There it was again; that familiar pounding of her heart that only activated when she was in danger. It was like a gathering of pulse that started in her chest, then quickly consumed her being, until her ears, her gut, even the flat of her tongue felt it; pounding like a sledgehammer from the inside out. The first time she felt it was the night she got married. The only difference between that night and now was that, then, she sat cowering in a closet, more afraid to run than she was to stay. Yet, today, she was stronger than she had ever been. And, as she took the stairs three at a time, she wondered how the two compared and why she hadn’t been as strong all these years as she was now. Wasn’t this situation equally as threatening? Or, was it that she suddenly had a renewed will to live?