Another Day....

Leslie-Ann McMaster
Writing 2 (Descriptive Writing)

It was a cold day. The trees seemed to bend over in agony as the wind whipped through the air. My face was frozen, numb as ever. My caramel-colored cheeks were exposing tints of red. My lips were dry and cracked, and my teeth chattered so hard that I thought they were all going to fall out of my mouth all at once. I wrapped my bright green jacket closer to my body and continued to walk towards the bus stop. I hear loud thumping, I recognize the beat, its Fergie’s "Fergalicious", the all time oldie beat of "Super Sonic" mixed with modern day tempo of hip-hop. I turned around to see the approaching car playing my favorite track. It was an old car, the paint was a bright yellow, and the bumper hung so low that it was about an inch from scrubbing the road. It sped on by blowing fog out of the back pipe. I sighed loudly in distress as I pictured the driver all content and warm in the blaring heat listening to Fergie. I continued my walk and started to hum to the beat.

As I looked to the left, I saw a lovebird, sitting high in a tree. The bird chirped and fluttered its bright red wings. I quickly rose my frozen hand and blew it a kiss just as it was flying away. I remember my older cousin telling me whenever I saw a love bird if I blew a kiss at it before it left I would find my true love. I smiled so hard at my memory that my cracked lips started to bleed. I squished my face up in pain and ran my tongue across the opening, instantly the taste of metal flowed onto my taste buds. This time I squished my face in disgust. I wondered if the lovebird really worked. If this little bird, totally unaware of my existence, would really help me find my special one. I smirked at the idea of how foolish that thought was. It seemed as if this bird was believed to have certain powers only because his body was a bright red. That was the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard of, much less believed. As I turned my head back to the road ahead of me, I saw the bus. I gasped and started running flailing my hands about. I felt stupid, and so imagined I looked stupid. I kept picturing the bus driver waiting until I got close enough and then pulling off in my face.

"Wait! Please wait! I’m coming, I’m coming!" my chest burned in pain as I ran as fast as my legs would take me. I guess someone must have seen me because the bus sat there and waited on me. I didn’t stop running until I got to the doors.
"Thank you (gasp) so (gasp) much" I smiled and winced in pain at my cracked lips. I inserted the dollar into the machine and waited for the driver to hand me my transfer. I turned around and sat in the first seat available, ignoring the crazy looks from the other passengers.

The bus ride was bumpy; my long, burgundy-tipped ponytail bounced all about my face irritating me. It kept tickling my face, creeping along my lips and getting stuck between both of my eyelids sending me into instant pain. I was grateful though because I was finally to be in warmth. The heat surrounded me, crawling up my legs, creeping up my arms and hugging me. It felt so good, and so comforting that it made up for the unskilled driver that seemed determined to ride in every pothole in the street. I rest my head against the glass watching the world around me. The streets were busy, even so early in the morning. I saw an old lady in her automatic wheelchair riding along the sidewalk and a young girl running with her dog across the street. Two little boys were wrestling in the car and that resulted in both of them getting pinched by their mother. I watched as the cars zoomed by, the birds as they flew in flocks, airplanes that drew white puffy designs in the air and everything else my eyes would fall upon. Finally we arrived at the bus station and I bundled myself back up, preparing to go back out into the freezing cold. As the glass doors open I took one last breath of heated air and darted into the coldness to the next bus. The wind whipped at my eyes drawing out tears as I ran to bus number five. I quickly stepped onto the bus rushing the driver my transfer ticket. She stared at me for awhile before she rolled her eyes and rudely snatched the ticket out of my hand. Then she looked at me with slanting eyes as if she was daring me to respond to her action. My first instinct was to give her a few tips on being respectful, but then I thought about how cold it was outside and decided to keep my mouth shut and sit down. The feeling of being disrespected was nothing worse than standing up for myself and being kicked off the bus.

I fell asleep on bus five. It was just something about the ride that rocked my body into a comfort zone. It was so warm, so heated and refreshing. The rude driver was very skilled at maneuvering the huge bus, I couldn’t tell the difference from us sitting still or the when the bus was moving. I clutched my black and gray Gucci purse tightly and dozed off. I would’ve missed my stop if it weren’t for the little old lady in front of me.
"Honey….honey wake up."

I opened my eyes and waited for them to adjust to the luminous lighting on the bus. I studied her face; she had hazel almond shaped eyes, with long eyelashes that curled perfectly at the ends. Her skin was a honey colored and her peppered hair had sprinkles of salt. It was pulled back into a ponytail and hung just below her shoulders.
"Are you up baby? Don’t miss your stop we’re coming to the school now."
My eyebrows rose in confusion and I guess she read my gesture because she pointed one bony finger to my chest. I glanced down and realized I had my Classic City Id tag on. I sighed and struggled to wake the rest of my body up from its slumber. I gave her a crooked smile and murmured thanks to her, and she smiled in return and nodded her head. I reached over and pulled the line, signaling the driver that I wanted to get off. As the bus slowed to a stop, I grabbed my books, told the lady thanks again and got off.

Once again I faced the cold bitterness as I walked across the parking lot. As I stepped into the bricked structured school, I glanced at the glass windows that made up the outside walls. I stared at the reflection and realized my hair looked awful. I ran my hand across my ponytail to smooth out some of the crinkles. When I realize that my hands weren’t helping the situation I whispered a curse word at the inconvenience and stepped into the school. As I entered the secretary smiled and offered a cheery hello. I smirked and wondered what could possibly have her so happy. As I walked into the classroom I prepared myself for another long day….