Bus Stop

“You can't do that, you know. It's dangerous.”

It was snowing heavily. The only thing I can hear were the cars honking because they were stuck at the deep snow so it surprised me when I suddenly heard a voice.

I turned to the direction of the voice and saw a boy clad in thick sweater and a padded jacket.

“Stop it. It's dangerous.”

I was speechless for a moment. I'm sure I have seen this guy somewhere but where was it? I have to answer first or else everything will be awkward.

“Huh? What is it that I can't do?”

He smiled at me. He looked like he had no plans of answering my question. I looked at him as I waited for his reply but he had already looked away.

“The snow. Do you know why it's white?”

“Huh? The snow?”

I watched him stretch his arm out. He opened his gloved palm and let the snow flakes fall on his hand. He was smiling like a little child and watching him makes me want to smile too.

“You don't know, do you?”

He showed me the snow flake on his palm. He looked up and he looked happy. He was smiling again but his eyes weren't.

“It's white because it was supposed to be white.”

“Bzzt...Wrong.”

He grinned and let the snow flake he caught to fall off his palm. He turned to me again but he was no longer smiling.

“No one said it was supposed to be white.”

“Well, it was white ever since I first saw it fall.”

“It was white when you first saw it. But was it white before you first saw it?”

What is this guy talking about? Is he some kind of a philosopher?

“The ocean is orange during sunset. It's green in a cloudy day and blue when the sky is clear but water is not really like that. Water has no color.”

Now that I think of it, he's right. I always said that I want to see the blue ocean but the ocean is not blue, it's just blue because of the reflection of the blue sky.

“You're right.”

“Of course I am.”

I waited for his face to light up again and flash me a smile but he did not seem happy that he was right.

He looked up and turned to my direction but he was not looking at me.

“The bus is here.”

I looked at the road and the bus was really there.

“Oh, it's my bus. I'm going then.”

“The snow is falling harder. The bus will soon be unable to go here you know.”

I stood up and looked at him for the last time. He was looking at me with longing eyes. I got on the bus but I didn't want to go yet.

“Get in or you'll fall off. The door can't close.”

The bus driver finally reprimanded me. I just can't go yet but it was getting late. Will I see this guy again? I wouldn't know but I want to see him again.

“Will you be waiting here again?!”

He looked surprised but his expression did not change. He lowered his head for a second and looked up again. A faint smile suddenly ran across his lips.

“Maybe.”

“I'll find out the answer to your questions then so wait for me!”

He did not smile but he watched me as I got in and took a seat. He watched me as the bus took me away.

I went back to the same bus stop. The snow was now knee deep so no bus would probably arrive but it was not the bus that I came here for. I went here because I promised.

I sat on the icy bench. It was getting really cold. I was already wearing five layers of clothes but I was still shivering.

“You didn't have to.”

I felt blood rush suddenly into my face and it was suddenly warm.

“You came.”

He smiled again like he used to.

“I always do.”

He sat beside me and I saw him rub his knitted gloves together as he breathe on them.

“I'm sorry, I still don't know the answer.”

I rubbed my hair and grinned at him. He looked disappointed but he shook it off with a smile.

“Have you heard the story of the two girls and a drawing of a girl and a balloon?”

“I haven't. What story is it?”

“There were two girls who came from the same elementary school. They were already in senior high school when they met. They haven't seen each other for so long but both of them remembered a drawing of a girl holding a balloon posted at the wall opposite the staircase in their old school.”

He stopped and breathe back into his hands before rubbing them together.

“One girl said, 'I remember it. She was wearing red.' The other shook her head and said, 'No. She was wearing blue.' They argued about the color of the dress the girl in the picture wore. To settle it, they decided to go back to the old school building.”

He looked at me and smiled warmly.

“Can you guess who was right?”

I shook my head and answered, “No.”

“They went back to the school and when they looked at the picture, they were both surprised.”

He grinned at me and continued.

“They stood at the staircase looking up at the picture. They realized that they were both wrong.”

“What happened? What was the color of the girl's dress in the picture?”

He did not look at me again. He was serious suddenly.

“The drawing was not even colored.”

He looked at me and smiled at me weakly again.

“Can you see how frail human memory is?”

I was stunned for a moment. He was right.

“Why do you always go here? This place is always covered with deep snow and has bad lighting. It's a dangerous place.”

I was looking at my lap and I was suddenly awake like I was dreaming all along. I saw a box of peaches and a bundle of incense sticks. I felt a drop of tear slide down my cheek.

“I go here because this was where my boyfriend had a motorcycle accident years ago. It was around this time when he died.”

I suddenly remembered the first time I saw this guy. I was placing incense sticks near the road.

“You should stop it. It's dangerous here.”

I looked up and he was no longer there.

I smiled and placed the box down the road and lighted the incense sticks. I lowered my head and prayed.

“This will be the last time I'm going here. Thank you.”

I stood up and started to walk away with tears still flowing down my cheeks.

I finally knew why he was familiar and why I wanted to see him so much. He was just like him when he was alive. But human memory was frail that I had completely forgotten.

All I could remember was how he was when he died and because of it, I had lost all memories of him and the days we shared when he was still alive. I had also forgotten that he wanted me to move on.

“I can tell you why snow is white.”

I looked back and the guy was there. He was smiling at me again but this time, his eyes were smiling too.

Author's Note:

This is a oneshot. I know it's kind of confusing but the story the boy told here was true. I read it somewhere. ^^ It's my first time writing a story with characters without names. I hope you weren't too lost. Feel free to ask me stuff you find confusing :