24/02/2026
OSMOSIS
The road back home was always the same—bumpy, long, and quiet.
I’d been riding that old black bicycle for years. It was a heavy thing, made of thick iron that didn’t like to turn quickly. Every day, I spent hours on that seat, pedaling over rocks and ruts until the vibration became the only thing I could feel.
I remembered the Sergeant’s words about the exchange. “Spend your life on a bicycle,” he’d said, “and the road’s friction causes a leak. Your atoms seep into the iron; its atoms seep into you.”
I used to laugh it off as a joke.But lately, I’ve noticed the shift.
It started with my legs. After a long ride, they didn't want to walk or bend like a normal person's. They felt straight and rigid, like two iron pipes. I found myself leaning against the kitchen wall at a strange angle, perfectly balanced, just like the bike. I wasn't even tired; I just felt like I had forgotten how to be "soft." I felt like I was made of the same heavy metal as the frame.
But the strange part was the bicycle itself.
One evening, I left it outside in a cold rain. When I went to get it the next morning, the bike felt stubborn. It didn't want to go fast. It felt moody and tired, the same way I feel when I haven't had enough sleep. It was as if we had spent so much time together that we had swapped our temperaments. I was becoming more like a machine, quiet and steady, and the bike was becoming more like a person.
Now, when I’m out on the road, the line between us is gone. I don’t think, "I am riding this bike." I just think, "We are moving."
My hands and the rubber grips feel like the same thing. My feet and the pedals move in a perfect, mindless circle. I’ve spent so much of my life on this iron frame that I’ve leaked into it, and it has leaked into me.
I stopped by the river today to look at the water. I didn't sit down. I just leaned against a wooden post, my body tilted at that familiar forty-five-degree angle. I looked at the bicycle leaning next to me. It looked back with its shiny bell and its worn-out seat. For a second, I wasn't sure which one of us was supposed to start pedaling.
