A sizeable yellow school bus's noisy brakes broke the silents on the bright cloudless day. A small girl staring intently out the window shook her head as if woken up from a trance at the sound. She slowly pulled herself up and made her way to the front of the bus. Each day she had to ride the bus home, she carefully counted the bus's stops. Her stop was the third one.
She hoped she had counted correctly this time. The chances she had counted wrong and either was getting off the bus one stop too soon or too late were very high. The pressure that built each time she had to get on the bus to go home from school never went away.
Crossing the road, she turned and waved to the bus driver to let them know she had safely crossed the street. The new rule of waving at the driver to let her know you were safe brought back memories best left buried.
Looking ahead, she plotted her course. She didn't want to run into anyone today. She had enough of people and didn't want to explain why she had gotten off the bus at the wrong stop once again.
She quickly ran to the bushes on the right side of the almost neighbor's house. She blended into the bushes easily in her brown smocked dress and mousey brown hair. Jogging over the open area of fresh-cut lawn, she made it to the apple tree and the hidden path just beyond. Once on the trail, the branches covered her every move as she silently followed the old deer path along the creek.
The creek sparkled in the bright sun, but she kept her eyes on the ground, knowing she had to get home first. Once out of her good school clothes, she could wander and watch the sparkle of light dance along the water. One more tricky move across the second bridge and through the old people's backyard was needed for now.
The older neighbor wanted to avoid a trail through his yard from the bridge he had built over the small creek. It did make one wonder why to build a bridge if you wanted to avoid people using it. The workaround was to never walk across his grass the same way each time. It made a person look a bit looney, checking if the grass you were going to be walking on had been walked on before you. A lot of changing your course had to happen to make it to the road and safety.
Once on the road, a hop, skip, and a jump found her in her yard. With a few steps more, the little girl could be seen making her way up uneven steps to the house set back from the road. You could hear her humming as she tried taking each step in one long stride, but she wasn't tall enough to traverse them all. Some needed a bit of a hop to make it up to the next step. She kept her eyes straight and focused on navigating the front door without getting stung by a wasp.
After a quick trip to the restroom and her bedroom, she emerged in comfortable clothes and no shoes in sight. It was finally time for the best part of her day. There was only one obstacle left in her way. Down two flights of stairs and around a sharp corner, she flew until the last set of stairs was in sight.
Keeping to the far right of the stairwell, she grabbed the handrail and tried not to look at the opposing wall. She could hear the noises coming from her left, but she just wanted to get outside today. She didn't want to look into the faces of the people behind the wall. Today she had no stories to tell. She had missed her bus stop and got made fun of again. All she wanted was to go out and hide in nature for a little while.
A quick glance showed her brother was home and had already taken the dog out. With a half wave in his direction, she swiftly made it to the creek. Through the arch of the willows, she slid and surfed the mud down the small hill into the cooling water. With her feet properly cooled off, she shimmied up the other bank. In two steps, she was swallowed by the leaves of the cooling canopy of leaves.
She wandered a bit, checking out her favorite places and taking inventory. Soon she found the perfect place to settle in. Stick in hand, she looked up into the sky while her fingers slowly peeled the bark from the stick in one long continuous strip.
The questions soon started. The young girl demanded why! Questions were answered with the calmness of someone settling in for the long haul.
Knowing when to get off the bus wasn't her job. During her first two years in school, her best friends told her when it was time. They knew how exhausted she was at the end of a school day and protected her so she got safely home. Now she was all alone, and life wasn't fair. She asked question after question wanting answers and reasons why.
What she received in replies was said with love. She had a team of angels watching out for her; it was the best he could do. She just wanted her best friends back even though she had been told that the good do die young. She knew her best friend in heaven was good. She did not understand how she had to die to prove this fact. Her other friend had moved away, so it wasn't his fault his parents made him leave. But being alone was lonely and made her sad.
Everyone at school already had friends. There was no room for her to fit into any group. The worst was knowing other girls had been told by their Mothers they had to play with her. It just made life uncomfortable for all involved. Many a recess was spent running to the backfield and picking dandelions until the bell rang for school to start again.
The conversation could last hours or minutes, but the end result was always the same. She was not alone in this world. She had the angels that watched out for her each and every day. That was the best that could be done; the rest was up to her to decide. Hearing her tummy rumble woke her up from her trance. She slowly stood up. Took a huge breath. She squared her shoulders and returned home, knowing it would soon be dinner time.
That night in bed, she heard the request for a story. She asked what kind of story was wanted, knowing she could not sleep until a story was told. The little girl let her mind wander and pitched her voice so those living under the stairs finally fell asleep dreaming about a land filled with fairies and ice cream.
~The End.
Help someone smile today. It can not hurt you.
Snook
Thumbnail Image by NoName_13 from Pixabay
All photos are mine unless otherwise stated.
