Blood Before Dawn

The sun was just rising over her sleepy college town. She hobbled away from the incident, blood dripping from her wounds. She was so dirty she was not even sure where she was hurt--she just knew there was blood, and a lot of it. The birds were chirping, but no one else was awake yet. She needed help, but had nowhere to go.

After walking for a bit she started to feel stronger, and she began to run. She finally reached a seedy motel and went inside. The bored front desk clerk barely glanced at her as she entered, frantic look on her dirty face and the blood now dry on her wounds. She needed to get to a bathroom, and then she would figure out what to do next. Finally a kind soul directed her to the nearest ladies' room. She cringed when she saw the blood on the door frame, and then realized it was hers. She looked in the mirror to assess the damage ...

And the drama ends there. I was running early this morning, tripped on a bad section of sidewalk, and scraped my chin and my right knee. It's not pretty, but I'll survive. The "incident" happened before 6:30 a.m. I was near the Waffle Shop on West College, but it wasn't open yet (and I don't think they would have appreciated me getting blood in the public restoom in their dining establishment). I did have my cell phone with me, but because I was able to continue running with no pain (I ignored my throbbing chin), I soldiered on.

The "seedy motel" was the Quality Inn across from the Waffle Shop on North Atherton. Not exactly seedy, although the front desk clerk really just gave me a quick glance, despite the blood covering my arms from wiping my chin. Fortunately a guest at the motel directed me to a restroom. So I cleaned up myself and the doorframe, and ran the remaining two miles back to my car. And then I went to the grocery store. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to go grocery shopping by myself in an almost-empty store! My first stop in the store was the band-aid section. And yes, I pulled one out of the box and applied it before paying. Possibly my biggest crime.

So when I got home at about 8:15 a.m., I had already taken Alex to the airport (he is going on a trip with his grandparents), run 7.5 miles, suffered a mild but very bloody injury to my chin, and gone grocery shopping for the week. I am awesome.