Sunday 5 December 2010

Lonely boy

I love riding with a city bus. I already wrote about how it calms me down here. A couple of days ago I was on a city bus on my way to the university. It was what I would call an ordinary winter day. It was snowing a bit, not too much but just enough to make you wet if you didn’t have an umbrella. Drivers in cars were nervous as they always are when it’s snowing outside. It was a chaos on the streets, cars humping and changing lanes all the time just to get to their destination a little bit quicker. Slush on the pavements was the reason why the pedestrians were nervous. They wanted to get to a warm and dry place where it wasn’t snowing and the floor weren’t slippery. As I said – an ordinary winter day.

The bus stopped at a station and I redirected my attention from the madness on the street to the people standing on the station, waiting for their bus to come. They all seemed nervous, most of them were without an umbrella so their hair and clothes were wet. They were impatiently staring at their watches and down the street to see if their bus was coming. Everyone seemed annoyed and cranky because the weather was awful and they all needed to be somewhere.

At one moment I noticed a boy running to catch the bus. He tried to maneouvre through the crowd at the station with his bag bouncing on his shoulders. A bunch of high-school kids were standing on the sidewalk and one of the boys tripped him so this Lonely boy as I named him, almost fell to the floor. Somehow he managed to balance himself so he didn’t fall and he managed to catch the bus. He found a seat near me, and it was faced backwards so I was able to see his face.

He was probably 17 or 18 years old. His dark brown hair was wet because of the snow and his cheeks were red because he was running for the bus. I saw sadness in his dark chocolate coloured eyes. He was nervously looking at the floor. When the bus moved from the station he looked out at those boys who tripped him but quickly turned his head away like he was afraid of them. He looked at me for a moment and seemed sad and ashamed so I smiled at him, hoping that it would comfort him a bit. But he probably thought I was laughing at him since he looked away in an instant.

He wore dark blue jeans and they seemed very old. There was a big hole in them, where his ankle was and they were very ragged at the bottom. His brown shoes weren’t appropriate for this weather and his feet were probably wet. He wore a dark red winter jacket which was probably a couple of years old and at least one size too small for him. It was ripped where the pocket should be.

He seemed intelligent but not very outgoing. I think he doesn’t have a lot of friends and he’s probably bullied in his class. I doubt he ever speaks out for himself because he seemed too shy to say anything. He probably just wants to fit in and doesn’t want to be even less popular.

On the next station three girls came on the bus and he looked at them. His face changed, it became softer and I saw his eyes sparkle. One of the girls said hi to him and then all three of them started laughing. I assume they are class mates and he’s probably in love with the pretty blond one. He was looking at her with a mixture of passion and tenderness in his eyes. I don’t know if she didn’t notice or she just ignored it. She is probably the popular girl and it would inappropriate if she would like him.

The bus was approaching the next station and he stood up. He looked to where the girls were and then he turned around and went to the door to wait for the bus to stop. He was nervously changing his feet and looked at the girls once again. They didn’t even notice him anymore, they were too busy talking about the shoes one of them saw the other day.

The bus stopped and he pressed the button to open the door. He looked at me and nervously smiled, obviously he knew I wasn’t laughing at him. Then he stepped off the bus.

22 comments:

  1. Awww. It's a very nice post but it felt a little...heavy I guess. They way you described everything was just perfect - I can almost see what you saw! I just hope that the pretty blonde girl would take notice of him. Away with status quo! May Lonely boy find happiness soon. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lets all cross our fingers for lonely boy! The way you've writeen makes me really empathise with him. Really brilliant post, like being taken on a journey! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nicely done. It took me back to my own adventures with public transportation when I lived within cities. There was a time I could identify with the boy.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Great post...I felt bad for the lonely boy...I hope he finds happiness soon....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great post, starlight. I think we are all pulling for Lonely Boy here! :P Is this a true story? Are all your posts true, or mainly fiction pieces?

    ReplyDelete
  6. @WCOTFT - Thanks, I'm glad you could imagine everything. I really feel bad for him, hope he'll find happiness.

