Falling Faster

Chapter 1

THE FOREST BLURRED AROUND her as she felt a surge of adrenaline. The steady drum of her footsteps echoed in her ears, and she felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead. The delicious rush of wind that passed her face was thrilling. A familiar warmth seeped through her muscles as she surrendered herself to the beat of her feet against the ground. Forcing her legs to push harder, she focused on the cool evening air, letting her thoughts escape her.

Rounding a bend in the path, Katherine came to an abrupt halt. Her breathing hitched in her throat, making her already screaming lungs just about to burst. She exhaled slowly, capturing every panoramic sweep of endless plains to the mountain peaks topped with snow from the receding winter. The view never ceased to amaze her, and she suddenly felt thankful to escape from the throngs of people in the city, quite a different feeling than the one she had when her mom made her move to Ouray, Colorado.

Accustomed to the bustling streets of New York City, she always appreciated nature and understood its wonder, but never desired to be hiking in the forest or camping under the stars, hence why the majority of her nature walks were taken in Central Park. But, when her mom's wonderful job of journalism offered her a position at their headquarters in Colorado, she couldn't pass it up. It didn't help that her mom grew up in Ouray and wanted to show her daughter the place where she spent the majority of her childhood. Their one year "home-iversary", as her mom liked to call it, was coming up, and Katherine found herself not missing NYC so much anymore.

When they first moved here, she was furious with her mom, with her friends that suddenly wanted nothing to do with her, and with the fact she had to start at a new high school. Wanting to be out of the house and away from her mother, she took to walking the streets, and when she grew bored of seeing the same storefronts, she began hiking the paths in the surrounding forests. Walking turned into running until it became not just a habit, but a need to run. Every morning, and evening, her body yearned to be pushed to its limit, her muscles ached to get back on the trails, and her eyes lusted for the sunrises and sunsets. Now, as she passed her usual sitting rock and walked to the perimeter of the cliff, sitting dangerously close to the edge and letting her legs dangle, she couldn't imagine her life without this passion.

Turning her eyes up to the darkening sapphire blue sky, she watched the white cloud patches glide nearly imperceptibly against it. Her legs swung freely in the air, a cool breeze tickling her calves, as she watched the clouds roll by as the sun sank closer to the mountaintops. A soft pink paint dusted some drifting clouds, and a hue of orange bounced off every living thing. The sun seemed to whisper farewell to the world as it sunk lower and lower in a lazy manner, almost as if it never wanted to leave. As the giant of the sky drifted below the snowy peaks, its kind tips offered their last farewell.

With the sun gone, it was time for night to approach—Katherine's favorite part of the day. The stars slowly began to materialize until suddenly, millions of those twinkling jewels surfaced in the transitioning blue sky. Without the buildings and city lights to block out the stars' light, they shined spectacularly. Leaning back on her hands, she watched as more stars appeared, and the dust of the Milky Way spread across the sky. The moon's presence added to the splendor of the twinkling backdrop in the distant reaches of space.

Knowing she was cutting it dangerously close to her curfew, she stayed a few minutes longer, the sky too captivating to leave. Before she turned away from the gleaming stars, a bright flash appeared to the left of the Milk Way, darting fast against the now midnight blue sky. She couldn't believe she almost missed a shooting star! There hadn't been one since they moved, and she'd come to this very spot for more than half the year, watching patiently for one to appear. She gaped as the bright star bolted through the dark, gradually seeming to grow by each passing second.