The Demons of a Stolen Butterfly

Chapter Four: Charlie

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Chapter Four:

CHARLIE

　

It literally smelled like dirt and cigarettes. I scrunched my nose, fighting the urge to gag from the putrid smell of the city bus stop. And apparently, I'm the only one bothered. Standing to my right was a ginger-haired girl about the same age as I am, with eyes and hands glued to her IPhone.

Standing to my left, was a more middle-aged man, with a balding scalp and a dying, cheap cigarette held firmly in his right hand. Again, I had to strain myself from my weak gag reflexes. I held my mouth shut tight, in a closed-lip fashion. I was trying not to be so rude about the whole thing, but I mean it was he who was screwing with my so-called oxygen, right?

Well, whatever opinion I had, it obviously didn't matter to anyone else, besides myself. I mean, like I mentioned before, the ginger-haired girl didn't seem at all bothered by the cancer stick. Before I actually had the oppertunity to share any of my thoughts aloud, the loud city bus came in sight.

Since the ginger-haired girl and myself were the only ones sitting, we both stood up from the bench to join Mr. Stokes. I shoved my hands into my pockets, as the bus screeched obnoxiously loud, as it finally came to a full stop beside us. I motioned for the slender red head to step in first, and she gladly did, with an appreciative nod.

Now, I would've offered the man to go ahead and step in before me, but he seemed too busy, as he was snuffing out his cigarette with the heel of his shoe. I paid the bus driver and took a vacent seat towards the back. I then took the time to scope out my fellow bus mates.

There wasn't much, just a couple of teens that were either glued to their phones (typical), or earphones attatched to their ears. There was an elder lady with a young boy practically glued to her sides. Then there was that man who enjoys toxic air, who finally decided to join us.

Anywho, I decided to join my fellow peers in drowning out the rest of the world with my trusty earphones. I closed my eyes, stretched my arms behind my head as I blasted Lessons by Ha Ha Tonka through my earphones. The rest of the ride home from school seemed pretty peaceful. Boy, I couldn't wait to get home to my great big happy family! (Note sarcasm).

***

The bus finally screeched to a hault at a bus stop near the corner of a street that was a block from my house. I stretched down the narrow steps of the bus to meet the concrete, underneath my shoes. I politely bid my goodbye to the bus driver and parted my seperate way, towards my big blue house.