In the meantime, I wanted to share this. It's something I wrote in high school. I found one of my writing notebooks filled with unfinished stories. This is all I have of this story idea. It's sort of weird but it's giving me ideas. I might have to turn this excerpt into a short story. ;) Here it is:
I
flopped onto the bus seat with a sigh of resignation. Another day… I didn’t even
want to think about it. I slid over to the window and put my backpack on the
seat next to me. Nobody was going to sit with me, so what did it matter? I
stared out the window and thought of the games that I used to play with myself
when I was little.
The
little elf and fairy that I imagined were a favorite of mine. They would skate
along on the patches of ice in the marsh alongside the road. They would hold
hands and twirl around, then leap into the air to make it to the next frozen
patch and keep up with the bus. Both of them liked to keep me company on my
long drive to school – the elf with his mischievous smile and the fairy with
her pretty glittering eyes. Sadly, they could only keep up with the bus as long
as there were patches of ice along the road. So, we had to say our farewells
when we left the marsh and longer farewells when the heat of the spring sun
melted their paths.
I could
almost see my imagined creatures dancing alongside of the bus now. But I was
now too old for childish fantasies, as the world around me had forced me to
grow up fast.
The
girl sitting in the seat in front of me began to sing some made-up song of
hers. She always sat alone as well, but for her it was more of her choice. I
had no friends on the bus and no one would dare sit with me. No matter. If
someone sat with me I couldn’t spend the time thinking and imagining. To the
outside world I seemed too serious, too mature. Little did they know the things
that went on in my mind – the only place I allowed myself to be creative and,
yes, even a little childish.
On the
bus I was mostly safe. Often I wished the bus would drive all day and I wouldn’t
end up at school but, alas, my wish never came true.
I
turned my attention to the back of the seat in front of me and without even
thinking about it, I began another favorite pastime. There were so many images
interwoven into the texture of the seats. It was a lot like staring at the clouds
or an inkblot. Depending on my mood, I saw different things everyday even
though I always sat in the same seat. Today, the duck looked more like a giant
bird with his mouth open, ready to eat anything in his path. The tea party was
still the same as yesterday, though. Two creatures silently drank tea at a
table while the grotesque giant bird glared on from nearby.
Conversations
continued on around me but I didn’t hear them. My world consisted of the
scenery out the window, the seat before me, and the fantasies that my mind
created.
My mind
drifted from the creatures trapped in the seat and I began to wonder what would
happen if someone threw a pin and it poked someone else right in the eye. I
cringed at the thought and shifted uncomfortably in the seat. I hated it when weird
and squirm-worthy thoughts popped into my head. I turned my attention to the
window again to remove the image from my mind; and with dismay I realized
that the school was just beyond the hill the color of chocolate milk because of
its covering of muddy snow.
I
sighed again and started to pack my things up. Even if the day was terrible, I
still had the bus ride home to look forward to. This thought comforted me as I
filed off the bus with the other students and faced another day of problems,
ridicule, and hard work. At least I had the quiet time on the bus ride home as
my solace.
