Jacob speak:

While walking up my street I came across a horrible accident. A city bus had rolled over onto the very people waiting to get onboard. Blood, metal, and glass littered the sidewalk. A very stern looking ambulance crew was looking for survivors. I joined the onlookers standing a few feet away from the wreck, and pulled my headphones down around my neck. We stared in awe.

"It's terrible. Isn't it," I said to the woman standing next to me.

"What," she asked, "City transit?"

"No," I said, "all of the lost lives."

"Well, that too." she added. "In any case they would’ve been better off walking. They were just standing still, waiting to shell out a dollar fifty so they could ride a slow, cramped, and smelly bus. If they’d walked they would’ve been wherever they were headed by now, plus they would’ve gotten some exercise. They wasted the last 20 minutes of their lives at this bus stop waiting for death . . . So, I believe city transit is the real tragedy here." And with that she strolled across the street and stood at the bus stop.

"It's just awful," I said taking one last look at the tragedy before me. I put my headphones back on. I continued to walk up the street, and eventually, when it ended, I came to the park. I sat down on a bench and thought about the wreck. In my mind I could still see their arms popping out from under the bus with death grips on handfuls of change. What a way to go out . . . I sat there for hours, unable to shake the feeling of horror.

The sun was setting; I should probably walk back home. I stood and was caught off guard by the sound of giggling coming from over the next hill. I walked towards it and came to a valley. The two man ambulance crew from earlier was skipping through the flowers. They rolled in the grass. They had playful slapping fights. They blew bubbles. They giggled. I watched as they had water balloon fights. I watched as loveable puppies ran from the woods and wrestled with them. I watched as they pranced away over the horizon and disappeared.

Apparently their workday had absolutely no effect on them. In a way this was more horrifying to me than the earlier events of the day. I began to walk back down my street. In my mind I can still see their maniacal and carefree smiles shining in the twilight.

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