One Day She Decided To Become Fearless

One day she decided to become fearless.
She rode her bike on the road.
She put her hand up when her boss said ‘any questions?’
Instead of standing on the right side, she walked down the escalator on the left side.
She ordered takeaway from a menu she hadn’t used before.
(It was small steps to begin with.)

The next day,
She rode her bike on the road without a helmet.
She handed in her notice without getting references.
She ran down the escalator on the left side.
She stood as close as possible to the edge of the platform, in front of the yellow line, to see the headlights in the tunnel and feel the underground winds on her face as the train approached.
She cooked her dinner using takeaway leftovers that she had not covered or refrigerated from the night before.
(It wasn’t enough.)

The next day,
She found a black cat to walk past, a set of three drains to walk over, a ladder to run under, and stepped on
e v e r y c r a c k i n t h e p a v e m e n t.
Then rode her bike in the middle of the road and wove in and out of traffic.
At work, she helped herself to a little of everything from the stationery cupboard – including the copy-boy, Apollo.
She ran down the escalator. On the right side.
She sang loudly on the crowded tube, wearing headphones that weren’t plugged in, and didn’t hold on to the rail.
She ordered the hottest thing on the menu, from three different menus, then added scotch bonnet chillis and sweated her way through her own personal monsoon.

Then,
She swore at a lone magpie
She ordered a plane ticket to Australia and went to the airport without her passport
She walked through a bad neighbourhood in the dark wearing fifties pinned to her knickers
She ate a spider. A really big one
She invited a total stranger from the supermarket to look after her flat and her cat
She kissed a tramp
She talked loudly about her PIN number in public whilst using her debit card as a fan
She travelled long distance by train without a book, or a change of underwear
She used a squat toilet in an area not previously known for having any squat toilets
She drove a hire car across the desert to pick up hitchhikers
She set up a small independent bookselling business using all of her savings
She kicked a horse
She flew a plane across the Atlantic after one lesson and without a parachute
She ate street food in Delhi
She did not take her malaria tablets
She stagedived at a concert she was not playing at
She robbed a bank at gunpoint using a water-pistol so she could claim ‘it was only a joke’
She married Apollo, the copy-boy, in Vegas, without a pre-nup
She flew a hot air balloon solo across the Atlantic, and back, in one go
She entered the space programme and flew to the moon
She made lunch for her inlaws
She sold her flat in a downturn, and her cat
And,
She crossed the road at a pedestrian crossing on a red light

(Unfortunately she was hit head-on by a taxi and killed.
Our thoughts are with her family.)