Back home with the birds...

[fajrdrako]

It's a five-hour bus trip from Ottawa to Toronto.

I went down yesterday, on the bus that leaves Ottawa at 7 a.m. Walking down Bank Street at 6 a.m. with my back-pack and extra bag, I was surprised how quiet Ottawa could be early on a Saturday. There were almost no cars on Bank Street. I thought there were always cars on Bank St. I only passed one man shouting at parking meters (which did not shout back) and two early runners.

On the bus, a woman was sitting across from me with a book in her lap, a paperback with a bright orange-and-red cover, turned open to page one. She was talking to her companion in the seat beside her, animatedly though not loudly, and I was watching to see if she ever started reading. I could see the page she had opened it too, with a large "I" at the top, for Roman Numeral Chapter One.

She was on the same page three hours later. Four hours later. After I while I realized that the orange silk scarf over her shoulders matched the cover of the book.

I felt poised on the edge of anticipation, as if time had suspended, waiting for her to start chapter one. The eternal pause before the first step. I'd read half or three-quarters of the book I had with me. Sometimes she moved the book, or gestured with it, and sometimes I could see flashes of the title or parts of the author's name - at the four and a half hour point I'd seen enough to piece together the title: the book was A Certain Justice by John Lescroart. It was as if the woman had stopped time.

Sunday evening, when I was coming back to Ottawa, the bus stopped at a rest stop along Highway 7 and as I got off the bus I caught a glimpse of the same book on one of the seats. When I got back on, I checked for the reader, and yes, there she was, with the same book - not open, now. I don't know if she had started chapter one.

I rather hope not. Something would shatter.

Comments

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

LOL. Wow. Sounds like the book was a prop.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Well, I think she was clearly more interested in talking than reading. Fair enough. For all I know she was reading all the way back to Ottawa - but I never actually saw her do it.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

Yes. Well, if you've got a good conversation going, I can understand that, but four hours + is a long time to talk.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes - I wonder what they were talking about? I was more focussed on the book (out of sheer curiosity).

[wijsgeer.livejournal.com]

It was as if the woman had stopped time.

like you suspend time by not reading and make it move by reading. My feeling has allways been te opposite, how can I have been so wrong?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It could be the other way round too - it's all in the point of view!

[lmondegreen.livejournal.com]

Huh. I never thought about carrying a book as an accessory before...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It matched her scarf very nicely. I wondered if she bought it because of the cover.