catch a prolonged breath.
“Stay hydrated, folks!” Dylan called in between jumping jacks. “Hang in there! We’re halfway done!”
“Halfway?” James panted to no one in particular. His chest was tight and he had a sharp pain in his side. Sweat dripped into his eyes and his body felt as heavy as an anchor. He didn’t think he could take another step, let alone raise his arms high above his head and wave them left and right.
“Trees in the wind!” Dylan shouted. “Wave those arms, folks!”
In the mirror, James saw Lucy behind him and off to his right. She was struggling, but still managing to weakly imitate Dylan’s moves. She caught James watching her and gave him an exaggerated eye roll accompanied by a quick smile.
Wanting to appear as capable as Lucy of grimly following through to the bitter end of Dylan’s routine, James raised his elbows slightly above his waist and tried to follow the instructor’s energetic sidestepping motions. As James held up his leaden arms and shuffled to the left like a zombie, the lights in the room seemed to gradually grow brighter. He gazed at the ceiling as the dozen tiny spotlights flared out like Christmas tree stars. The pounding beat of the music changed, too. Suddenly, James could barely hear it at all. His head filled with a pleasant feeling of emptiness and a curtain of darkness fell before his eyes.
“James!” Lucy shouted, bending over him.
James looked up at her from his vantage point on the wooden floor.
“Are you okay?” Gillian’s face appeared among the ring of faces that were encircling and gazing down upon his sweat-slicked body. “I think you need some water.”
“I agree. Let’s give him some room, folks.” Dylan waved the small group back and knelt beside James. “Y’all grab yourselves a mat and we’ll do some cool down stretches in a second. Our friend will be just fine.”
The members of the class hesitated and then gratefully positioned their mats and sank down onto them. No one even pretended to stretch. A few people even lay prone on the mats, their chests rising and falling rapidly. Lucy was the last to sit down and even after she did, she continued to stare in James’s direction, a look of concern on her flushed face.
“Did I faint?” James asked the younger man in a horrified whisper.
Dylan nodded briskly. “Don’t be embarrassed, though. You were just working really hard and you didn’t hydrate enough. Here, take some slow slips of this.”
James refused to allow Dylan to hold onto his head as he propped himself up on his right elbow and drank some tepid water.
“Better now?” Dylan asked kindly as James moved himself to a sitting position.
“I’m all right. Sorry to interrupt the class.” James slouched over to where the stack of blue floor mats were kept and pulled one to the very back of the room by the door. As Dylan led the class through their final stretches, he reiterated the importance of drinking water throughout his classes. James was completely mortified and avoided the eyes of all his friends as they attempted to meet his in the mirror. He knew they meant well, but he was too humiliated to accept their sympathy at the moment.
The second the class ended, James hustled out of the room as fast as his numb legs would carry him and did not even bother to replace his exercise mat. He grabbed his bag of entrées on the way out and only felt like pausing to slug Ronnie. As she handed him his food, she clapped him repeatedly on his sweat-soaked back and oozed, “Don’t you have a healthy glow?” Then she winked at him flirtatiously and exclaimed, “Why Mr. Henry, I swear you look thinner already! See you Wednesday!”
James settled himself in a booth at Dolly’s Diner fifteen minutes before his scheduled meeting time with Lucy. This booth had become a favorite of James’s as the paneled walls above it were decorated with coconut shells, a grass skirt, a grouping of colorful leis, two small tiki
“Stay hydrated, folks!” Dylan called in between jumping jacks. “Hang in there! We’re halfway done!”
“Halfway?” James panted to no one in particular. His chest was tight and he had a sharp pain in his side. Sweat dripped into his eyes and his body felt as heavy as an anchor. He didn’t think he could take another step, let alone raise his arms high above his head and wave them left and right.
“Trees in the wind!” Dylan shouted. “Wave those arms, folks!”
In the mirror, James saw Lucy behind him and off to his right. She was struggling, but still managing to weakly imitate Dylan’s moves. She caught James watching her and gave him an exaggerated eye roll accompanied by a quick smile.
Wanting to appear as capable as Lucy of grimly following through to the bitter end of Dylan’s routine, James raised his elbows slightly above his waist and tried to follow the instructor’s energetic sidestepping motions. As James held up his leaden arms and shuffled to the left like a zombie, the lights in the room seemed to gradually grow brighter. He gazed at the ceiling as the dozen tiny spotlights flared out like Christmas tree stars. The pounding beat of the music changed, too. Suddenly, James could barely hear it at all. His head filled with a pleasant feeling of emptiness and a curtain of darkness fell before his eyes.
“James!” Lucy shouted, bending over him.
James looked up at her from his vantage point on the wooden floor.
“Are you okay?” Gillian’s face appeared among the ring of faces that were encircling and gazing down upon his sweat-slicked body. “I think you need some water.”
“I agree. Let’s give him some room, folks.” Dylan waved the small group back and knelt beside James. “Y’all grab yourselves a mat and we’ll do some cool down stretches in a second. Our friend will be just fine.”
The members of the class hesitated and then gratefully positioned their mats and sank down onto them. No one even pretended to stretch. A few people even lay prone on the mats, their chests rising and falling rapidly. Lucy was the last to sit down and even after she did, she continued to stare in James’s direction, a look of concern on her flushed face.
“Did I faint?” James asked the younger man in a horrified whisper.
Dylan nodded briskly. “Don’t be embarrassed, though. You were just working really hard and you didn’t hydrate enough. Here, take some slow slips of this.”
James refused to allow Dylan to hold onto his head as he propped himself up on his right elbow and drank some tepid water.
“Better now?” Dylan asked kindly as James moved himself to a sitting position.
“I’m all right. Sorry to interrupt the class.” James slouched over to where the stack of blue floor mats were kept and pulled one to the very back of the room by the door. As Dylan led the class through their final stretches, he reiterated the importance of drinking water throughout his classes. James was completely mortified and avoided the eyes of all his friends as they attempted to meet his in the mirror. He knew they meant well, but he was too humiliated to accept their sympathy at the moment.
The second the class ended, James hustled out of the room as fast as his numb legs would carry him and did not even bother to replace his exercise mat. He grabbed his bag of entrées on the way out and only felt like pausing to slug Ronnie. As she handed him his food, she clapped him repeatedly on his sweat-soaked back and oozed, “Don’t you have a healthy glow?” Then she winked at him flirtatiously and exclaimed, “Why Mr. Henry, I swear you look thinner already! See you Wednesday!”
James settled himself in a booth at Dolly’s Diner fifteen minutes before his scheduled meeting time with Lucy. This booth had become a favorite of James’s as the paneled walls above it were decorated with coconut shells, a grass skirt, a grouping of colorful leis, two small tiki
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