by Owen Payne

The Runner

The Runner rises at dawn. If she does not run at dawn, then who is she? With her shoes on her feet, the Runner trudges down to the shoreline, to drag her identity out of the sea. The Runner moves alongside the sea, breathing in and out with the tide, filling her lungs with salt and soul. The Sun rises by an hour, and the runner must return to her home to assume the identity of a Worker.

A worker enters the library, yearning to once again become the Runner. A Worker knows that their colleagues would not understand the Runner. A Worker knows that they must work to return to the sea, and so, the Runner remains concealed while a Worker reigns.

A Worker’s colleagues tell her that she should be more than a Worker, more than the Runner. They tell a Worker that she should consider becoming the Drunkard with them on fridays, or that she should be become the Fucker– ”A Worker is a good looking man afterall.” But these people only know a Worker, they do not know the wonder that can be found in the Runner. They wouldn’t understand who the Runner is. And so, a Worker reminds those people that she is only a worker. 

The Sun finishes its time in the sky, and a Worker leaves the library. The Runner resumes her place, and seeks out the train to return home. Instead of walking straight to her apartment, she decides to stop for dinner with her Parents. Her parents know both the Runner and a Worker; they accept her as she is and love whoever she chooses to be. She figures that it had been a whole day since she had been seen, if one is not seen do they even exist? And so, the Runner sits down for dinner with her parents. They smile and laugh, the Runner tells them of her day and they tell her of theirs. They talk about the evening’s plans and of tomorrow’s duties. The Runner talks of her ritual; of sunrises and saltwater; of sea and of work. Her parents smile, telling the Runner that if she spends any more time with the sea she might just be swallowed up by it. The Runner smiles, telling her parents that she loves them, before returning to her home and her bed; ready to drag herself out from the ocean once more. 

My name is Owen Payne. I am a senior at UAlbany interested in stories and information, majoring in History and Anthropology. I consider myself a jack of all trades, I like to keep my interests vast and I think that tends to reflect itself in my writing. My personal life tends to reflect itself in my writing; be it my thoughts in flash fiction or fears in horror.