Snow and Heat

The stream at the bottom of the ditch ran silently and slowly, its waters black in the gray light of morning. Its blackness was made even more pronounced by the bleached white of the snow which had fallen heavily during the night. The stream ran alongside a railroad embankment, perpetually draining water from suburban lawns which grew steadily smaller in size until the industrialized collar suburbs were reached, before bending away from the railroad and disappeared into the overgrowth, where at a distant point it would empty into the Cal-Sag Channel.

Before disappearing, however, the stream flowed without a sound underneath 147th Street. On the bridge overpass above, Danny Terrell stood waiting for his bus. He stood with his shoulders hunched up, one shoulder turned defensively towards the two older boys who waiting nearby, staring at him. Both wore looks of bemusement as they stared, imagining ways of amusing themselves.

The larger of the two, a broad-shouldered, ruddy-haired boy of fifteen, was the first to act. From his position closest to the bus stop sign, he suddenly lunged across the sidewalk and snatched Danny's wool cap off his head. Danny instinctively grabbed for his cap, which the older boy held high in the air, well beyond Danny's reach. The boy grinned broadly as Danny jumped again and again, each time coming inches short.

Without a word, the older boy walked to the edge of the bridge, Danny following him and continuing to futilely reach for the cap, and nonchalantly flung it into the stream. The cap rode on the languid current for a few seconds before becoming waterlogged and sinking below the surface. Danny reddened, burning with shame and helpless anger.

"Oops, sorry," the older boy snickered. The bus pulled up, and he walked back across the sidewalk, rejoining the other, and climbed aboard. The bus driver leaned forward to look at Danny, who still stood at the bridge's edge, but as the driver saw the boy making no movement toward the bus, he closed the door again and drove away.

Though he would be late for school again, Danny thought it best to wait for the next bus. The snow had begun to fall again, lightly this time, slanting downward in a gentle diagonal. The cold flakes settled on Danny's bare head, where they quickly melted on his still-reddened brow.