text: This is the opening of a short story I’m submitting to magazines for publication. I would love critique, feedback or just to be blasted. I will post the rest if you guys like it.... “Runner” Three am. Sleep hid from her, peeking around the corner, sniggering as Ally Nash kicked the covers. She rolled over. Alone. Eighteen months and his half of the bed was still empty. Rob was a light sleeper in his day. Maybe he’d have gotten up and talked to her through her insomnia. Or they would have made love. She missed him and hated him. Hated being alone. Hated him for what he did. Ally looked at her running shorts and U of M hoodie, slung over the side of her laundry hamper, and knew they could soak up one more sweat. Her panties and socks were fresh from the drawer, smelling like fabric softener. Just enough to offset the day-old musk. She got dressed and swallowed a cup of water, popped in her earbuds, stepped into her shoes and walked out the door. The air felt right, a satisfying burn, deep in her lungs. Her heart thanked her for giving it a reason to be. Her knee, on the other hand, grumbled for a day off. No. Motion is the lotion. She picked up the pace and drug the gummy joint through the paces until it relented. Ally’s stride came back and her cross country coach's voice echoed from deep in her brainstem. Three steps, in breath, four steps, out breath... in your nose, out your mouth... pick up the pace! The endorphins trickled into her blood and her mind floated just above her own skull. That was the real runners high. That ancient survival mechanism, adapted to running down animals in the plains of Africa. There was no worry there. No regret. No anxiety. No fiancé with locked apps on his phone. Up there she didn’t have to live with herself. The self who couldn’t ignore her gut any longer. The girl who told herself; you’re just being paranoid, he’s a good guy, nothing is going on, don’t be like your mother. Don’t push him away. Give him his space. He’s at the gym. Out with his friends. Don’t follow him. Ally! Don’t do it. Please. Don’t look- Enough! Thank god she never gave up on running. It saved her life in high school. When dad moved out and her mom’s drinking took a turn. Ally found peace in the rhythm of her feet and the floating of her mind. Running got her medals, ribbons, articles in the newspaper, a scholarship to the U and brought her together with Rob. Rob. The bastard with a majestic stride. Perfect. Fluid. Natural. He set the pace for their college team, Captain Rob. Three hour practices followed by sex in the shower. He picked Ally over a dozen other girls and they quickly became inseparable. The happiest days of her life. SNAP! Razor-sharp teeth flashed in the dark. Ally’s heart tumbled out of rhythm and fear snatched her out of reminiscing. She leapt off the blacktop and into the road. A snarling black lab yanked at the end of its chain, barking at what it believed was an intruder to its property. Oh my god! Ally clutched her chest and sighed, relieved it was just a halfwit mutt and not some ancient demon of the shadows. Once she reigned in her pulse and verified she hadn’t wet herself, Ally Nash looped back to the sidewalk and made a mental note to avoid the dog next time she ran in the dark. The nature preserve was a mile from her front door. Her favorite trail loop gave her seven miles to work her pace and get all the sweat she needed to get through another day. As she turned away from the road, facing into the woods, Ally stopped and checked the time. Four AM. At least an hour until the sun even started to glow. She’d never run that loop in the dark. It should be empty, Ally reckoned. Nothing to worry about. Besides, if the boogeyman happened to be in there, there’s almost no chance he could run six minute miles. One thought gave her pause. Her neighbor had posted a security camera photo of a canine they thought was a wolf. Most of the amateur nature experts on Facebook decided it was a German shepherd that should have had its collar on. A few men, Area Fifty One types, believed the ears and muzzle looked like they could belong to a coyote. One commenter noted that a pair of wolves had escaped a nature preserve twenty miles to the North on the night of a vicious rainstorm and were still being pursued by the DNR.