Part Six

I sat there at the counter waiting for my eggs in my own silence pondering the words of my heart. I watched as the patrons of the waffle house consumed their evening fare and smoke cigarettes with their coffee. One old man sat alone in the corner, he sported a three day old growth of beard on his face and neck and with each new song that came forth from the juke box, a fresh set of tears rolled down his cheeks. I wondered what sadness has visited him and what memories now haunted his heart. Just then nasal voice from Mildred my waitress piped in breaking me away from my thoughts. “Ya want a refill of that coffee hon”?

A bit startled I managed a half smile and nodded my head yes. She poured out a refill and within a minute returned with my order. Though I had ordered over easy I could see that the yellow was thoroughly done, I guess it really didn’t matter that much since I was so hungry. I then consumed the food on the plate in front of my as if I had not eaten in a week. I dropped a couple of ones on the counter next to my plate and went over to the register to pay. I glanced over to the lone and solitary figure that sat by the window starring into the now black night. He turned momentarily my way and the look in his eyes pained my heart. I quickly turned after paying and walked out the door just as Willie Nelson started on the juke box with “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain”….the stranger in the waffle house had blue eyes…but so did Leah and I wondered if she too was crying tonight.

The rest of the walk home was pretty much uneventful as my thoughts drifted back and forth between Leah and the old man. I arrived in short order at my apartment that overlooked the city and as I sat on the edge of my bed watching the lights twinkle, I too wept but not outwardly, but within my soul. I felt betrayed by today’s events; I felt robbed of joy in that this angel came to me in the morning and left me by the weeping willow that night weeping in my own sense. I thought how fitting that I would be abandoned by a tree with this namesake. Confusion and questions reigned in over the rest of the night as I dropped off into a fitful sleep.

The next morning the sun came streaming into my bedroom window. Its brilliance alerted me that it was time to get up and get going or I would miss my bus. Would I see Leah on the bus today? Would she be waiting for me at the willow tree? All these questions filled my mind as I hurriedly put on my clothes and rushed down to the bus stop. The air was cool, but not as chilly as yesterday. In my haste to get down here I realized that I had arrived a full ten minutes ahead of the bus schedule. I waited patiently for its appearance at the top of Washington street and then at my stop on the corner of Laurens Road. When I heard its breaks screech at the stop before mine my heart filled with anticipation. Would she be there in her seat? What will I say if she is? On and on in my mind I rehearsed my greeting. I could hear the bus coming as the gears shifted from one then to three and then I saw it coming down the hill. My heart pounded as the bus screeched to a stop and the doors hissed open. I climbed aboard and dropped my token and looked about the bus expecting to see the smiling face of Leah.

 To my disappointment she was not there. A week went by and with each passing day I became more certain that I would never see her again. My life was once again where it was before…trapped in the solitary darkness of being alone. Then one morning I walked down to the stop as usual to wait on my bus. My heart had quit hoping and my soul had stopped dreaming. About a hundred yards away I noticed in the distance that there was someone standing there. The closer I got, the more I knew that it was Leah. Her long blonde hair tossed gently in the mornings light breeze…she had come back…oh there is a God in heaven….oh thank you lord I shouted.

However when I got within a few feet and was about to speak she turned around…it was not Leah, but merely another woman with blond hair. My heart sunk to the pit of my stomach and I sighed a sigh of despair. I thought little now; I spoke even to myself of nothing as I waited for the bus to arrive. Gone was the anticipation, gone was the hope.  Running a few minute late the bus finally arrived and I like a robot programmed to perform a certain way climbed aboard dropping my token. I didn’t even bother to look around but went in the direction of my usual seat when I heard a soft and sweet voice call out my name…”Allen…Allen, I’m over here, please come sit with me, I have saved you a seat. I could not believe my eyes…it was Leah.

J. Allen Wilson…to be continued.

The Bus Stop Part 1

The Bus Stop Part 2

The Bus Stop Part 3

The Bus Stop Part 4

The Bus Stop Part 5