Morning Bus Ride

Riding the #4 bus to work, Erk puzzles over fellow rider's woven South-American-looking backpack, every pocket of which is crammed full of godknowswhat.

Erk puzzles over anti-fur button pinned to above-mentioned backpack. The button is not new.

Erk witnesses above-mentioned rider hand anti-fur card to another rider with a fur-lined collar. The card has an image of an animal and the text, "I'm not a coat." Erk puzzles over this.



As above-mentioned rider exits the bus, fur-lined collar and her male companion smile and puzzle over the anti-fur card.

Someone riding a bicycle on the sidewalk crashes to the ground. The crashed bicylist places hands on face and unhelmeted head and lies still with leg twisted in wheel.

Tweeners at the back of the bus exclaim, "...he hit the ground so hard!" and begin to puzzle over the gender of the crashed bicyclist.

Above-mentioned back-pack-wearing fellow rider, having exited the bus during the bike accident, runs over to crashed bicyclist. She throws her backpack aside and kneels down beside the crumpled body. Bus driver briefly hops off the bus and then begins to call in the accident on his phone in the bus. Anti-fur continues to talk to the bicyclist, gingerly attempting to remove the bicyclist's book-laden backpack which lolls awkwardly to the left. Another woman joins the crashed bicylist. She lifts the bicycle away, untangling the rider from it. The once tangled leg assumes a more natural position.

Tweeners now refer to the crashed bicyclist as she. Erk, with earphones in one hand, looks on like monks afloat in the river in Andrei Rublev.

Crashed bicyclist sits up, revealing a large bloody splotch on face. Also reveals gender. Anti-fur digs in her backpack, removing a tissue which she uses to blot the crashed bicyclist's injured face. Crashed bicyclist takes the tissue, holds it to his face, and, sitting upright, folds into a fetal position with his face in hands. Additional helper offers him an unopened bottle of Glacéau Fruitwater.



In this gesture, she reveals to all that she has a purple cast on her arm and wrist. From the bus, Erk realizes she is explaining that her injury resulted from a bicycle crash. There are other women assisting the crashed bicyclist but they remain plain, only their gender and their number (the group is small enough to read as concerned individuals willing to assist, but not so small as to need additional assistance) is apparent.

Tweener goes to the head of the bus, gets a bus schedule, and returns to the rear of the bus. Erk cannot tell if she did this merely to get a closer look or different view of the crashed bicyclist.

The bus's phone rings. The driver answers it. Erk has ceased breathing but does not realize this. The bus driver steps off the bus and reports something to the group, which appears slightly smaller. Anti-fur's movements are tender, appear nurturing. Purple cast looks calm yet intent. Crashed bicyclist continues to hold tissue to cheek and face in hands.

The bus rolls forward, and Erk puzzles over what he has witnessed. The next stop, roughly 200 meters away from the accident, is his.