Taxi

• Jasmine Gearie, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2007

After Ashley had got into the backseat of the taxi, she asked the taxi driver to take her home with a hint of sadness in her voice. It was Saturday morning and Ashley had just gone out to the city and now all she wanted to do was go home. She had just experience the worst week of school all because of her friends talking about her behind her back.
“How could they talk about me behind my back? My life is over! And mum thinks I’m overreacting! How could I possibly be overreacting! I mean they’re supposed to be my friends!” she told the taxi driver, almost breathless.
“Well, if you want my opinion, I reckon your mum’s right.” He replied, looking at her through the rear view mirror. Ashley could see from the taxi driver’s id that his name was Robert and he was around forty-five with grey hair and blue eyes.
Gradually the taxi slowed to a stop, and Ashley noticed something happening ahead of them.
“Why are we stopped?” Ashley asked.
“Ah, I think there might have been an accident.” He replied.
As the taxi slowly crept up the road, Ashley could clearly see that there had been a major car accident. As they drove past the scene of the crash Ashley saw a seriously injured man around twenty-five, being taken into the back of an ambulance on a stretcher. Her eyes began to water from forgetting to blank. As she continued to observe out the window she saw a woman also around twenty-five sitting on the edge of the street bawling her eyes out.
As the traffic started to clear up Ashley tied to forget about what she had just seen.
“Could you please turn the radio on?” she asked.
“Yes of course.” He replied and he turned it on.
She was relieved to hear her favourite song on the radio and while she sand the song in her head she thought about her friends. Who was she going to sit with during classes? And what about recess and lunch? She didn’t know many people outside her group.
She then turned to look out the window and gazed into the park. It was enormous. It was full of plants and a huge fountain. She noticed a homeless woman sitting on a bench asking for money and rattling a can at everybody who walked past. She looked about forty with ratty blonde hair and old dirty clothes. Ashley watched as people walked by her trying not to make eye contact with her. She then through to herself, would I stop and give her money? Usually she would do the same as those other people, but she seemed to have a different perspective from the taxi. She could tell by the look in the woman’s eyes that she really needed the money. Ashley knew she wouldn’t spend it on alcohol, drugs or even gambling. She felt sorry for her, she couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to be homeless. To have no family and friends. To have to beg for money for food or else consequently finding food in a bin. To not have a safe place to sleep.
The news on the radio then caught her attention. A news reader was reporting on an earthquake somewhere in America that had claimed the lives of an estimated one thousand people. Ashley couldn’t believe her ears. Ashley and the taxi driver listened intently to the rest of the report. It was during this time that Ashley suddenly froze. Her body was frozen stiff and her chocolate brown eyes seemed to loose their sparkle. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could feel the air going inside her chest and it felt like it was just floating around inside her, as if she didn’t have lungs. She felt hollow.
“What am I complaining about?” she asked herself.
A smile began to spread across her face. In a strange kind of way she actually felt happy. She leaned forward and asked the taxi driver “Actually I changed my mind, could you please take me somewhere else?”
“Yes of course,” he replied, “where would you like to go?”