The Ride

Sandra is finally on her way home from a long day as a Kindergarten teacher...

Sandra walked agitatedly through the crowds of people, as she struggled to carry her shopping bags. Each of the plastic bags was starting to cut into her skin with their weight. She was praying to God with every step she took that none of the bags broke open. That was the last thing she needed, picking up scattered produce and boxes of feminine hygiene products in the subway terminal. Been there. Done that. Didn’t care to do it again.

 Just a thirty-minute ride on the subway and she would be home safe and sound; enjoying the comfort of her bed, and the companionship of her dog. Coming up to the subway gate she dug through her pocket for her subway token.

            “Where is that thing?” she wondered out loud, becoming evermore frustrated.

            She finally grasped something in her pocket and pulled her hand out only to reveal a crushed, and partially eaten candy cane. Oh the joys of being a kindergarten teacher. She always seemed to be finding bits and pieces of what the kids had enjoyed for treats in her pockets, and on occasion in her hair. Sandra reached back into the pocket of her soaking wet, trench coat and by the “grace of god”, as her mother would say, found her long lost subway token. Placing the small, golden disc, through the slot of the gate she made her way through and onto her subway bus. Thankfully she had not missed it, unlike last time.

            The bus was full of passengers of all types and social classes, not to mention all shaped and sizes. Sandra looked around and found one lone seat next to a man, who so obviously had not taken his head phones off to shower, in what looked like weeks, and an elderly woman knitting a multi colored pair of socks. Despite the stench of the dirty music critic, and risk of being sucked into a conversation about the “Back in My Days”, Sandra sighed and settled into her seat.

            She hoped Charlie, her mutt of a dog, would enjoy his new doggy sweater she picked out for him today. The weather had been colder and he certainly could use the extra layer of protection against the elements. Poor, little guy just about froze into a Dog-sickle, on their morning walk a few days prior. As the subway made it’s way across and overpass she managed to look out the window at the pouring down rain. How dismal the weather had been lately. Sandra loved the snow, but lately all it seemed to be doing was rain. She couldn’t help but feel that Mother Nature was doing her wintery jobs more than a bit half assed this year.  Needing a dramatic escape she reached into her bag and grabbed one of her latest reads, and even managed to squeeze out a convincing, but not overly eager smile, at the grandmother sitting next to her.

            The current romance book was set on the high seas for the first portion. She sighed. How she would love a trip on the ocean. As she read the descriptions of the crashing waves, the sound of the seagulls.  Even the description of the barnacles that had crusted themselves to the bottom of the boat, had her almost smelling the scent of the ocean air. She pictured herself absorbing the sites, and feeling the cool sting of the wind and the contrast of the warming of the sun on her skin. The main character was just about to get ready for the second leg of his journey, the riding of a camel through the desolate wasteland of the dessert. She wondered how it would feel to ride such an interesting creature as a camel, and at the same time felt the anxiety of the main character, as he mounted the great beast and looked on through the heat rays bouncing off of the dessert sand before him. Just as she began to delve even more into the intricacies of the story she was intensely brought back to reality by the crashing of thunder. She looked out the window just a flash of lighting cascaded through the sky. “Oh well,” she thought, “at least it’s better than just rain.” Sandra glanced down at her watch; in about five minutes her quest would end, and she would be home curled up in bed with her dog, some hot cocoa, her book, and just the sound of the day’s storm to distract her.  

Author's Note

This is just a simple short story I wrote awhile back, cataloguing the events of a long ride and the desire to step foot in the safe sanctuary that we call our homes.