An Eery Ride
We are nearing the outskirts of Winnipeg and we slow down to a crawl, the bus turns the corner taking a left hand turn (heading north) at the lighted intersection. We are now heading into Winnipeg.
Passengers have put down their books, tablets and laptops, those who were sleeping are now awake and chattering. Some are standing in the aisle looking out the windows. One man is pointing to the front of the bus as we stop at another red stop light. There are very few vehicles out on the road tonight and there is an eeriness in the air.
I look out and what I see reminds me of a movie I watched a few years ago. I feel like I am in a reenactment of ‘The Mist’ or ‘The Stand’. Other than a few vehicles on the road there are no people to be seen, none walking on the sidewalk, none crossing at the lights, I can’t even see anyone in any of the stores, there aren’t even any vehicles parked at the meters. As I look out the windows of the bus I can see drifts of snow being moved or pushed along by the wind.
The drifts appear to be chasing anything that moves. As the east/west stop light changes from red to green, I see a silver Jimmy to our right. The Jimmy moves to make the left hand turn, as it moves I see a drift of snow, which appears to be following it. As the Jimmy passes by us, I see a red car move through the light to the left of us. The drift that appeared to be following the Jimmy, travels under the car giving the appearance of lifting up over the tires of the car and the drift changes direction from following the silver jimmy to follow the red car, traveling back in the direction it started from.
As we sit at the light waiting for it to change from red to green, passengers are murmuring about how eerie it looks outside and speaking about how strangely, abandoned the streets of Winnipeg look. I see a drift of snow moving across the street and it is headed for the bus we are on. I get up and take a look out the window opposite of where I am sitting…another drift is being moved/pushed along by the wind and it too appears to be headed in our direction.
More imaginative questions drop into my thoughts. Were the drifts aiming for us? Were they being directed by some evil minded, science professor controlling the wind and snow drifts? Are we unknowingly in one of those sci-fi movies I love to watch? Are there hidden cameras somewhere on this abandoned stretch of this Winnipeg city street?
I watch the drifts sway and move toward the bus, as they appear to be about to grasp, cover, swallow and devour the tires of the bus, there is a lurch forward. The bus is on the move again. The drift appears to be chasing us, but as we pull further and further away from its grip, the mist, wind-blown drift, eeriness dissipates as the drifts change direction again, one drift dissolves to nothing and the other continues to move toward the next vehicle passing by it.
As we move further and further away from those drifts I see dimly lit street lights coming on, as if trying to guide our way toward the airport, which is where the bus terminal is.
