Broken Foot

Your foot carries you. Every step, every direction, every path you have ever walked. It is what connects you with the earth — the interface between you and the ground on which you stand. When it breaks, more than a bone breaks. A movement pattern breaks. A walking. A carrying-on.

First comes the moment itself — the wrong step, the unfortunate fall, the one instant in which everything is decided. Then the pain. Then the diagnosis. And then what comes after: cast, splint, crutches. Standstill. From one moment to the next you are no longer allowed to walk the way you walked. Your entire life slows down, because your foot is forcing you to.