She felt the rush of wind as the bus pulled up in front of her.
Nobody really noticed her as she stepped into the bus. Her card made its normal beep as she passed it in front of the reader, and her boots clumped softly on the floor as she seated herself down.
The bus moved off.
She sat primly on her seat, and then pulled her large backpack to the front, where she rested it on her lap, her hands lapping over it protectively, and her head laid softly on the top. Hugging the backpack, she stared out of the window beside her silently, her eyes gazing disinterestedly at the road markings passing by, her mouth moving slightly, singing lyrics of the song she was listening to mutely. Her long black fringe flopped over her eyes, and she stared through her hair, ignoring the rest of the bus altogether.
Outside the window, a whole world was passing by.
Shifting slightly to a more comfortable position, she straightened, laying her backpack flat on her lap, as the music in her ears stopped, and the next song came on. Glancing around the bus for a while, she turned back to the window, her head held high but firmly directed to the window, her gaze falling on the green leaves of the trees going by as the bus went through a tree-lined section of its journey. A soft, slow song came on, the beginning of the music lilting but barely noticeable, and then the clear voice of the singer singing the first few verses of the song. Her mouth moved with perfect co-ordination to song lyrics she had long committed to memory.
The bus broke through the tree-lined avenue.
Her eyes widened just slightly larger as her gaze switched suddenly from the cool green of the trees to the brilliant blue of a sky she had only previously seen small sections of. The sky above the houses and buildings in front of her was clear and bright, the colour indescribable, and the clouds were a bright clean white, well defined against the blue background. Her mouth continued to sing lyrics of a song that picked up in pace, as her black eyes stared at the sky, and her face lit up just slightly more, as she took in the majestic sight of the perfect sunny day sky. Slowly, she stopped singing, and her mouth widened to a genuine smile, as she tossed her head slightly to flick her long fringe to one side, and her eyes continued to search the scene in front of her, committing the image of white clouds and blue sky to memory. Her head moved higher and higher as she tried to see all of that perfect sky, her mouth opening to a small laugh, and her eyes shining. The song in her ears heightened to a crescendo of melody, and she mouthed the lyrics she knew so well, the meaning of the song suddenly hitting her.
The bus moved under a bridge, and the sky she grew to love was blocked out by ugly concrete.
When the bus emerged, the sky had changed colour only slightly, back to the more normal sky blue, and the clouds weren't that brilliantly white anymore. Her smile grew smaller and more sedate, as she lowered her head slowly, ignoring the stares of the people on the bus, the song in her ears entering its calming ending. Her mouth still singing the last few verses of the song, she pulled her backpack up to her chest again, and hugged it, the small smile finally disappearing, as she laid her head back onto her backpack, her fringe falling over her eyes again.
But her eyes were happier than when she first boarded the bus.
chiiyo's comments :
Usually when I get on a bus, I'm pretty silent and serious. I'd most likely than not be listening to music and ignoring everyone else, and if I'm carrying my backpack, I'd be hugging my backpack. It's just the atmosphere of the bus, I guess, the air-conditioned air, the swoosh of the doors, the overly-loud beep of the card reader, the cold polyester-covered seats. I was listening to Stephanie Sun that day, she always puts me in a contemplative mood. Out of the blue, I looked at the window and was simply amazed at this beautiful sky staring back at me. I still remember this large audible breath I inhaled at it, and I was pretty much transfixed to the sight. We don't get very clear or very blue skies around in Singapore, the colour is always a little washed out, probably from all the direct sunlight we get at the Equator. So when the sky really turns blue, it's a sight to behold for us...