Still Alive
Apologies for cross-posting. I just wanted to reach both sets of readers with this ugly little gem of a tale:
Ah, what a beautiful day, our narrator thought as she sat on the park bench waiting for the bus. The sun was shining, but not beating down on people, and the breeze was just enough to keep the skin cool. Clear skies and greenery all around completed the picture, but still there lurked the presence of evil outside our narrator's current frame of mind.
The bus came which would take our narrator around campus and back before heading out to her car, and because she felt like a ride, she stepped up and took a seat. She was greeted by a nice young man with a ready smile as the bus pulled away from the stop. And every departing rider received well wishes for their evening. Indeed, every stop the bus made was accompanied by a cheerful word or two from the driver, who clearly sensed the beautiful day just outside his windows.
The bus was empty except for our narrator as it completed this first circuit of its trip. As it pulled back into the stop, Travis and Mandy--recently reconciled--stood and prepared to board. They were deep in conversation already, and didn't so much as pause as they got on, Mandy coming first.
"Travis, you know," she joked, "that's what they called slavery."
Travis chuckled as he stepped up. "Huh, huh, huh. Yeah, we should bring that back. It would so help our economy," he seriously concluded over Mandy's ringing laughter as they made their way to the back of the bus.
The bus driver didn't get a chance to welcome them onboard, and no one else got on during the ride out to the Satellite lot. Our narrator frowned at the conversation, and was glad the rest of the it took place out of her hearing in the back of the bus.
Strangely, as the bus stopped to let off passengers, there was no polite or cheerful send off from the driver. Our narrator thanked him for the ride and wished him a pleasant evening, and recieved a tight-lipped nod in response.
Maybe it was because the bus driver, being a black man, took offense at that snippet of conversation. Our narrator, who has no such reason, certainly did. And she realized what she had forgotten momentarily due to the nice day. Racism is still alive and well, common human decency is shrivelled and dead in some people, and no amount of kind words will make that bus driver's day end on a happier note.
Our narrator has never seen the joy sucked out of a person so quickly and harshly as during this bus ride.
Ah, what a beautiful day, our narrator thought as she sat on the park bench waiting for the bus. The sun was shining, but not beating down on people, and the breeze was just enough to keep the skin cool. Clear skies and greenery all around completed the picture, but still there lurked the presence of evil outside our narrator's current frame of mind.
The bus came which would take our narrator around campus and back before heading out to her car, and because she felt like a ride, she stepped up and took a seat. She was greeted by a nice young man with a ready smile as the bus pulled away from the stop. And every departing rider received well wishes for their evening. Indeed, every stop the bus made was accompanied by a cheerful word or two from the driver, who clearly sensed the beautiful day just outside his windows.
The bus was empty except for our narrator as it completed this first circuit of its trip. As it pulled back into the stop, Travis and Mandy--recently reconciled--stood and prepared to board. They were deep in conversation already, and didn't so much as pause as they got on, Mandy coming first.
"Travis, you know," she joked, "that's what they called slavery."
Travis chuckled as he stepped up. "Huh, huh, huh. Yeah, we should bring that back. It would so help our economy," he seriously concluded over Mandy's ringing laughter as they made their way to the back of the bus.
The bus driver didn't get a chance to welcome them onboard, and no one else got on during the ride out to the Satellite lot. Our narrator frowned at the conversation, and was glad the rest of the it took place out of her hearing in the back of the bus.
Strangely, as the bus stopped to let off passengers, there was no polite or cheerful send off from the driver. Our narrator thanked him for the ride and wished him a pleasant evening, and recieved a tight-lipped nod in response.
Maybe it was because the bus driver, being a black man, took offense at that snippet of conversation. Our narrator, who has no such reason, certainly did. And she realized what she had forgotten momentarily due to the nice day. Racism is still alive and well, common human decency is shrivelled and dead in some people, and no amount of kind words will make that bus driver's day end on a happier note.
Our narrator has never seen the joy sucked out of a person so quickly and harshly as during this bus ride.
posted by Rehkmira @ 19:38
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