    @Roma - Thanks.

    @Robbie - Thanks. I hope you're not a lonely boy anymore and that you found your happiness.

    @Caterpillar - Thanks.

    @Christine - Thanks, this is a true story. My fictional pieces are gathered on the right side of my blog in a section "My fictional story".

    ReplyDelete
  7. A lovely winter scene, you are a very observant and skilled story teller.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I used to love riding the city bus when I was in college - though I hated when it ran really late and I had to wait in the cold and rain!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I rode the city bus to school when I was growing up. Hated it when it rained, made me feel all sticky and yucky for the day.
    Lonely boy may be homeless. At best he is obviously very poor. Maybe he will end up curing cancer and show them all!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, what a great post. It almost had me crying when I finished reading it. Life can be pretty tough when you are that age. I can remember feeling those insecurities when I was that age, although I was not bullied.

    I wish you could tell this boy that life does get better and you will have people in your life who will love you for that sensitive, kind boy that you are.

    I don't know why people are so mean to the tender hearts. Sometimes this saddens me in our society...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the story!! I felt like I was sitting behind you watching it happen...

    ReplyDelete
  12. @Shopgirl - Thanks!

    @Megan - I'm totally with you, but it's a nice feeling sit in warm bus and watch the rain outside.

    @Barbara - I doubt he is homeless, he's probably very poor. I hope he'll be fine and who knows, maybe he is fine and he just had a bad day (which I doubt, but I'm trying to be an optimist).

    @Sandy - Thanks, I agree with you! If you survive until the end of the high school then you're able to go through just anything!

    @Annah - Thanks for stopping by and commenting. You're welcome to become a follower.

    @Cinderita - Thanks, I'm glad you liked it. You're also welcome to become a follower.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This is a very perceptive post. I really enjoyed walking through a short time in your life, seeing the world as you do. You describe what you see very well.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Is it a true story? I feel sorry for this boy now.. hope life will bring him something better in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I will tell you what I've just told Maria. I don't consider your blog and any other blog that isn't updated daily boring but that's beacuse you usually post something interesting to read. Your blog consists mainly of text, it would be really hard to keep up if you posted daily :) Mine is composed of some trivial things, mainly pictures which don't occupy your mind for more than 2 minutes and that is why I think I should post more often! None of my words applied to blogs like yours or Maria's, I was moaning about my own blog :)
    Thank you for all your kind words, that really means a lot to me!

    ReplyDelete
  16. You should write a story about the Lonely boy. Where you think he was going, what you think happened between him and those girls. If you ever happen to see him again you can tell him he was an inspiration for you :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. awwwww the lonely boy! i almost took pity on him too. :( this post reminds me of the sad match box girl.. i hope he doesn't have a sad ending like the little girl did. yea maybe you can try to weave a story about this boy.. and pleaaasse (though i love tragic endings) make him a happily-ever-after!:)

    ReplyDelete
  18. haha thanks for the comment about my pics starlight!:) i thought i wasn't breaking my so-called blogging rule coz on the 2nd pic it was semiside view and my eyes were cast down. and on the 3rd though my face was so "front and center" and i was wearing a mask. haha. i wanted to pay tribute to the friends who helped me for the party so i posted those pics, they really did a great miracle on me!lol

    ReplyDelete
  19. @BTH - Thanks, I'm glad you stopped by and take your time to read my blog. I'm glad you liked it.

    @Cupcake - Yes, sadly this is a true story. I hope he'll find happiness in his life!

    @Katie - Thanks for reading my post. It's an interesting idea but I think I won't make this a fictional piece. Though maybe I will. Still thinking about it :)

    @Maria - Thanks for your nice comment, I hope he'll be very happy in the future.

    ReplyDelete
  20. hope he's gonna be okay:)
    sad story
    alice.xoxxx

    ReplyDelete
  21. You have the ability to capture your reader very effectively;)
    I felt this boy's emotional confusion while reading this.
    This is really what life feels for people that decide to take the road less travelled.
    I loved it.

    ReplyDelete