Did this explain things? The way she just said yes, and didn’t think it through for a second, until she was here crying in a corner?

“Is exercise really as worthwhile as we think?” 

—Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics, Ep:150

Shira started at a slow pace, she liked to pick it up slowly. Danielle had recommended the path when Shira had told her she wanted to take up running again, then Ephraim told her that his mother often walked there. Funny how she actually could have asked her mother-in-law for something and she would have gotten an answer.

The trail was busy: a few bikers ahead of her, some walkers behind her, a few couples laughing on benches. Watching their easy banter made her look again, then wince. But most people were by themselves, for once she wasn’t the only one with no one.

Shira picked up her pace, it felt good to move. She tapped play and turned on DeeDee Dvorkus. Today’s topic was parenting teens.

“The prefrontal cortex doesn’t finish developing until 25, which means that people under that age don’t always think about the long-term consequences. It’s not that teenagers can’t think of them, but it takes longer for the mind to do it. By the time the message gets to the brain, there were other, probably more fun, thoughts that got there faster, and so they may have already made a decision or committed to something — something that’s often against their best interest.”

Shira gave a small gasp, she was 25. She’d made the decision to move to Chicago when she was 24. Did this explain things? The way she just said yes, and didn’t think it through for a second, until she was here crying in a corner? She’d never been like that as a teen, though — could it happen later? She crossed Touhy and jogged past two women who were brisk walking.

“Shira?” a voice behind her said.

Shira turned midstride. Bad move. Her foot got caught, and she lurched forward while half her body held back. She fell, hard, and cried out in pain. The two women ran toward her.