encounter

I touched it for the first time. My bare, uncallused feet tightly latch onto the rough, leathery, balance beam. At this point in my life, the balance beam seems both very long and comfortably wide for my size one feet. I look down at my toes which are a little more than two feet off the ground. My head stays down as I slowly lift each foot into the air and back down again, careful not to fall off. The instructor says to do small hops across the beam. My heart speeds up a little as I put my weight into the beam and remove it just as fast. My feet barely lifted off the beam but I have moved forward back onto the familiar, grippy texture. Lifting my eyes and head a few inches higher, I venture into the open air for a fraction of a second for the second time, lifting my feet slightly higher as well.