Emily’s perspective:

Huffing in mouthful after mouthful of oxygen, fanning the furnace in my lungs, my chest, my back, and my throat swelter with a melting heat. Tension cramps and strains every strand of muscle in my worn legs. Each step transforms the tension into palpitating pangs that wrench my hips and arch my spine. Light-headed from the blood rushing up from my overworked coronary pathways, shooting stars impede my vision. My tendons, even my very bones and marrow, ache ...