They say time moves people.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSkFPwByyw
But sometimes, people just… move.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVoZ6twZZG6
And time only watches.
Ours was a story written in reverse.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUirnvKkFau
When the year began, our buses stood side by side.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzQh5oQB67K
Just like us.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiPaZkh12o
Close — not always talking, but always within reach.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQOzJgYrJQ
We met under that old tree, beside those parked buses,53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyWKQegNBi
Where the earth still remembered our footsteps,53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BPCwYGaEM
And the silence between us felt like the loudest comfort.
That was our place.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLhFeIrQQVT
Not too far. Not too close.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6lmBTrG2z
Just enough to look, to smile, to say everything without a word.
And as the semesters rolled in,53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWpF53FF5s
So did distance.
Little by little, her bus began to move.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8z4yN46kHG
Not suddenly. Not loudly.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNZuiRHufi
Just like her — with quiet decisions, soft steps, no explanations.
At first, I didn’t notice.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuROmzjJqUF
Because I was too busy holding on to what we had.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIl6wPPef6m
But the tree stayed where it was.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBpaqjzFgn5
And so did my bus.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHl9sDm2agP
And so did I.
Still waiting. Still hoping.
Her new spot — it wasn’t far in meters,53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6Uo6DVLqjo
But felt like miles in meaning.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3EiUQQGPm
Now, her bus stood beside his.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnLTPPIuRJ
Not mine.
And that small shift changed everything.
They laughed.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCh0JktwIDN
They walked.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyrHB1ExFq8
They spoke in the language I thought we built.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHV0RSgRP2u
One I no longer understood.
And me?53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhqwxd0GHrv
I stood beside my bus.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDebMQgoQgi
Just like always.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTpczrfYaA
Like a shadow hoping the sun might notice it again.
I don’t blame her.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJpyXvfQOZ
Maybe her journey needed a new road.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHk7157jpOF
Maybe my stillness felt like stagnation to her.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrf7dXYZsI
Maybe being beside me wasn’t enough.
But I watched that change —53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRi73iS0QRz
Every day after college, every silent evening.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIoA5u83L8M
And it hurt.
Because the buses knew.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62KxEE2DpL
They told a story no one else could see.
Ours was a story of two souls who met where the buses once stood together.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfj0ehNQ6t
A bond that bloomed between the roots of familiarity and the branches of hope.
But not all flowers bloom forever.
Sometimes, they’re just meant to be admired once —53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcnzJQzV8le
in a single season —53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5MioPXaDy
and remembered always.
She moved forward.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYbvAMSEjU
Or sideways.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26UFvH21YC
Or somewhere I couldn’t reach anymore.
And I remained.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1ATAUPvRJ
Not because I couldn’t move.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfFqHa0zs1Y
But because some part of me still believed—
If one day, she ever looked back…53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZe02X2FJia
I’d still be there.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDjBhD7wB0
Beside the same tree.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfCpJt48Im
By the same bus.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpisnbBpY5S
Carrying the same love.
Quiet. Constant.53Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKNLRfVmbt
Unseen.
