Richard J. Veltri

A Moment

By: Richard Veltri

This moment was nothing spectacular, in fact, with it sitting next to the moment that it happened to be sitting next to, one might say it was spectacularly unspectacular. For the moment next to it would be incredible, it would be worldwide news worthy, but that, is not the moment I wish to talk about, the moment I wish to talk about is the one right before.

For most people on London bus number 36 from the airport to Fanshawe this moment was, in fact, very mundane. As mundane as every other moment on any other bus ride. For the driver it was the moment where he checked his watch to see the time while opening the door for his latest stop. While doing so he was able, in this moment, to calculate how much time he had left before he could go home to his lonely apartment where he would enjoy a meal in front of his television and a well deserved beer.

For Jerry Steinbeck, a young law student, it was a moment of anticipation as he was on his way to meet, for the first time in person, ClassyGirl26 with whom he had been building a relationship online for the past three months. In this moment he was looking down at the solitary rose he had purchased for their first meeting. With feelings of nervousness and excitement continually rolling through his body, it was in this moment that he was reflecting on how people sometimes lie on their profiles (he himself was not in fact a fantastic footballer or really athletic at all) and how he hoped she could forgive him for his minor misleading.

Across from Jerry stood Scott Mayfield for whom this was a moment of joy as he had just spotted Dave Couples an old friend whom he hadn't seen since the day his dog of only 6 years was struck by a car and died. Scott's arms, in this moment, were stretched wide for a hug, a hug he would make sure was as vigorous and comforting as the one Dave had given him in comfort all those years ago. Scott's only thought at this moment was how fortunate he had been to have a friend like Dave and how glad he was to see him again after so long.

Dave, however, greeted this moment with dismay as Dave was not nearly so happy to see Scott. Dave had in fact been trying to avoid Scott as best he could, since it was in fact Dave's car that had struck and killed Scott's poor little pooch. Dave had tried so hard to comfort Scott that day, hugging him and helping him bring the clearly expired pet to a veterinary hospital if only to try anything they could to reverse the grip of the grim reaper. Dave had stood by and said nothing at the angry out bursts of Scott swearing revenge on the man who prematurely put an end to his canine friend. Now, in this moment Dave was slammed full body with the guilt of that day as he donned a smiling mask and widened his arms to accept this friendly, welcoming gesture of embrace. His thought at the moment was not really his own, but that of his conscience telling him that he needs to tell Scott at some point, if not at this very moment.

For Alex Hutchins, this moment was like most in his day, keeping a watchful eye on his only friend Terry. Alex and Terry were homeless, and most people gave them quite a distance, especially given Terry's habit of striking up nonsense conversations with random strangers. Alex knew that Terry only had the thinnest grip on reality and while Alex' lack of shelter and money came from a lifetime of poor choices, Terry's came from an undiagnosed mental illness and a lack of people around him with the ability to really help him. Alex had decided his best way to make up for his past mistakes to himself and the lord who gave him rebirth mere months ago was to take care of this poor lost cause for as long as he could. In this moment he was looking at Terry, as Terry rocked back and forth in his seat, thinking how happy Terry was in the world that existed only in his mind and how Alex wished he could escape reality like that, if only for a little while.

Terry, in this moment, candlestick flapjack Terry mama junction flipper dungeon... I'm sorry to have wasted some of your precious moments trying to establish Terry's feelings at this moment, but it would appear that is an impossibility, I hope you can accept my sincere apology and allow me to continue with this story, just knowing Terry is there will be sufficient.

Doug Foreman, at this very moment, with his head leaning against the window, was staring off into space. The space that was his mind anyway, a mind that, at this moment, was filled with worries. He was on his way to a class that he knew he was failing, for a degree he knew he didn't want, all to make proud a mother who never was. At this moment he was inadvertently releasing a heavy sigh that was fogging up the window on which his head rested. His thought at this very moment was merely “woe is me.” For him, the next moment would be one of unexpected relief.

Dr. Hinzleman, in stark contrast, was feeling quite delighted in this moment. For you see Dr. Hinzleman was not a doctor in the medical sense but in the academic achievement sense, his doctorate was in geology. This moment was particularly delightful for him for a number reasons. One reason being he was on his was to a very exciting lecture on batholiths and laccoliths that he was speaking for part of and of course, nothing is more thrilling than being able to talk to peers about the formation of land structure over the course of millions of years. However, the foremost reason for Dr. Hinzleman's delight in this moment was that it had just occurred to him how very surprised anyone riding this bus would be to find out that the well dressed man, in a dark suit and tie, did not have any papers in his black leather bound briefcase, but that it was filled instead, with rocks. The doctor, in this moment, smiled and chuckled inwardly at the imagined face one of the passengers would make were he to pop open the latches to reveal the gray treasures inside.

Little did Dr. Hinzleman know, but at that moment, someone was interested in what his briefcase held and would have been amazed regardless of the contents. That person was little Billy Scoffield, a boy of four years, who at this moment, was wandering toward Dr. Hinzleman to satiate his curiosity as to what this smiling old man was hiding in his shiny box on his lap. Unbeknownst to Billy however, he is not destined to make this trip as his mother has grasped the back of his bright blue coat.

Karen Scoffield, in this moment, holding an infant in her left arm and the back of Billy's coat in her right hand, was frustrated. She had to make this trip across town for the youngest child's monthly check up all by herself and without a car because her husband needed it to go to a job interview at Virgin EMI Records. While this was a dream job of her husband's, and if he got it, it would mean a better life for her, she was still frustrated at the current situation. But her husband had made an excellent point about keeping up appearances when going for an interview. He didn't want to seem inadequate in any way and Karen was willing to do anything to keep her love happy, even if it made her, in this moment, unhappy.

Finally, in the center of the train, stands the man for whom this moment is one of triumph. For him, this moment is not as mundane as it is for everyone else on the London 36 bus from the airport to Fanshawe, for him, in fact, this entire ride has been a roller coaster of emotions from anticipation, to joy, to anger, to dismay, in fact he has gone all across the entire spectrum of human feelings. For him this moment has been one that was planned for almost a year, a moment he was hoping would allow him to live on in infamy. For him, this was actually the biggest moment of his life. For at this moment he only has one thought, as he flicks the trigger on the home made explosives sewn into the vest he's wearing under a light coat, that thought was that this is the moment, his moment, his moment of success and victory. That thought was summed up in his mind with two simple words “at last.” But he was wrong, that moment of success was, in fact, the next moment, this was merely the moment before that one.