Walking down the street.

You know that moment when you trip on the pavement 

Because it’s dark and you were in a rush, and you forgot to watch your step like you normally do because you know how clumsy you are,

So you trip 

And in that moment time stops 

You see your face meet the pavement and your knees hit the ground 

Your jeans rip from the impact and blood soaks through each thread of denim 

You see yourself roll over and pick yourself back up, limping the rest of the way to your destination and having to explain to your friends how you, an actual adult, managed to trip and graze yourself like you did back when you were 5 years old years old. 

But you catch yourself 

Your feet slam against the ground first one then the other, then the other again, until you eventually catch up with yourself and can walk like a normal human being

Then the adrenaline kicks in 

“Holy shit” you exclaim to yourself letting the realisation that your face, knees, hands and jeans are indeed still intact, sink in

You take a deep breath and put a hand to your heart just to check if it really skipped as many beats as it did in your mind 

You slow down now 

Refusing to let yourself make that same mistake again 

Taking careful steps 

Calculated steps and completely avoiding what you know will cause another mishap 

That’s what it feels like to fall in love with the wrong person 

You see how it ends and you fall anyways and those wounds will now scar because your heart isn’t as young and naïve as it used to be 

Or you save yourself, 

land on two feet and carry on, knowing that you successfully dodged that crack in the pavement.

And next time you’ll be more careful when walking down the street.