text: "The Trail" As he left his vehicle and approached the Trail, he let out a deep sigh of relief. Relief from deadlines, burdens, and technology. Relief from artificiality and society's expectations. On the Trail, he experienced freedom. Gone were the ringing phones, text messages, and emails. On the Trail, he was able to achieve total solitude, bliss, nirvana. As he ran along the stream, he listened to the gentle sound of the clear water passing through the rocks, playing an impossibly serene symphony to accompany his journey. He passed by boulders blanketed in thick emerald moss. Their enormity dwarfed him. He climbed a long slope, and his thighs began to burn. His legs had sat stagnant all week, their only purpose keeping him upright in his chair. His heart began to beat faster and harder, and his lungs began to suck more air. His feet moved swiftly and with grace over the roots, rocks, and trunks of fallen trees which littered the Trail. As the ascent became steeper, he lifted his knees and dug his toes into the Trail. He swung his arms and maintained a steady pace as his eyes focused on the summit. Twenty more feet. His mind turned back to all the pressures in his life. The daily obligations that kept him feeling like he was in a constant state of drowning. Ten more feet. Finally, he reached his destination. His lungs burned and his legs ached. His eyes began to fill with tears as he looked out on the horizon. He felt absolute bliss. He was home.