A Familiar Walk Takes More Effort

Case overview

Lena is three blocks into the evening walk she and Marcus have taken for years when he stops at the familiar hill. “Give me a minute,” he says, leaning on the rail. Lena does. By the time they get home, she has noticed that the pause was not the only change. Marcus has been moving more slowly on the stairs, skipping errands, and blaming a busy week. At first, Lena believed him. Then she realizes the walk has felt different for longer than either of them wants to admit. She wants a clearer timeline: which days were harder, what the usual route felt like, and what changed on quiet days. Lena wants to describe the change in Marcus's usual walk without giving the pattern a premature label.