspiring, but it was to Spencer. That insect, knowing full well that the person it was about to climb on was a thousand times its size, bravely attempted to conquer her. To Marty, fear was not an option because if it became an option, it would realize that the probability of escaping this situation alive was minute, and it would run away.