bus?… They all wore the same submissive mask of pain. Their faces were all alike one to another, the face of a poor farmer. I should say that the only one who appeared, objectively, different, was this young boy sitting back in the bus. His eyes stared outside, searching along the covered horizon for something to get as a background, somewhere to escape. He was totally elsewhere, in a kind of Imaginary World he had built all around his soul during his youth. One could wonder if it’s good to live in a world of illusions during the holy years of a teenager. He thought it was. In fact, he wasn’t that different from his comrades, he had a different view on life, that’s all. He couldn’t bear reality, that’s why he dropped out of it and found refuge in his own illusions. Of course, he was conscious that this wouldn’t last forever but also thought that Time takes time and that Time brings things as they should come, he did not feel the need to overwhelm time. So he waited inside his illusions ; watched the world from outside ; and there he sat in the bus.
The sun rose and shone perfectly on the mountains, that were appearing at the far horizon. It was the most beautiful landscape he had ever seen. The bus stopped for a while. Some passengers were getting off the bus, but this did not really matter to him, did he see them? He was somewhere else, travelling on a horse, running through a wide prairie. There was sweat on his body, his horse rode faster and faster, but he didn’t know where it went. The only thing he knew was that he had to reach the castle ; but first, he had to “ find ” the castle. He was lost! – “ May I sit down right here? ” asked a beautiful young lady, - “ sure you can, madam ” he answered as courteously as possible, a bit ashamed of his not reacting immediately, and seemed tired like the other passengers who reached their seats again. She must have been at least ten years older than him but looked very beautiful, her body looked as bright and strong as during the precious age. He couldn’t help falling in his illusions again. The prairie came back, but now it seemed smaller and he could even see the castle, there was some water besides. He knew this lady gave him absolute comfort. After a few minutes her hand touched his and so on, he discovered her body just like she discovered his. They did communicate thanks to the touch of their hands. I really wonder whether she had a curse, or a sort of magical power, on him. It was not only pleasure she gave him, but also a kind of spell which was much stronger than his because hers was real. None of them felt the need to talk, though. The words they would pronounce would destroy the pleasure they had just had, it would be a banality, a return to reality. She would have led him to the climax of his ecstasy, - because he thought he had found the perfect woman - But while he ran up the stairs of the castle, overwhelmed in his world of illusion, the lady got off. He needed a little moment to come back, put his hand on the window and looked at her with the look of a child :
“Why was she leaving now?“
©Matt Oehler
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