The Bus

The bus almost hit me. I couldn't see anyone inside as the windows were covered by jet black filter. It didn't stop out of sudden like I thought it would. As I threw myself to the ground to avoid it, the bus kept on going, slowly, then stopped almost half a mile from me. As if the people inside just noticed I existed and talked about stopping for me. I resigned. The cold soil soothed me. I couldn't care less if that bus really broke my bones.
I could see a man hopped out from the bus. He wore white tshirt and jeans. I couldn't see his face but I knew he had dark brown hair. Like the soil. I wondered if it was as soothing.
As he walked towards me, his face grew clearer like the bottom of a lake when you move your face closer to the water. He had small eyes, long nose, and even smaller lips. His shoulder was broad and his chest seemed strong.
"You walkin alone?" He asked.
I nodded. His eyes shifted to my backpack that lied before me.
"You ran away from home?" He asked again.
I nodded again. "I used to."
"What do you mean you used to?"
"I'm on my way home." I tried to hide the blush on my cheek. I didn't know if he knew anyone who ran away and came back. "It must sounded silly, but--"
"Nah, it didn't. People do that."
"You think so?"
"Yeah, running away is tiring."
I remember I felt slightly warmer after I heard him muttering that sentence. Smile came to my face. He seemed to know. It's always nice to meet someone who knows stuff.
"Yes, it is," I said.
"I'm sorry about the bus. The driver didn't see you."
"It's okay."
Then he looked at me for a minute or so, without blinking. I let him do that. I usually got really mad at someone who did what he did, but I could tolerate his presence.
"Come along with us."
I didn't even think about who "us" was. I thought about the high trees around me, and the strange sounds from the forest, and the shadows that passed so quickly you didn't know whether they really existed or not.
"Would you guys go to Marine Dock?" I mentioned my city.
"We could get you closer to that place. Hell, I'll even drop you home myself. It's not good, you know, this kind of place. This road. You shouldn't be alone."
I knew he was right. I did choose to be alone on this whole journey. But that was the first time someone asked me to join him. To choose something else than my solitude. Naturally, anything is better than being alone. Or so I felt at that moment.
So I nodded, for the third time. Now he smiled so wide, I didn't know how it made him so happy. I got up, and he held my hand to join him to walk towards the bus.
I tried to see the inside, and I still couldn't see anything. Then we walked up the stairs, and I began to see the old guy who sat in the driver seat. He was pale, and unmoved by my presence. There were a lot of vacant seats. "Sit beside me," he said.
I concurred. We sat on the second row, side to side. I closed my eyes, and I could feel the bus moving. And then deafening silence. He grabbed my hands. I didn't stop him.
Then I couldn't feel his touch anymore.
"You know this bus isn't going to your home, right?"
I couldn't even open my eyes. I just nodded, again, and fell asleep.