The Morning Bus Ride to the Longest Day of School Ever

A Chapter by Anne

Chapter 1 - This is a first rough draft

As Anne waited for the bus at the end of the driveway trying to wake up, she took in the quiet of the country. At 6:20 am she could hear the coy dogs in the distance. This used to freak her out, because she grew up on Long Island, and there were no coy dogs on Long Island. At least that she knew of. Behind her was the home her father had built and retired to, which was set on seven acres at the base of a mountain. Across from her was a very overgrow[A1] n apple orchard. A small stream trickled by beneath the driveway. A culvert had been installed to allow the stream to move beneath the driveway. Anne gazed at the small stream as it moved peacefully over the rocks. When the flow of the water hit the resistance of the stones, it did not stop, it moved around the obstacle. That was how she felt about living life. There were no obstacles that would get in her way, she just found a way around them. In the stillness of the morning, she could hear the bus coming before she could see it. This quickly took her out of her meditative moment, and reminded her she was going to school. Ugh, she thought, even if this was a great school year, it was her first here in Stephentown, NY, it was still school, and there were two more weeks left. Was she going to make it those last two weeks?

As the bus rolled up to her driveway, Anne watched and waited for the bus to stop and for Rene’, her bus driver, to wave her safely across the road. They exchanged Good Mornings as Anne got on the bus. She made her way past the few people on the bus giving a quick smile and a mumbled hello. This was one of the many differences between living in Stephentown, versus Long Island. There was a personal touch, and Anne liked that connection that people here always took the time to make. By the look on the other kids’ faces, they were all feeling the same way: ugh, the last two weeks of school; am I going to make it?

Anne found her way to the near back of the bus and slumped in the seat. To pass the time away while waiting for Colleen to get on the bus, Annie logged onto Framily.com to see who was doing what. She mindlessly scrolled through the posts, when two words stopped her in her tracks: Long Beach. The full title of the posted video was: “You know you grew up in Smithtown, NY if this is the Road you took to get to Long Beach”. Holy Crap! Anne thought. How many times as a child, and into her teens, did she see this scene on the way to the beach? Many, and she was ecstatic to see the beautiful countryside of Long Island which led to the beach on the Long Island Sound.

The long, winding country road that led to the beach had fields of hay waving in the wind and were kept within their border with white split rail fences. Occasionally, you could see horses grazing in the fields. Trees gently swayed in the breeze along the side of the road, when out of nowhere, you rounded a corner and there was the smelly marsh, which always smelled worse at low tide. Around another small bend you entered the parking lot and could smell the salty sea air. This was the beach they most often went to during the summer months, as it was only 20 minutes away from Anne’s home. It wasn’t Anne’s favorite, as it was the bay side, and was very rocky. But going to the beach with her family was always fun.

As the video looped around, Anne watched it over and over. Then, she remembered the story of the witch’s house! How could she forget? On Long Beach Road, just before you came to that first corner by the marsh, stood an old house up on a hill. Between the road and the house were trees and overgrown land, which added to the mystery of the house. It was Anne’s favorite landmark to see on the way to the beach, and she would ask her sister to let her know when it was coming up so she didn’t miss it. A warm, tingly feeling filled Anne’s body; it was the feeling of comfort from the fond memories she had growing up on Long Island mixed with the excitement she still felt about the witch’s house. It has been at least three years since she had been to the beach and seen the house. Is it still there? What does it look like now? Would she be able to find it? Anne was so lost in thought, she didn’t realize the bus had stopped at Colleen’s house, and Colleen was almost to their seat.

With a perplexed look on her face she chuckled and asked Anne, “What are you thinking about”? Laughing back, Anne said “Watch this video. Can you believe this is the road we used to take to get to the beach on Long Island!” Colleen watched the video and was surprised to see how pretty it was there.

“That’s so cool” she said.

Anne replied, “You can’t see it from this video, but just before this bend here (she pointed to the video), there is a witch’s house up on a hill. My sister Liz used to point to it on every trip and tell me it was ‘the witch’s house’”.

Colleen’s curiosity was piqued; “Was it really a witch’s house”?

“I don’t know”, Anne replied “but I would always look for it. I think that’s why I like creepy old houses, old things, and the supernatural”. Yes, that’s for sure, Colleen thought, Anne is oddly obsessed with old things and the supernatural. And then, this crazy thought popped into Colleens head.

“Annie! Let’s go down to Long Island and see if we can find the witch’s house!”.

That’s one of the many things Anne loved about Colleen. First, she called her by the name her family called her by, Annie. Second, third and fourth, she was adventurous, loved road trips, and was not easily scared off, which gave Anne more courage when they had these adventures.

It didn’t take Anne too long to say yes. They both looked at the calendars on their phones and concurred that the last day of school was Friday, June 17. Damn! Two more weeks to wait; or to plan, as they chose to look at it. They were almost at school, but both decided to hang out after school at Colleen’s house to start their planning. Ugghh why do I have to go to school today, they both silently thought.

On the way into school, Colleen said she would start a list of things they would need to do for the trip. Anne was going to make a list of things they could research on the internet before they left and how they could learn more about this area.

Since they were in different grades, they didn’t have any classes together, only their lunch period, so they always went to Anne’s locker first, then Colleen’s so they could spend as much time together before the bell rang. They chatted on the way to their lockers, but the hallways were bustling with kids who were no doubt rambunctious because it was the end of the school year, so it was difficult to really talk about anything specific. Things always got crazy at school around this time of year.

