Take Me Home

TAKE ME HOME

It’s 4:00 in the afternoon. An hour had passed since the time of her dismissal. Everyone had gone home except for a few faculty and non-faculty members. Only her and her bag full of books sat on the cold marble staircase leading to the Information Office. She was just waiting…waiting for that familiar red vehicle to pass through the school gate and take her home.

Clouds rolled by across the vast blue sky. Only the rustling of leaves can be heard as they were swept by the wind. She watched as the remaining leaves of one of the school’s largest trees fall slowly to the ground. The scene was beautiful and serene – the kind of atmosphere she has always loved. But then, something other than that arose. Loneliness. She shut the vision out by resting her forehead on her knees. She doesn’t want to be here anymore.

This world just seems so different…or perhaps…it’s the other way around. In this world, she’s nothing but a stranger. Here, she doesn’t seem to belong. Roaming the school building kept her preoccupied and her passion for reading kept her entertained. For someone like her who knows how to make her time worthwhile, this was just fine. However, as days passed, the hallways grew quite familiar and her fingers had run through countless of books. This day became the same as the next and the next…and the next. Her life in this world became routine and though she told herself that it’s okay, at the back of her mind, she doesn’t like it at all.

Fifteen minutes had passed when a gentle humming of a car’s engine reached her ears. She looked up expectantly to see where the sound came from. It was coming from a red car which made a left curve and stopped in front of her. The door to the passenger seat opened and a woman stepped out of the car. The woman walked towards her and greeted her with a cheerful “Hi!”. It’s amazing how that mere appearance of the woman and that simple word lightened her up. She stood up and smiled at the woman who’s now carrying her things. “Come, let’s go!,” the woman said as she reached out for her hand. She took it and together, they entered the car and made their way home.

But then for her, the moment the woman stepped out, her world made a turn. The moment she saw the woman, she knew that at last...she’s Home.