Through the Alley

The gate opened straight into the alley. Dust and gravel stretched out in both directions. In the middle of the narrow lane sat an abandoned aluminum soda can, dented and glinting under the afternoon sun. I didn't detour around it. I accelerated into a dead sprint, planted my left boot hard into the packed dirt, and drove my right heel dead-center into the hollow metal. It crumpled with a sharp metallic bang and flew spinning twenty feet down the passage, ricocheting off a rusty rain gutter before clattering to a halt. The path is cleared. Forward momentum holds.