Chapter 2

After the bombardment of sirens and unnecessary amount of policemen had dispersed, I realized that I was still sitting on the bus bench... now very alone and drowning once again in a puddle of sorrow; a puddle this time not filled with sadness for myself, but for a man I knew for about 2 minutes of my life.

"He died on impact."

It was the statement of the day. People walked around the accident and yellow tapes and police perimeters and all of them said the same thing with utter confidence, like they were all medical doctors with eyes on the backs of their heads. I didn't see one person look aggrieved. Not one sad face, not one care.

Instead, they said, "He died on impact."... and hung around to be nosy and watch my friend get pulled out from under the passenger door of the upturned cement truck and put onto a stretcher and wheeled off into nothingness. I could still see a glimpse of the yellow rubber overalls from under the white sheet before the old man had been carried away.

Because of the accident the bus routes were temporarily re-routed. I traversed the remainder of my journey home on foot. It wasn't until I tasted something salty in my mouth that I realized my vision was blurred and my cheeks were cold with wetness. The stars had finally appeared; or perhaps they had been out for a while and I didn't notice. With my blurry vision the stars looked like a giant firefly. It was pretty, seeing the stars that way. I decided to follow the outline of the firefly's shimmering body and stopped when my shoes made an odd, crunching sound. I looked down and saw sand. My feet had taken me to the tiny, almost-hidden path that led to a stretch of beach that was hardly ever used due to the rocky coral that lurked beneath the shallow ripples of the ocean's glimmering face.

I walked down the path brushing vines to the side and arrived into a clear, peaceful night. I sat down and held my knees to my chest as I looked out over the water. A soft breeze played with my hair and transformed my tears into salty diamonds. Just as I thought my exhaustion from today's emotions would overcome me, I heard a strange whistle in the night. I looked up and saw a white owl swoop overhead catching a thermal up into the midnight sky. It danced with the giant firefly and hummed songs that reminded me of my childhood. It played with the wind and blew kisses to the wispy clouds that had taken refuge over my head. It comforted me, held me tight with its gaze.........

a gaze that seemed oddly familiar.........

a gaze that held a tired worry........

a gaze that numbed my sorrow with gray-blue eyes.......

To be continued until my next midnight inditement...