Parkour in the Park

[Isla Hudson]

It was a nice day out, not too hot, a cool breeze rustling the leaves on the trees as birds chattered with each other.  This was something Isla loved, being outside in the park, especially with all the gardens and fountains and such.  One day, she thought, she would like to have a house on some property somewhere so she could have her own garden and a dog...or two...or more! 

That would come in time, she knew, but for now, she was just glad to have a place like Lincoln Park just a couple blocks from her apartment.

Happy to be done with her nursing boards, she was in the mood to work off some energy, so she'd tossed on her sweats and was now jogging through the park, occasionally dropping down and rolling over on her shoulder, then hopping back to her feet, or bounding off a tree trunk, practicing her parkour.

Then she spotted an unoccupied bench and took it on as a challenge, seeing how many different ways she could jump over, on or around it, improvising, seeing how creative she could get.  Besides, the more energy she exerted, the more calories she was working off toward getting an ice cream when she was done!

@madison Lily Ellingham

[Deleted]

Madison was out jogging. It was a rare happenstance for her as she normally liked more pro-active ways of keeping fit - boxing, self-defense, basketball - things where it felt like you were playing a game or achieving something. She knew that some people liked to jog - found it calming and mind-clearing. Generally speaking, Madison just found it boring. If she wanted to be calm, she'd veg out in front of the TV for God's sake. She didn't need to be both calm and active - that just seemed oxymoronical if you asked her.

But, the fates had convened, had a discussion and decided to screw her over for some past sin that morning. The court she had had booked for her one-on-herself basketball workout had been double booked and, as it was a weekend morning, the gym had been packed with soccer moms and business men. She didn't like stripping down to her sports bra and gym shorts and working out in front of people like that. They tended to look her way. Normally with irritation and animosity that was fueled by jealousy. Like they thought she didn't work hard for her physique.

Oh well, jogging it was.

Lincoln Park seemed like as good a place as any, so she had been doing a few circuits of the place, headphones popped in place and the dulcet tones of Eminem keeping her feet in a pounding rhythm.

It was as she was running around a fountain and down past some bushes that the corner of her eye picked up someone falling over. She slowed her pace and removed a headphone to see if someone needed help, only to get a better look at the victim. A victim who had popped back up to her feet and was carrying on without a scratch on her. Frowning, Madison carried on jogging, keeping a little ways back from Miss Accident Prone and then came to a stop - jogging on the spot - as she watched the girl approach and assess a bench.

After the woman had leaped the thing a few times, using a different method each go, Madison realised what was going on. The girl was doing parkour, a skill Madison had seen in movies and youtube and such, but never seen someone actually do before her eyes.

Judging from the energy and adrenaline pouring off the girl, it looked like a good work out too. At least, a hell of a lot better than stupid jogging. And as Madison wasn't in any way shape or form shy, she headed straight over.

"Hi there!" she called out when she wasn't far off, making sure to yell when the girl's feet were on the ground so that she wouldn't startle her or cause an accident. She hurried over. "That's parkour, right?" She asked with a smile, breathing a little heavily from her run.

Tag: Isla Hudson ,

[Isla Hudson]

Isla had seen the woman approaching and paused in her antics, afraid she was going to do something stupid or clumsy, like get tangled in the bench and make a fool of herself. She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm a little rusty at it...self-taught, mostly, so I could do better, but it makes working out more fun."

As she spoke, she realized the knew the woman from somewhere, although it took her a moment to figure out where, and then put a name and title to her.

Court...good guy, not a criminal trying to wriggle her way out of something... Right, a detective...

"Isla Hudson." She stuck out a hand. "Court reporter..." in case the woman recognized her as well, "you're...Ellingham, right? Madison..."

@zen2,

[Deleted]

Madison shook her head as the girl claimed to be rusty. She stuck out her bottom lip and shrugged.

"It looks good to me." She told the girl. "Though I'm not really an expert."

As the girl pinpointed who she was and confirmed her name, Madison flattened a hand to her chest and imitated fawning with adoration.

"I love it when my reputation precedes me." She said jokingly, and then reached out to take the girl's hand. "Nice to meet you Isla. I recognise your face from the courthouse. Sorry I've never said 'hi' before."

Madison was a friendly person by nature and tended to like to make friends with everyone. She had very few that she would consider to be best friends and let that level of closeness develop with very few people. But her friends and acquaintances list went on forever. At the courthouse though, Madison was always blinkered. Whenever she was there, it was to put away a serious piece of slime - either violent criminals or child abductors - and she was very, very aware that her testimony, as a detective on the case, was incredibly important. That it needed to be flawless if the guy was going to be put away. So she had always on a bench in the main hall, staring into a coffee cup, reciting her statements and reliving the case to keep her mind and words focused. It wasn't really the best time for her friend-making skills.

"...self-taught, mostly, so I could do better, but it makes working out more fun."

"I'd say it looks that way, yeah." She looked between the girl and the bench. "You mind a tag-along?" she asked and then made a face of apology for her forwardness. "It's just-" she waved behind her. "I've been jogging for like the last half hour and it's not getting an funner." She said with a laugh. "It's not my normally preferred method of exercise and I'd be monumentally grateful if you could help provide me with an alternative?" She grinned as sweetly as possible, placing her hands together in prayer. "The calorific snack of choice at the end of the work out is on me?"

Tag: Isla Hudson ,

[Isla Hudson]

"I love it when my reputation precedes me." She said jokingly, and then reached out to take the girl's hand. "Nice to meet you Isla. I recognise your face from the courthouse. Sorry I've never said 'hi' before."

"Nah, that's all right, I'm used to that." People tended to look past the recorder, she was just another prop in the room and she didn't mind that. "Besides, you can't very well wave while we're working, and that's kind of the only time our paths have crossed."

After all, once testifying was done, the detectives got out of there as quickly as they could. Even though they might be helping to put a bad guy away, none of them really wanted to be wasting time in court being grilled by some slimy defense attorney and being made to feel like they were guilty.

"...self-taught, mostly, so I could do better, but it makes working out more fun."

"I'd say it looks that way, yeah." She looked between the girl and the bench. "You mind a tag-along?" she asked and then made a face of apology for her forwardness. "It's just-" she waved behind her. "I've been jogging for like the last half hour and it's not getting an funner."

"Sure, I'd be happy for some company." Isla shrugged and nodded, "although I can't promise I'll make things any more interesting."

"It's not my normally preferred method of exercise and I'd be monumentally grateful if you could help provide me with an alternative?" She grinned as sweetly as possible, placing her hands together in prayer. "The calorific snack of choice at the end of the work out is on me?"

"Oh, well, in that case!" Isla laughed. "I have a craving for a Polly Ann's ice cream, so you're on!" The detective looked like she was in good shape and agile, so she probably wouldn't kill herself trying a few stunts.

"So, are you game to try a few things? It's just a matter of sizing up the forms of whatever you're running at, then planning a follow-through." Not that 'follow-through' didn't often end in pain!

@zen2,