The rain was pounding down against the windows of bus number 34. It was night, and the weather had been foul all day. Ashley sat on the crowded bus listening in on people’s thoughts. Each sentence rolling into the next, a long blended series of thoughts, the brunette wasn’t sure who they came from yet they bounced off her like rubber.

I wonder if Tom’s fixed the sink yet.

I wonder if Grey’s Anatomy is a repeat tonight…

It was times like these where Ashley took interest in the lives of the mortals around her. Not that she was ever not interested. In fact she was completely captivated by humans. They lived such normal lives, yet they lived such incredible lives at the same time. Each of them unique and playing a greater role in the scheme of things. Ashley loved to listen to their thoughts as they ended their day. It was a time of reflection, the ride home from work or school. Minds always seemed to wander and Ashley clung to those simple thoughts like they were golden. She wondered what it would be like to think about a grocery list or to pick a movie to watch on your date or to think of ways to propose to the person you loved. Humans didn’t know how lucky they were. Ashley wasn’t stupid she knew that being an angel had its perks. Eternal life, never aging, never feeling pain. But Ashley never felt lucky having all these things. She longed for normalcy, for reasons to buy a fixer upper, for arguing with your daughter about her wardrobe choices, about walking your dog.

All of these things were what she would never have. So Ashley decided that she would live, vicariously through them instead.

As the rain came down Ashley shifted in her seat pretending that she was uncomfortable. What was uncomfortable? She knew that the rest of the bus riders hated the seats because they caused them pain … but what did it feel like? The seats were plastic and lined with a thin sheet of blue fabric that was stained from the beverages that had spilt on it in years passed. Ashley traced the lining of the cushion. Riders jerked forward as a the bus came to a sudden stop. Ashley continued to play with the lining. And the bright blue of the seat had her reminiscing about a certain blonde doctor’s piercing blue eyes. She sighed audibly and pressed her fingers firmly against the seat next to her longing for some sensation to reach her nerves.