The bike sails across the wet road, friction and caution abandoned in the pursuit of speed.

The cyclist pedals madly on the shoulder of the road, not flinching as the loud cars rumble by and splash a soaked torso.

Freedom and speed.

A hill comes, and faster and faster the legs pedal up the step gradient, the cyclist leaps out of the saddle and throws the bike side to side to get the most power possible.

The hill crests, and the bike freezes in the suspended change of direction. Up becomes down.

The rain feels more forceful as the descent begins, and the cyclist sails down the hill. Body folded into the geometry of the bike for the most aerodynamic position to gather the most speed possible.

The wind rustles hair not helmet, as the rain gives form to the chaotic slipstream.

The truck rumbles and gains on the cyclist, an angry engine roaring at the furious pedal of the legs. Just as the noise reaches its crescendo, person and bike launch into the road.

The cyclist gracefully exits the road’s shoulder as the human shoulder collides with one of the 16 wheels of the truck.

Freedom and speed.

Bike, body, and brain become one in the spinning horror of the truck’s axle. The cyclist’s grin remains plastered on a face where the skin will never grow back, as the memories escape a consciousness in limbo.

The hospital sheets are dry and flakey, and the whistle of the wet wind is replaced by a shuffle of shoes.

The truck driver gasps and grasps at a head that was unable to respond in time to the meanuveur of the cyclist. The police ask questions, and the truck driver contorts until they stop.

The statements from witnesses and the truck driver go up and down the hill, as the endless chase continues. The pen of the attorney for the dead cyclist moves faster and faster across the paper, until the police unfold the bodies. Up becomes down.

The consistent slipstream of memories from every prisoner of the truck gives form to the truth.

The death penalty is successful, and the powdered mandible of the cyclist grins.

Freedom and speed.