Demons Of The Sky

.17

Thump

Thump

My heart thumped as I stepped onto the bus, the ticket ended up costing $13 as I was not going far, my leg shook nervously the whole way and nothing could stop it.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

I tried to calm myself down but every time I got my breathing under control I thought about how I was finally going to meet my dad. The seat I was sat on was rough and damp, the pattern was a weird blue and green splotches and I tried to trace them with my finger but I kept getting lost along the way. 

Stop by stop more people got on and got off, I gave up my seat for a heavily pregnant woman and sat by the back of the bus where an elderly lady was already sat. She looked at me for a long minute before I faced her and smiled.

"Aren't you a bit young to be travelling by yourself dear?" She asked, her voice cracked with every syllable but her voice was soothing and relaxing somehow. She had long grey hair that was pulled back into a low pony tail which hung over her shoulder, her pink shirt was complimented with a white cardigan and khaki trousers with black sneakers she had blue socks on which made me smile at the splash of colour.

"I'm going home, I was lost for a while but I'm finally on my way home" I told her, she looked at me with sweet eyes and grabbed a hold of my hand. 

"We all get lost sometimes" She said and I believed her, we spent the next ten minutes discussing small talk things like the weather and her life story.

"Okay dear we are at my stop" She told me wiping her tear filled eyes after telling me a funny story about her daughter. I moved into the aisle so she could get out and we had a brief hug before I sat back down feeling lonely. I waved at the lady as the bus pulled away realising we were only two stops away from where my home was. 

After fiddling with my fingers for a few minutes the bus pulled up to my stop. I took another deep breath and made my way down the aisle. I thanked the bus driver and watched as it pulled away from the stop and then I turned around. I had no idea where I was.

I looked down at the address that I had messily scribbled down and looked at the street signs trying to figure out where I needed to be. I didn't have a phone or a map on me so I was stuck wandering around trying to find out where I needed to go. 

"No that's not it" 

"Nope not there either" 

"Where am I?" I kept talking to myself trying to find some peace of mind of not knowing where I was.

"You know, if you keep talking to yourself they'll take you away" A voice called.

I turned around startled and saw a teenage girl who couldn't be maybe a year older than I was standing outside of her house with her hands on her hips. 

"Sorry I just.. uh am lost thats all" I stammered my face flushing red with embarrassment that she caught me talking to myself.

"It's okay" She laughed

"Where are you headed?" She asked me stepping forward, her light green dressing gown dragging along the pavement as she walked towards me. She was quite pretty and I admired her, under her dressing gown she had on purple pyjama shorts with frill at the bottom of them and a white tank top with the name Tess sowed into the top right side of it. 

I gave her the sheet of paper and Tess looked around squinting into the sun at the street signs. 

"Okay so what you're going to do is take a left down this street and follow it all the way down to the end and then turn right and its the house on the corner you can't miss it" She said handing me back my slip of paper smiling.

"Thanks so much, I'm Bonnie" I told her returning the smile

"I'm Tess maybe we can hang out sometime?" She asked opening her arms for a hug. I felt awkward hugging a girl I had only just met but I embraced her anyway enjoying the feeling of being close to someone. I waved good bye and walked the way she told me skipping in my step. 

I was finally here, the outside of my house number 8. The house is nice, it was a cool grey colour and there was one blue car parked out front. I pulled the photo of my parents out of my back pocket and unfolded it. I walked the black stone steps and up the stairs onto the porch and knocked on the door. 

Two loud knocks. I was trembling all over hoping that someone would answer. I heard footsteps from inside and the door swung open to reveal not who I thought. 

Who the hell is that? 

Word Count: 862