I seem to wake up before the alarm. I lay there in the chilled dark hoping upon hope that I am wrong and willing sleep to take me back to my dreaming state. The cat knows. She gives a short meow and without preamble walks across my body to her preferred patting side.
My eyes still closed, I stroke her warm body, the tips of her ears belying the temperature beyond the warmth of my bed.
Then the alarm, lights on, morning ritual completed, cat fed, curtains opened and out to the dimness of a morning not quite up and atom.
The birds have started their chorus and moths flit around the still glowing street lights as I join my fellow early morn commuters.
A jogger lead by a dalmatian crosses the road. She wears black, her bare legs and the white of the dog’s coat all that is clearly visible.
The bus looms over the rise in the road and we board, all vying for ‘our’ spot. Such creatures of habit that we are. Mine, on the left in direction of travel, toward the back, perched above the wheel where my height-challenged legs are more easily accommodated.
There’s the beret-topped and still wearing covid mask girl. Well, actually a woman but one that is petite and cutely dressed, always. The beanie clad blokes, the bald and hatless – that must be chilly, the still wet and the brightly dyed hair brigade. It’s too early for the schoolies, or there would be whispers and giggles and nudging.
As we travel, the sky is lightening to a soft grey-blue, cirrus clouds of pink hue bare witness to the sun that rises while still the full moon beams his face down to earth.
Cocooned houses whizz past, the timber clad with verandas to catch the cool summer breezes, and tiny cottages nestled amongst garden of green. The built to order mansions and the commune of apartments, most quiet like resting giants. The parks are empty, the air is still and as we move closer to the city, the sun reflects on glass like a bright welcome to the day.
The shops are closed, I spy the unusual and the plain Jane. And then we enter the tunnels that lead us ever closer to our destination. Sometimes I just want to travel on to some imagined destination but today, I’m happy to alight and savour the brilliance of this city with a casual stroll over the river.
The clouds have turned to white. The water’s shimmering reflections of colour and movement mesmerise. Skyscrapers juxtaposed against the ever-lightening sky, like a collage, the old and new, the sandstone and the gleaming metal all meld to tell the city’s story.
And then, I arrive, the doors swing open to greet me like an old friend. The early morning coffee drinkers mill in the foyer as I alight the lift and ascend to start my work day.
Thanks goodness it’s Friday.
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