The Fault In Our Parkour

Training

Jump.

It was early. Around 6:45 am or so. Kela stood at her front door in sweats and a plain tshirt.

Leap.

She took a deep breath in. She was really gonna try this.

Two nights before, She had stayed up late researching a sport.

Prescision.

Parkour.

A sport where the average person would dare not trod.

A sport where the challenger would get from Point A to Point B, using the everyday objects around himself to propel himself.

Flip.

It seemed almost a dream. Her? Scrawny, weak, Kela?

She laughed, tugging on her running shoes.

Fall.

She looked at her watch. 6:47. Time to get going with this first training session. Kela jogged down the steps, taking a turn off of her porch and yard, onto the sidewalk by the street.

She looked to the side. She could see the little town centre she lived by.

Kela continued to lightly jog down the sidewalk, and jogged in place while the cars slowed to a stop so she could cross. Kela sprinted across to the big field of grass where the excersise equipment was, thankfully no one was there. She wanted to be alone.

The girl practiced her rolls across a patch of grass. Her iPod was propped against a pole with a parkour roll tutorial playing. She tried at least 3 different rolls and was confident she could do it right. She checked that off her list.

According to an article she had read, a free-runner or parkourist should be able to be agile and compact, with an equal amount of strength.

Her eyes took a look at the pull-up bars.

The small girl marched over, jumped up and attempted to pull herself up, but immediately fell.

She yelped as her back hit the ground with a loud thud.

Parkourists should be agile, compact and strong.

Strength.

That's what she was missing.

Beads of sweat rolled down her nose and forehead, as she stood trying to regulate her breathing. She had been trying to train for about 45 minutes and was taking a break.

She wanted a partner to help her train.

Kela couldn't possibly achieve this off of the Internet without some kind of support.

She sighed, grabbed her backpack and began her cool down with a slow jog back home.

Kela continued this regimen for about 6 weeks, with her workout increasing each day. It was showing, her arms weren't just sticks anymore. Her hands were red, and eventually became calloused from the bar workouts. Too bad she didn't have a six pack. She chuckled to herself softly, collapsing on the grass, resting after a training session.

-

"HEYYY! GET BACK HERE YOU BUTT!!!!!"

Kela shot up, her ponytail whipping her brown hair up. She looked around to find from where the sound was coming from.

"HAHA I HAVE YOUR SWEATS KYLE!!!!"

Kela tried to hold in a laugh but ended up snorting. On the sidewalk about 50 yards away, was a blonde haired kid waving sweatpants in the air.

'Must be his,' Kela thought, looking towards the pants-less brunette trailing behind.

"Liam get your butt over here and give Kyle his pants back!!"

A brown haired, tall boy was jogging behind them, yelling after the other two.

Kela noticed they were all wearing sweats and running shoes.

'Nah,' she thought quietly to herself, 'Not free-runners.'

She sighed exasperatedly as they disappeared behind the green hill.

Two months passed.

Sure, Kela had gotten strength and she could do at least 8 to 10 pull ups, but she was still alone in her training. Once in awhile, she would see that trio of galavanters - sometimes she could say hi.

-

One gray morning, she was doing dips on the double bars, when she heard laughing in the distance and smiled. It must be them.

For Kela, those three were like her support in a way. They always pumped their fists as they passed by her, almost as if they were cheering her on in this training. These training sessions were always looked forward to.

When Kela finished her reps, she sat on the metal bench and used the hem of her shirt to wipe the sweat.

The laughing got louder.

"Hn?" She twisted her torso and looked behind her.

Those boys were coming to the excersise park!!

Kela panicked as she got up and tried to pack all her stuff as quickly as she could. Kela was definitely not ready to meet them. As soon as she packed her water bottle in, she heard a voice behind and cringed.

"Hey, girly!"

'Dammit,' she thought to herself. Biting down on her lip, she slowly turned around and smiled.

"Hi. I was just getting out of here, sooo I'll be going...."

"Wait! We wanted to talk to you."

She flinched as he looked up t the taller boy. "My name's Cole. This is Liam and Kyle." He pointed to the brown-haired boy and the blonde. They both grinned.

Cole continued. Kela nervously wiped her palms on the back of the gray, baggy sweats she was wearing. What did these guys want?

"We've been seeing you, er, train."

Kela shut her eyes. She must've looked like a fool. Kela wasn't the average person to train for a sport like parkour. She was 5'4", had a small build and was rather skinny.

"And it seems you know how to do a little..."

"....parkour?" Kyle finished Cole's sentence.

"Gosh, she's wearing sweats and running shoes. Of course she does." Liam scoffed.

Kela took a deep breath in and nodded, "Yeah. I'm training the best I can. My names Kela."