My knees were around my ears and had begun a tight, vigorous tremble.

I was low in the wild lilac, attempting to compress my spine into a progressively smaller form. My feet were rooted flat to the ground, pulling stiff, old hamstrings tighter than they wanted. I looked down to the ground, concentrating on keeping my breath to a dull roar, my pulse to something less than a drumbeat. I hoped the sun would stay behind the clouds long enough that it wouldn’t catch a bit of my watch, my bike, my sunglasses. I was starting to lose feeling in my lower legs.