Observations on a bus (part 2)...

The bus jerks to a stop and the doors open with a rush of air and tiny raindrops. A girl steps aboard, pays her fare, and quickly finds a seat. She’s as wet as everyone else from the rain, but somehow on her it looks good. Her headphones play music only she can hear and we can all see how the music effects her by the rhythmic movement of her head.

The rest of us lurch first one way then the other as the bus lumbers along at an unhealthy speed, but the girl only sways slightly as if she’s subject to a different gravity. Her grip on her copy of PASTE magazine never loosens and her attention never strays from the mesmerizing words on the pages in her hand.

Her tempo slows as the song changes and the bus makes another rough stop. In the brief silence, the girl starts to hum. Within moments the sound of her voice begins to rise above the mechanical din of the aging bus. Sweet and clear, the girl’s voice draws every eye toward her.

“Sky above, endless and ever blue
Filled with stars, shining their light on you
They're there when you're feeling scared
You're all alone,
They’ll lead you home.
Home
Angel, look what you've come to.
Like the deep blue sea
Love is all around you.
It's there when you're standing tall
It'll be there when you fall
It's at the edge of all the dreams you’ll dream”

With someone else’s words but an emotion all her own, she enraptures us all. An audience held captive more by her voice than by the metal transport.

Her song ends as the bus shudders to an abrupt halt. The girl gracefully rises to her feet and exits the bus. Time seems to pause as if the world is suspended momentarily. Then the spell breaks and we return to our lives as they were before an angel rode beside us.