Faces in the hallway

I wish I had Linda's writing talent some days...

This morning I had cause to just stand in the hall at school, and watch the students walk past. I've never really done that before. Wonder if it's all the changes my life has tumbled through the last few months that caused this change?

Today... I watched their faces. These were not my students, but girls from nursing programs and others.... fresh arrived by the bus load from various schools, various places, various lives.

This morning... I saw something that paused the coffee halfway to my mouth.
I saw.... their lives. The students, most of them, carried their lives on their faces.
Their faces in the hallway.

One girl... so eager to be different, just like everyone else. A hairstyle that might as well have carried the name of the street she lives on in the city. A face that told volumes about nights on the harsh sidewalks.

Another, eyes downcast, spirits downcast, radiated all the fear of a bloodied rabbit in the mouth of a slavering hound. Her face set in a mask that hid nothing but her own reflection in a mirror.

Walking past... eyes alive.... mind miles away..... this one is in love. Hope he's worth it.

A trio, each more giggly than the other, none with anything to giggle about but the appearance of giggly happiness in each others company. Next week it will be a different mix of three, but they don't know that today.

Determination.... a shock to see, to my jaded eyes. So often missing these days, but this one has it. She will do fine.... and I'd hate to be in her way.

Faces in the hall..... each with a life flashing across it like a motion picture played on a moving screen.

I never noticed it till today.