Departing

Their world was falling apart. As a matter of fact, it was crumbling to pieces. They did not know how to live their lives anymore for the was too traumatic for for them to handle. It was so traumatic that they huddled together and cried. They hugged each other and rested their heads on each other's shoulders. The preparations for the day had started many weeks ago. They waited for the day of parting with a feeling of dread. 

Finally, the day arrived. They sat down in a circle and talked about the good times. They were sure that each of them would miss the memorable days. They swore that the days ahead will not be as good as the days of the past and then cried. The day proceeded with increasing sadness and finally the end of day arrived. They walked together as a group to the gate but did not proceed through the gate. They came back. They walked back to the gate and paused for a moment at the gate. One of the girls, left the group and walked towards the bus slowly. She got into the bus without looking back. The other looked at her for a few moments. They sighed deeply and loudly before turning around to tell her good bye. Each of them hugged and left without looking back. She watched them all go by before walking towards the buses. She looked into the buses and waved good bye to many. The buses started leaving. She stood at the centre of the road and let the buses pass on both sides. She looked at the buses with a sad smile. As the last of the buses passed, she noticed the girl who had walked away from the group first sitting on the last seat by the window. Her eye looked out of the window towards the distant sky. Her eye were brimming with tears but miraculously the tears did not flow down her cheeks. She had the look of Juliet pining for her beloved Romeo who, she thinks, lay dead by the lake, which was outside her village. The girl at the centre of the road was shocked to see her friend thus and raised her arm in alarm as she called out her name. The bus continued its journey and the girl turned around to look at the receding rear of the bus.