I.
Little Things
The way to the bus stop was always boring, only filled with the music that would come from her iPod through the small earphones. Carlessness described her every step, not even bothering who's passing by her in a hurry or coming from the other way. Just as if she was programmed to go from spot A - home - to spot B - the bus stop - and reach in time to catch the bus that would get her to the other side of the city.
The narrow path she would guide her steps by wasn't even neatly finished. Small bits of pavement were chipped out, the sidewalk was cracked and it had a small 'hill' on its left side, from which short trees, some flowers and grass would grow.
Winter has been merciless, and that short bump of land that sat on the edge of the path would be covered in snow, the trees completely , exposing their fragile branches to wind and ice. Nature was indeed cruel, and those trees were pretty famous for not having bloomed in years - they would only give green leaves somewhere in late May. Those trees seemed to have followed some stereotype - they all almost looked the same. Thin, lifeless, mixing into the gray aspect of the pavement and leaving them almost unnoticed. Not even the lady that owned a small shop right across the path wouldn't acknowledge them. Or maybe she was already used to their 'perdu dans le paysage' aspect.
To Narae as well, this was just a common picture for early April. An April where it snowed on Fool's Day, as if Nature itself was mocking the whole World, claiming her superiority and their lack of power against it. The wind was chill even if small rays of Sun tried to crack between the clouds, small puddles of the rain that just cooled the previous night gathered in the holes in the pavement.
It's already been six months since she first walked along that path. Back and forth between her home and the bus station, hasty steps and occasional glances left and right to avoid the cars. Hands deeply buried in her leather jacket and shoulders raised slightly to keep her scarf in place. Sometimes, she would shake her head to help stray strands of hair out of her eyes or quickly bring one hand up to raise her glasses higher on her nose. Seeing pairs of feet in front of her, she'd lift her eyes from the ground to know which side of the pavement she'd go towards to avoid bumping into them. Just a boring five-minute walk that lost its grain of interest and beauty a few after a couple of days of constantly going along it. It became routine, an automatism - Narae would walk along that path even blindfolded, it wouldn't make any difference.
It was just that day. That day that held something special. It's not as if it started in the highest of notes, neither continued likeso. Narae found herself clumsier than usual, starting to blame it on 'waking on the wrong side of the bed'. Things weren't going as planned and Narae could swear even water would've taken more time to boil.
It was only a matter of time and patience against the will of Nature until it was 1PM. Narae's classes started at 2PM and her University was at the other side of the city. The routine started again, just as in any other normal day - pack the books, get dressed, wash her teeth, comb, put her shoes on, tie the scarf, get the leather jacket, throw the schoolbag over her shoulder, plug her iPod in. Suddenly, it seemed like things started to turn better, since music was the best choice of escapism for Narae - a barrier that held her back from the World's pragmatic side, allowing her to indulge herself into either thought, or lack thereof. Especially while walking down the same narrow path that guided her steps.
Something, though, caught her eye at a certain point. One of the trees seemed to differ from the others, and it made her lift her gaze from the ground to glance over at it. At that point, her steps slowed down until she reached that tree, keeping her eyes on it and watching from a rather shocked perspective that it was indeed different. Her heart started beating faster, and not even the music was audible to her anymore, let alone everything around; her mind was concentrated on that tree alone, all sorts of thoughts running through her mind at the same time, one of which managed to escape her lips into a soft whisper.
"Life finds its way."
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