The Bad Day Turned Good
It was a bad day. Her morning and reminded her of that children's book, "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." Cold shower, Cheerio dust in her cereal bowl, uneven eyeliner, favorite bag of chips taken by a greedy sibling and now, her normal seat was taken by someone she didn't recognize.
Gerty slid into the isle opposite of her usual spot. The seat was not nearly as comfortable. There was a spring poking her in the back and something lumpy in the seat. No wonder kids didn't ever sit there. That was part of the appeal of her favorite bench. The tall seats made it so that you couldn't see in front of you or behind you and if no one sat across from you, you had the feeling of being alone. Gerty liked being alone, or at least pretending she was alone.
She bounced on the seat once, twice, three times trying to get the lump to shift. It didn't budge. There was a piece of tape over that section. Gerty picked at the tape still feeling grumpy about her bad luck this morning.
"Things better turn around before lunch." she thought. "I have a science test this afternoon and I don't want to totally bomb it."
The piece of tape came up slightly, and she noticed the sun catch something shiny.
"Just the metal frame, I'm sure." Gerty thought, starting to stick the tape back down. But as she pressed it down she decided to take another look. "What if it's not the frame? I mean, that would be strange for the framing to form a lump, right?"
Carefully she lifted the tape back up and reached her finger gingerly into the hole in the seat on the school bus. First she felt the thick green plastic, then there was a compressed gray foam disintegrating into a sand like substance, and then? Then she felt something cold and chain like.
Gerty removed her hand and slid her butt over on the seat looking around to see if anyone had been watching her. The newcomer that was in her seat had his ear buds in and his head leaned against the window as if he was posing for a scene from some angsty teen tv show. No one was paying her any attention.
"I suppose that's what year of ignoring everyone will do for you." she thought smiling to herself. And she slid back over to take another inquisitory plunge under the tape of the seat.
This time she let her fingers linger. The chain was piled in a tangled mess, but she was sure she could coax it up through the slit in the plastic seat cover. She reached into her backpack to grab one of her flossers. She kept a stash in the front pocket, mostly because she had braces and was meticulous about checking them after she ate. "But," She thought "They also come in handy during times like this!"
Pulling the floss from it's stretched position it gave her a hooked tool with which to try and grasp the chain with.
Smiling at her own genius, she slid the flosser into the crevice and gently made an attempt to hook whatever it was that was hidden under the seat. As she pulled it up, her heart began to race. It looked gold! And not like the cheap painted gold of the drugstore jewelry, but a slightly worn actual gold like her grandmother used to wear. Carefully she kept pulling, ever so gently. Something got stuck as it made it's way up into the sunlight streaming through the single pane window.
"What in the world?" Gerty whispered under her breath, as a large pendant gave up its hiding place. Realizing what it was, she tried to quickly put her hand over it. Before she covered it completely another child in the bus shouted,
"Hey! Where'd that rainbow come from?" and everyone began looking around for the source of the prism.
Gerty slipped the find into her pocket and began to look around for a source of sparkle just like everyone else. There was no way she was going to reveal that she, Gertrude Bastile had just found a diamond on the school bus.
Gerty slid into the isle opposite of her usual spot. The seat was not nearly as comfortable. There was a spring poking her in the back and something lumpy in the seat. No wonder kids didn't ever sit there. That was part of the appeal of her favorite bench. The tall seats made it so that you couldn't see in front of you or behind you and if no one sat across from you, you had the feeling of being alone. Gerty liked being alone, or at least pretending she was alone.
She bounced on the seat once, twice, three times trying to get the lump to shift. It didn't budge. There was a piece of tape over that section. Gerty picked at the tape still feeling grumpy about her bad luck this morning.
"Things better turn around before lunch." she thought. "I have a science test this afternoon and I don't want to totally bomb it."
The piece of tape came up slightly, and she noticed the sun catch something shiny.
"Just the metal frame, I'm sure." Gerty thought, starting to stick the tape back down. But as she pressed it down she decided to take another look. "What if it's not the frame? I mean, that would be strange for the framing to form a lump, right?"
Carefully she lifted the tape back up and reached her finger gingerly into the hole in the seat on the school bus. First she felt the thick green plastic, then there was a compressed gray foam disintegrating into a sand like substance, and then? Then she felt something cold and chain like.
Gerty removed her hand and slid her butt over on the seat looking around to see if anyone had been watching her. The newcomer that was in her seat had his ear buds in and his head leaned against the window as if he was posing for a scene from some angsty teen tv show. No one was paying her any attention.
"I suppose that's what year of ignoring everyone will do for you." she thought smiling to herself. And she slid back over to take another inquisitory plunge under the tape of the seat.
This time she let her fingers linger. The chain was piled in a tangled mess, but she was sure she could coax it up through the slit in the plastic seat cover. She reached into her backpack to grab one of her flossers. She kept a stash in the front pocket, mostly because she had braces and was meticulous about checking them after she ate. "But," She thought "They also come in handy during times like this!"
Pulling the floss from it's stretched position it gave her a hooked tool with which to try and grasp the chain with.
Smiling at her own genius, she slid the flosser into the crevice and gently made an attempt to hook whatever it was that was hidden under the seat. As she pulled it up, her heart began to race. It looked gold! And not like the cheap painted gold of the drugstore jewelry, but a slightly worn actual gold like her grandmother used to wear. Carefully she kept pulling, ever so gently. Something got stuck as it made it's way up into the sunlight streaming through the single pane window.
"What in the world?" Gerty whispered under her breath, as a large pendant gave up its hiding place. Realizing what it was, she tried to quickly put her hand over it. Before she covered it completely another child in the bus shouted,
"Hey! Where'd that rainbow come from?" and everyone began looking around for the source of the prism.
Gerty slipped the find into her pocket and began to look around for a source of sparkle just like everyone else. There was no way she was going to reveal that she, Gertrude Bastile had just found a diamond on the school bus.
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