Rising again is a place of practice.

What are the first signs of civilization?

One day I took my stepsister’s bike out for a ride. It was bigger than my red Schwinn and— unlike mine—it had hand brakes instead of brake pedals. As I was zooming down a hill, cars came up at me and I got disoriented and frightened. I heard someone shout, “Pull the brakes on the handlebars!” 

I did… 

And I went flying off the bike. 

Somehow, I ended up fl…