A Girl on the Bus
She sat carefully, gently, looking at herself in the small mirror held in her hand. The light dusting of glitter around her eyes sparkled bright and wild in the afternoon sun. A small firework display of purple and silver offset eyes the color of almonds. Gingerly she touched her hair, smoothing here and there, making sure everything was in place. The deep chocolate hair had been perfectly styled with diligent practice. Softly, almost silently, her silver bracelets jingled as her hand moved. A faint application of rosy blush complimented bright red lips, plump and moist, inviting and playful. The mirror disappeared into her purse and she stood quickly, the heels of her boots clicking against the cement. Standing she smoothed the thinly striped black and white dress against her legs and adjusted the pink bandanna tied around her neck. She smiled self satisfyingly and walked towards the waiting bus. With the air conditioning on full the bus was frigid compared to the humidity outside. She pulled the leather coat tightly around her as she sat down next to a window.
The bus pulled away from the station with a loud, almost annoyed, growl before settling into a gentle rumble as it drove down the street. Buildings and people passed in meaningless blurs, reduced to streaks of colors with no discernible shapes. There were a few others on the bus, but she felt completely alone, and smiled at the feeling of loneliness. She was finally getting away. Moving forward in a direction she wanted to be going. No more overly crowded parties and meeting people she’d never meet again. Forgettable people with nameless faces will be a thing of the past. She abandoned it all in favor of freedom and happiness. In favor of meaningful conversations with people you actually want to know, not just have to know.
Staring out the window she watched as the flat landscape began transforming into buildings that got taller and taller as the miles passed. Unique people was what she hoped for, people like her with similar ideals and opinions. People that would challenge her, question her, make her reflect and grow. She needed, she knew, to expand beyond the boundaries adolescence had stuck on her. In the city she could make all this happen. She smiled a smile of pure contentment, sure that she was doing the right thing, that this is what she was meant to do. She felt light and happy, that strange mix of nervousness and excitement flowed through her. This was the turning point, she knew, this would be when everything changed in her life. From here on out she would be happy and optimistic, things would finally start going right for her, life would start looking up.
All these bright and positive thoughts flooded her mind as she stared at the cloud touching buildings outside the bus window. Something distracted her just then, the horrible crunch of metal on metal, the scream of shattering glass, and the smell of burned rubber and motor oil. In seconds, that took minutes to pass, she lost sight of the tall buildings as they were replaced by the hard blacktop street rushing at her window. A gasp, all that had time to escape her lips, but full of lost opportunities and unrealized dreams, was released. Among a shower of metal shards and broken glass she violently slammed into the ground.
2011
