The wind in my hair, my feet on my pedals. I love to ride my bike and I am not able to do it often. The only thing is the ugly place I must ride it. The concrete jungle in which I live is hardly a good place to ride. Pot holes, sketchy streets and nothing to look at is just a few of the many reasons I don’t get out often. How I wish I could trade it all for the adventure and challenge of a ride in the jungle or atop a mountain’s peak. There it would be exciting and scenic. The thrill of the atmosphere and the physical challenge of biking up a steep slope or riding a twisting trail full of turns and bends.
My bike hits a deep pothole and I am almost thrown from my bike. The jolt spooks me enough I get off my bike. My wheel is stuck and I must get it out. I grab the handle and pull. Beads of sweat form on my brow and my arms burn. I stop and survey the situation. I have a stuck bike, in a dim alley and I am all alone. I grab it once more and pull, this time ignoring my pain. I pant hard and wipe away my sweat. One more strong pull and this time with success. The wheels turn and come loose. Pain sweeps through my body as I fall to the ground, I must have pulled too hard. I stand up, I have looked better. My hair is awry and my fore head sweaty, I look tired and forlorn. I mount my bike once more and continue my ride.
I can now imagine my destination. A jungle in a distant country, full of wild life and wild sights. The air is cool but moist and feels good when I breath. The sky above me is a canopy of green leaves instead of the normal grey smog filled sky I usually see. The daunting buildings have been replaced with tall trees whose bark is moss covered and in some tangled majestically. I can enjoy this so much more for the things to see and the places to go are great and plenty.
Why not everyone wishes to visit or even live here is a mystery to me. The animals and atmosphere are wonderful and my bike rides smoothly on the trail with a few bumps here and there from tree roots above ground. I look around this new landscape with awe. Why couldn’t the whole world be this way? I spot a toucan is in a tree branch looking at me. Its beak it colorful and it sits with a certain air about to that makes it seem important. I focus on the trail ahead of me now. I pick up speed and soar. The trees are just a dark green blur now as I zoom ahead on my way to somewhere but nowhere at all. I am going faster now and the whole world seems to melt around me. Up ahead bright lights can be seen. I figure they are just a clearing and decide to race myself towards it. The wind in my hair, my feet on the pedals. I am on a roll and the light only gets closer. Then a lion jumps out from behind a tree. I try to stop my bike without prevail. Wide eyed, I scream and the lion roars ferociously. Then everything is black.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. A steady beat awakens me. I open my eyes and find my mother staring at me. She stands up surprised but sits back down. She smiles to tell me everything is alright, but I can see through her. She has tears in her eyes and her knuckles are white grabbing the side of the bed. My father is in the hall with the doctor talking and waving his hands around like he does when he talks. I have a bandage on my head and a cast on my arm. I can’t move, it is too painful.
“Just relax,” my mother says calmly letting a tear escape her eye. “You were hit by a car.” She continues her voice cracks. My eyes tear up like her when I finally understand what has happened. I am embarrassed about what has happened. I only wanted to escape the world in which I live but I realize that I almost hurt my family. That day I promise myself to keep my feet on the ground, if only for my family.