by Natalie Fitts

Her headphones were in.

Her music was loud, blocking the sound of the cars passing by on the street next to her.

Her dog’s leash was in her hand.

It was a typical workout for sophomore Gina Ptacek on a route she ran three to four times every week. The only difference was the construction on her street, making the traffic heavier than usual.

At least, that was the only difference until her black labrador retriever, Bindi, spotted a squirrel.

Before long, her dog had pulled her right into the street. Right into the path of a car. Right onto the hood of that car.

Bindi had always been difficult to run with. She had even chased squirrels before. But one thing she had never done was gotten Gina hit by a car.

Despite her shock, and the obvious shock of the driver, Gina only remained on the car for about five seconds before sprinting back to the sidewalk. But she did not run straight home. No, she still had one mile left to run. Even though Bindi had messed up part of her run, she was not going to ruin the rest of it. Besides, the pain was not that bad and her leg was not bleeding that much, was it?

Before she had time to make sense of the situation herself, she had arrived home, knowing she would have to explain what happened to her mom.

“I fell,” was not a sufficient response for her mother. She had to tell the whole story to her mom, which she would later have to recount to her entire lunch table once her friends saw the cut on her leg.

She has continued to run the same route just as frequently since the incident, but she has left Bindi at home.