Big Bird swung-up her wing, dropping her nose as the loudspeaker crackled instructions about seatbelts, seats and smoking. Big Bird lands anyway, even if the seats aren't upright, trays aren't stowed and cigarettes not extinguished. On the ground and ushered into a bus to travel to Oakland Army Base, place of Mustering-Out. I want someone to scream. This is too quick of a letdown.
Soft music plays on the bus's loudspeaker system.
The bus engine is quiet, the traffic is quiet. All sound ceases, total silence. I find myself focused on the faces of drivers as they pull alongside the bus. Concentrated on driving or bobbing their heads to some jazzy music, all preoccupied with whatever task is at hand. The kind of sleep that leaves you yearning for the Sunday paper, a leisurely smoke, a cup of coffee on the patio of a hillside house overlooking the Pacific on a warm October morning.