Heartbeat

Annie, a 12-year-old girl, loves to run. She especially loves to run barefoot and listen to the rhythms of her footfalls and her breathing. She often runs through her small town with her childhood friend Max, who is one year older than her. Her mother tells her that she was running even before she was born. Annie lives with her parents and her grandfather. Her grandfather says that his brains are like “scrambled eggs” (19), and often forgets who he is or what happened in his past. When he was younger, he also loved to run, but often cannot remember why he quit. Annie’s mother tells her that he was a champion racer who stopped running at 15, and only ran again with her when she was a child. Annie worries that her mother is sick, because she is often nauseous and tired, but learns that she is pregnant. Annie is fascinated by the idea that there is a person growing inside of her mother and imagines that the cells multiplying in her stomach are a horse instead.

In “Moody Max,” Annie reflects on how she does not understand her friend Max, and how he changed after his father left his family.