Mysterious Ways

She watched the miniature cloud of her breath slowly float into grey oblivion as she sighed dramatically at the bus stop. The snowstorm last night had provided perfectly questionable road conditions, and as she checked her watch to confirm the bus was running behind, she cringed at the realization that she was definitely going to be late for work. Again.

She could already hear the monotonous monologue she was bound to receive from her unflattering shift manager. His droning voice repeating his "sense of disappointment" in her "careless actions" as if she could control the bus system, let alone the weather.

The haunting sounds of city life lingered in the icy air; a pedestrian yelling at a car honking at a truck backing up, two dogs barking at each other, a baby crying at a toy that had fallen on the dirty ground, a couple arguing in a language she didn't speak, people walking fast and talking faster. It was overwhelming.

She shuffled through her backpack in a desperate hunt to find her headphones. They were raveled around a pen, underneath some empty food wrappers and a book she never convinced herself to finish reading. After detangling the cord, she chose the loudest song on her playlist to drown out the chaos around her.

She created a moment of synthetic peace before she noticed a gentle elderly woman approaching the bus stop. She gave a polite nod & the woman reciprocated with a calm smile as she found her seat; a pleasant contrast to the heaviness surrounding them both. Her soothing demeanor seemed almost familiar to the girl.

The shoes the woman was wearing were unusually white, considering the dirty slush she must have had to wade through to get anywhere in this city. She looked down at her own shoes; they were worn and had holes in them and needed to be replaced months ago.

As she was daydreaming of a life much different than her own, a life full of spontaneity instead of the tedious pattern of punching the clock day in and day out, she was snapped back into reality by the bus screeching to a halt in front of her. Her dark brunette hair swirled with the gust of air. Two teenagers dressed in the latest trend hopped off the bus while giggling and disappeared into the crowd.

She stepped aside to let the woman board first and was thanked with the same calm smile. The woman found a seat near the front as the girl made her way to the back. She snaked through passengers and found a tiny open space to squeeze into. The smell of stale cigarette smoke danced with a hint of urine so she pulled her scarf up to cover her nose.

A medley of misfits poured in and out of the bus. She wondered where each person was going. She wanted to know who they were, what they liked, if they were happy... As she approached her stop, she realized she never noticed the woman get off the bus, but as she passed the seat where she was sitting, she noticed a little black notebook. Without questioning her instincts, she grabbed it.

The pressure of being tardy was overpowering and she absentmindedly put the notebook in her backpack as she hurried uphill to the restaurant where she reluctantly worked. Before opening the back door to the kitchen, she took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself for the long hours ahead of her.

She poked her head around the corner by the dishwasher and didn't see any sign of her manager in the mayhem, so she scurried to the breakroom to try to blend in like she had been there all along. She almost got away with it but was caught at the last second. After needlessly begging for forgiveness and taking a meaningless reprimand, she was allowed to work her shift.

A steady stream of hipsters and tourists pumped in and out of the restaurant to a rhythm she could never get used to. She shuddered at the fake voice she found herself using in order to receive higher tips and it was almost impossible to force herself to laugh at all the bad jokes that creepy men made. It was exhausting to have to constantly bend over backward for needy strangers every night to only make barely enough money to cover rent at the end of the month. Sometimes she would find herself wishing for a life of freedom and adventure that just wasn't possible for a girl in her position. Finally, her shift was over and she could go home. She had her sweaty hair put up in a messy bun and her feet were throbbing from running around all day.

Being the only person at the bus stop when it was this late at night was almost peaceful, fully emerged in the eerie mist. Besides taxis driving by and the occasional person stumbling home from the bar, the only noticeable sound was the buzzing of the deceptively colorful neon signs above the musty doorways that lead into the grimy skyscrapers surrounding her.

When she got on the bus, there were only two other people, so she got to have her favorite seat; the very back by the window. She put her feet up to relax and started examining her tired hands. A fresh cut from a broken wine glass was haphazardly bandaged and the light purple polish was chipping off her dirty fingernails. She studied the small brown birthmark on her left hand; she always thought it looked like an ugly butterfly.

She reached into her backpack to find her headphones and that's when she remembered the notebook. It wasn't distinguishable in any way and it looked unused. Just as she was about to open it, she was stunned to see the old woman from earlier board the bus. She watched her calmly smile at the driver and then find her same seat from this morning.

She slowly approached the woman and sat with one empty seat between them. She reached out, kindly offering the notebook, but the woman smiled and explained that it did not belong to her.

The girl was confused. She sat there holding the notebook before thinking maybe the owner left their contact information on the inside. She opened it up only to find that nothing was written on any of the pages, but instead, it had been hollowed out and filled with brand new hundred dollar bills; it had to be tens of thousands of dollars. Her jaw dropped in disbelief. She looked around to make sure no one saw, but she and the woman were the only two passengers left. She had no idea what to do.

The woman smiled and said that life works in mysterious ways as she sweetly placed her hand on the girl's hand. That's when she noticed that the woman had the exact same little brown birthmark on her left hand. Her heart dropped into her stomach and it felt as though everything was happening in slow motion. The woman told the girl she could finally live the life she was always dreaming about, the life she deserved. Then, with one more calm smile, the woman simply vanished and nothing but a lingering twinkle was left behind.

She immediately pulled the cord to signal to the driver that she wanted to get off. After noticing that she accidentally got off three stops too early, she ran all the way home, the adrenaline keeping her warm. She finally got back to her dinky little apartment and dove onto her bed. Her heart was pounding so hard that it looked like the walls were moving.

Her little orange cat was happy to see her after being gone all day and hopped onto the bed to greet her. She squeezed him harder than he was expecting as she hollered with joy. She couldn't explain what had just happened and she was pinching herself to try and wake up from what felt like a strange dream.

As more time passed, the more she understood that it was real. Her brown eyes sparkled as she thought of the possibilities. She finally had enough money to buy a car and hit the road like she had always wanted. This was only the beginning of a very long journey and she couldn't wait to start her adventure.