Teens

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I knew I would be sitting alone even before we got into the van. I switched for a seat closer to the window so that I could lay down ad gaze at the monotonous scenery. because I knew that no one would make an effort to speak to me. Four hours, they had told us, to get to Jaspers, and then another two to arrive at Banff. Judging by the three hours of sleep I received the night before, I decided to take advantage of the window seat that I'd bargained for, and get some rest. I awoke to a throbbing pain in my left temple, and I soon realized that I shouldn't have laid my head against the window. Up to that point, the ride had been somewhat smooth, but as soon as I fell asleep, the roads turned bumpy. I rubbed my eyes and stole a quick glance at the clock on my phone. 1:37. I'd slept for seven minutes, and already I had felt a little more lively. I turned to the comfort of a book, and desperately tried to drown out the giggles, the jokes, the bumps, the stories, the noise. I just wanted quiet. I haven't even accomplished that with the seven precious minutes of sleep I had just used. I stuck my finger in between chapter 7 and 8, then asked what time we were supposed to arrive at the park. A few more hours, they said, still absorbed with the story that I had unknowingly interrupted. My eyes started to burn, then they became hazy and tired, so I opted for a better-quality sleep with my sweatshirt as a pillow. Even though I could drown out some of the noise with the headphones I had brought, I still could not bring myself to sleep. So I just laid there, with my head uneasily resting against the window, with my eyes closed, and my headphones attached to my ears, with no music flowing through them. I felt alone, desperately searching for someone. . .something to listen to my words. The waterfalls and mountains seemed to care more about what I felt than the people that surrounded me and knew me so well. It's pretty lonely up here in the mountains, I thought. Maybe it would be nice to live up here for a few months by myself to escape the hostility of critical people.

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