On the Number 39 Bus

The bus stops at the place to let you on. You enter the open doors and look for a seat to sit in for the trip home.

Looking outside the window, you are drawn to a dark shadow, with its collar pulled up to hide its features and identity. You sense that you are being followed. You lower yourself deeper into the seat so that the person whom you think is following you is not aware of you on this bus.

Too late, they saw you after you had first been seated, so they ran to catch the 39 bus, but were too late to catch this bus. You feel relieved, but it's short lived. You see the person get into a long vehicle, like a limousine, which proceeds to speed towards the bus before veering away and down the street.

You make sure that no one else is following you on the 39 bus, yet you take this same bus every day and never had this happen before, until today. It was becoming increasingly worrisome as I was watching out for the man I had seen.

Right when I thought I was home free, I noticed the same dressed man, standing at the next bus stop, who was making sure they would not miss the 39 bus again. As the bus slowed to a stop, before the doors were opened, they rushed the people trying to get off the bus, and then they tripped. The driver, seeing this, walked over to the person and pushed them out the door, then closing them shut.

Part of the person's clothing had not cleared the closed doors, and the person was dragged along with the now speeding bus as it hurried down the street before turning right. The driver noticed the now slightly bloodied person and then came to screeching halt in the middle of the intersection.

I rose up to see what exactly was happening, when the downed person rose up too, seeing that I was standing up, and tried to walk through the closed doors. They kept on coming and finally broke the closed doors off their hinges.

I was not sure whether to run or stay where I was, even though my brain was yelling for me to run, I was still standing there. Before I knew it, there was a loud commotion, then people being thrown everywhere, then the person was upon me. I was about to finally run, when it grabbed me and threw me up against an open window, only to be put through the open window, as shards of glass ripped through my skin.

The pain was unbearable. I was no longer able to keep my identity hidden, as the outer human shell started to become empty with my own self being inside and was now outside, I was. I then grew larger in size as I was able to be free of the human restraints.

I faced the person, or should I say creature, then I went to work on making this creature's life a living miserable hell. I aimed my first device at it, but this was slapped out of hand, and I was knocked over to the side, causing the bus to turn over on its side.

I fell backwards as I tried to stand and was blown back further with a blast from a grenade being launched at my chest. I then was hit with a force, that would put me in the path of a speeding truck, then wham it was all over.

My outer shell was damaged, my weapons were useless and then I was fired upon and with a deafening blow I was thrown further down the street, along with the two truck drivers and several other individuals that had perished from the first blast. I was about to try once more, when a tall skyscraper fell upon me and caused my life to cease.

I was in a hole. I was in the dark. I was not sure what had taken place. I was starting to rev up and began to blow out of my hole. I rose up, with my new body, then heading in the direction of my attacker, flew towards the beeping noise.

I fired a rocket at the beeping noise, then moved back to see the fireworks. I was expecting the noise to be loud and to be brilliant but the was not loud noise and nothing brilliant to be said about. I was then met with several vengeful angry individuals that had since joined the first one. I was trying to hide from them, trick them, but to no avail.

I turned this way then went that way. It was always being blocked by one or the other. Then it was as if all of them were trying to gang upon me. It was the last thing I remember before my on-board computer shut down and this time I was not coming back ever again.

I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a training simulation. It was the first one of its kind, as my home planet was not Earth, and it would never be Earth. It was another planet, which was in another galaxy. I was not certain how long I had been in the training simulator.

It was during the time I had been "away" that the one who was at the controls informed me I had been in there for at least 3 years if not longer. I was unaware that I had decided to do this for as long as I participated.

I was noticing changes that took place as I was returning to my post but then the longer, I went on the ship, the more the changes became apparent. Then it was starting to sink in that I was on a ship that had seen a major battle, with the winners not being us. I hung my head in shame.

Had my being here from way before, been that important, that my absence had taken on a new meaning, if not a greater importance than I was willing to admit. I knew I was fully functional, yet something was amiss and out of sorts.

What looked like a mirror, peeked in the mirror, and saw what I had always avoided seeing. I was looking back on the one person who had failed himself, had failed all those who had come to depend on me, and I had failed the very standards that I had kept all these years. I was no longer able to hold myself as reliable much less one that could keep their word.

I had failed and with that last thought, shut off my life support and began floating out into outer space......to die.