Excerpt: Apollo and Daphne

One. Two.
One. Two.
In. Out.
In. Out.

Sweat ran down Apollo’s nose and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. His brown eyes were locked on Hermes back as his best friend ran before him, their feet pounding the trail in the same rhythm.

One. Two.
One. Two.
In. Out.
In. Out.

Apollo was blind to the trees around them, deaf to the calls of the startled birds and squirrels as the first two runners passed. He focused on the beat of his footsteps on the damp leaves covering the path, and on his breath.

In. Out.
In. Out.

His heart thundered in his chest in an even rhythm. Pumping steadily, pumping hard. Thud, thud, thud. Her heart hadn’t been thudding by the time he reached her.

In. Out.
In. Out.

A small gasp escaped him at the memory. The dull crack as the disc hit her temple. The expression on her face as she fell. They said she was dead before she hit the ground. Dead as she started at him and fell.

Apollo growled and his feet picked up the rhythm of his new heartbeat. Angry, thundering. He was going to outrun his guilt today. Run faster than the ghost of Hyacinth.

“Too soon, man,” Hermes said between breaths as Apollo passed him.

Apollo ignored him and kept up his pace. He wouldn’t tire today, he would burn up the hot regret running through his veins. Burn it all up until there was nothing left and he was empty. As empty as Hyacinth’s eyes.

The sound of Hermes feet behind him changed, and soon he was inching up on Apollo. Hermes had always been the faster runner, ever since they were little, but today Apollo wanted to win. Today he would win.

Hermes matched his pace, breathing harsher than before, and when he began to pull ahead near the end Apollo called up all of his guilt and shame and anger and ran, as fast as he could at that point, and broke out of the trees ahead of his friend.
Apollo crossed the finish line a single step ahead.