footprints...

I went for a run along the beach t'other day.
It was a beautiful evening and the sunset was spectacular.
I was following footprints along the shoreline, partly because I like the feeling of stepping in other people's shoes, so to speak, and also because this is usually the best way to avoid sticky or deep sand.
So, I was huffing and puffing my way across the final few kilometres of my run when I noticed a set of particularly striking footprints.
They were going in the other direction but looked so strong and strident that I took up their trail.
I had to speed up a bit and stretch my stride just to keep up with the perfect prints.
I marvelled at how straight and even the runners path had been, how each step had left the clear imprint of their trainer sole on the sand.
It was a full ten minutes before I realised that they were my own footprints.