The Pink Mat

I am at my first class at the gym on Oak Street. I have a new mat. It is bright pink.

“Good morning!” the instructor says. “Put your mat down. We start now.”

I put my mat down. Everyone is on the floor. The instructor is smiling.

“Lift your arms! Now bend! Breathe!”

I lift my arms. I bend. My mat moves away from me.

“Follow the program,” she says. “Step on your mat.”

But my mat is now under the next woman. I am exercising on the floor with no mat.

At the end, I am tired and red. I did not complete one move on my mat.

“Great course!” the instructor says. “Same time next week?”

I look at my pink mat, far across the room. “I’ll bring tape,” I say.