A toque, a pair of gloves, a pair of high boots, a fur hooded puffer jacket, and a scarf. I was ready for the battle.
I took a deep breath and put on the hood. The door slammed behind me.
The wailing of the siren startled me. The commander noticed my appearance. His instinctual shriek echoed in the vacant field.
“Target’s coming!”
As his voice faded, a flurry of bullets flew toward me. I lowered the hood to shield my eyes from the rage.
My heart slammed with every beat as it told me to surrender. I ignored its pleads and kept trudging forward. The commander had the wits enough to come up with another strategy.
“Aim at the ground, idiots!” He berated his subordinates.
He knew the only way to stop me was making me fall. I beat the commander on the punch as I had attached cleats under my boots. I sauntered on the pavement then looked up the commander’s grouchy face.
“Not this time!” I murmured and knew that I had made his blood boil.
I saw a flare ahead.
“Just a little more” I mumbled to myself. The commander might give up when I reached there.
I was the first person in the line, waiting for the bus. I sighed with relief. The battle had messed my French braids.
“Thank god, my makeup didn’t ruin.”
I felt like a weight had been lifted.
I regretted that I had underestimated this man. If the prize of being the most persevering person in the world existed, the commander would be in first place! He made a tactical move as he wetted the road, so the bus would be delayed. Nine busses passed through me with excuses “Sorry bus full”. The commander gave me a mocking smile. He began to sing,
“Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong…”
The word “Home” kept replaying in my head. I covered my ears and hummed “Never say never, yeah, never ever,” I wouldn’t let the commander’s purpose succeed. I decided to walk up to the prior bus stop, so I could have more of a chance to get on the bus. He knew what I was up to, so he fired me incessantly. My feet were numb as I was standing outside for an hour. I could barely walk.
“Give up and go home. You won’t make it!” The commander shouted.
His subordinates continued shooting the road. I had got here anyway, so I didn’t want to give away my last hope.
“Man plans, god laughs,” the 10th bus had come right before I arrived at the stop. Using all the remaining power, I jumped on the bus, leaving the commander behind.
I heard the commander scream in anger. Escaping from him was unprecedented. He vented his anger on the subordinates and blamed them for being useless.
“Dear Mother Nature,
You have done everything you could: making the road slippery and attacking me with the white bullets. You want to stop me going to school by waking up my other self. You do the same thing to other people and succeed. I respect your effort. However, I’m sorry that I let you down because I have broken your plan.
I have surmounted my biggest enemy- my lazy self.”
As I glanced at the bullets on the ground, I got goosebumps. I turned my look to the window and saw the reflection of my triumphant face. I had missed the first block, but I didn’t miss the second one. At least, I won my other self to go to school on a snowy day.
The day I saw snow for the first time.
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