I do not like riding the bus all that much. Especially when the sun starts to go down. It happens just like in the movies. The sun light stops touching the ground and all of the ghouls start coming out of the woodwork. It makes me uncomfortable. But I ride the bus occasionally, there is nothing wrong with it. It is convenient.
I took my seat on the bus and stared out the window. One of the things I enjoy about life is staring out the windows of vehicles. You watch the world go by. All of the people and buildings and lives turn into a big motion blur. All of those people walking down the sidewalk have their own story, a story you'll never get to hear. I'll bet they've got good stories. Some of them, anyway.
We passed an ambulance. The crew was loading someone into the back, lights flashing. I'll be doing that in a couple of weeks, I thought to myself. I looked around the bus. Nobody looked at or said anything to anybody else. That's okay, I thought. For some reason it felt nice. Being on the bus. Everybody going somewhere. Everybody going home, having a good time. I went back to looking out the window. A man was crossing the street, a bag on his shoulder and a drink in his hand. I watched him as we passed his crosswalk. The car driving alongside us cut a hard right and ran straight into the man. His drink went flying into the air and he rolled off the hood.
And the bus kept going.
It was like watching a television. Or going to the zoo. The pane of glass in front of me tried to convince me that I was in the real world and everything outside was fake. I was so detached from the experience. I shrugged it off. I stared out the window. The bus kept going and so did I.
It didn't hit me until later. I saw a guy get hit by a car. I don't think anybody else on the bus did. He has to be okay, though. The car wasn't going too fast. Oh well. The whole thing makes you think about how mortal we are. We could be walking across the street, soda in hand, walking home one moment and the next moment we could be dead. Very dead. That's okay. Who has time to think about that anyway.
I took my seat on the bus and stared out the window. One of the things I enjoy about life is staring out the windows of vehicles. You watch the world go by. All of the people and buildings and lives turn into a big motion blur. All of those people walking down the sidewalk have their own story, a story you'll never get to hear. I'll bet they've got good stories. Some of them, anyway.
We passed an ambulance. The crew was loading someone into the back, lights flashing. I'll be doing that in a couple of weeks, I thought to myself. I looked around the bus. Nobody looked at or said anything to anybody else. That's okay, I thought. For some reason it felt nice. Being on the bus. Everybody going somewhere. Everybody going home, having a good time. I went back to looking out the window. A man was crossing the street, a bag on his shoulder and a drink in his hand. I watched him as we passed his crosswalk. The car driving alongside us cut a hard right and ran straight into the man. His drink went flying into the air and he rolled off the hood.
And the bus kept going.
It was like watching a television. Or going to the zoo. The pane of glass in front of me tried to convince me that I was in the real world and everything outside was fake. I was so detached from the experience. I shrugged it off. I stared out the window. The bus kept going and so did I.
It didn't hit me until later. I saw a guy get hit by a car. I don't think anybody else on the bus did. He has to be okay, though. The car wasn't going too fast. Oh well. The whole thing makes you think about how mortal we are. We could be walking across the street, soda in hand, walking home one moment and the next moment we could be dead. Very dead. That's okay. Who has time to think about that anyway.
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