A football flew past Anne’s head, just missing the side of her face. She turned around to see their friend Mike with a smirk on his face, as he mumbled I’m sorry. It kind of annoyed Anne. She did not have any patience for these kind of antics. Where were the teachers or the principal when you really needed them? Colleen took it in stride and laughed as she shrugged off the crazy atmosphere. She loved it; she got a big kick out of everyone being silly and a little mischievous. The first bell rang, so the girls said their good byes with a quick little hug.

They both had three classes before their shared lunch period. Even though they decided to make their plans for this adventure after school, neither one of them could stop thinking of all the ways they could prepare. It was just too exciting! Separately, they started mind dumping ideas onto a piece of notebook paper during class. The classes were mostly review for the finals, so it was easy to half pay attention to the class, and jot down ideas as their minds thought of them.

During Math review, Anne wrote a note to Colleen telling her she was just too excited to wait until after school to start writing down ideas, so she had started a list. She also wrote, in the note, that she didn’t want to talk about this at lunch with their other friends around; this was their little secret. She carefully folded the note into a triangle and wrote ‘Lil’ Sis’ on the outside, with a curvy-shaped heart at the end.

After first period, they crossed paths in the hallway, and Anne passed her note to Colleen, and said with excitement “I couldn’t help it”, and chuckled. Colleen laughed. ‘That was Annie!’, she thought. ‘Her excitement with new ideas and projects always overtook her, completely.’ Colleen wouldn’t have expected anything different, even though it was a little annoying the way she just rambled on and on about all of her ideas. She actually couldn’t wait to read the note, though, because she was just as excited about this trip and starting the planning after school today.

Second period was Colleen’s science class, and they were reviewing for the year end final. Colleen did pretty well[A2] in science class, so while Mr. Goldary droned on with the review material, Colleen read Annie’s note[A3] :

Things to Research:

1. Google search Long Beach Road

2. Talk to Robert about coming down to visit. Is it a good time?

3. Google witches in the Smithtown, St. James,

, Head of the Harbor area.

4. Pack camera

5. Make a research notebook

6. When will we leave

7. What food will we pack

8. What are possible resources to use locally on LI

9. Anything else we think of

Let’s try not to talk about this at lunch; I want to keep this between us. I don’t want anybody else’s ideas, or for anyone to want to come with us. It’s our little secret xo ‘Big Sis’

‘Well’, Colleen thought, ‘not much more to add to THAT list, except more details.’ This was a great start. She wrote a note back to Anne:

Annie! That is a great list!!! I don’t think there is[A4] anything else to add to it…at least not much. I’m sure we’ll think of things as we start to plan. I agree…let’s not talk about this at lunch. It’s our little secret lol … Can’t wait till after school today!!! Hugs and Hearts Col’

Colleen carefully folded the note up into a neat little triangle and wrote ‘Big Sis’ on the outside of it. After science class, Colleen dashed through the hallway in the opposite direction of her next class. She wanted to make sure Anne got this note, because they wouldn’t see each other for another hour, when they had lunch together; and they’re not talking about this at lunch, so it was very important that Annie got this note, now! There she was, just ahead of this pack of slow moving marsupials! Ugh!, Colleen thought. “Annie!!” she called out ahead of the marsupials. Annie turned around, and was a little agitated that Colleen had called out her name like that. As close as they were, they also had their “own group” at school. But when Colleen handed Anne the note, Anne wasn’t agitated anymore. This was their little secret. The bell rang, and they both hurried off in the direction of their next class.

Just before Anne’s English class started, she quickly opened the note. Yay, she thought, we’re off to a good start. She knew Colleen would have great ideas for the details. She couldn’t wait to get started. Even though English was her favorite subject with Mrs. Kavanaugh, she couldn’t help but think this was the longest day of school, ever!

After English class, Anne made a mad dash to her locker to put her morning books away, grab her lunch and get the books she needed for the last half of the day. Although lunch period broke up the monotony of the day, they both struggled through to the end, but it finally arrived!

As Anne got on the bus, she got her phone out of her backpack and turned it on. She had to call her mom and make sure it was ok that she went to Colleen’s house after school. She could hardly wait to get there, but it was a thirty-minute ride. Simultaneously, Colleen turned her phone on, plugged the ear phones into her phone, opened up her music files and started to play the top 100 play list. They each put one ear piece in their ear and settled in for the half-hour ride home. Colleen stared mindlessly out the window, and Anne closed her eyes, as they listened to the music play.

next chapter

© 2017 Anne

Author's Note

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Featured Review

Samuel Dickens

I like following along with Annie and hearing her thoughts as she goes about her school day. There are several elements here that I find appealing, some of which you may well guess. Often young, real folks are doing what people do. No bombs going off or ensuing chaos--just beautiful life, lived the way that we all know and remember. You're a good story-teller, my friend. With that said, I think there's room to improve.Mostly, I'd like to see some of your sentences simplified. Let's look at your first sentence--"As Anne waited for the bus at the end of the driveway trying to wake up, she took in the quiet of the country." You have her waiting for the bus, trying to wake up, and taking in the country. A better way is to leave "taking in the country" for another sentence, and deliver the reader something like, "Anne waited for the bus at the end of the driveway while rubbing sleep from her eyes." Some might call this "tightening things up".