first night

I have never seen a bus stop seat being painted, and yet they always have advertisements on them. Do they hire someone to paint them in the middle of the night when no one needs the bus stop? I know I do not need to worry about the cars hitting me, there are reflective stripes on most of my clothing, and a headlamp bouncing along the street with each of my strides, and yet I still feel like they could blindside me easily as they go flying past.

I stop at a busy intersection and look over to see the early morning bus driver, lonely in his rig. He sits upright, rigid, maybe ex-military of some kind, which would make sense for the stereotype of "bus driver". He has a drawn in face with features that jut out at odd angles, but not in an unpleasant way. His looks seems to say that he would be happy to just drive an empty bus and never have to stop for anyone, no matter how pointless that would be. Some nights, when I am this far into my run, I can think of nothing except how hot my insides are. I cannot escape the heat or the feeling of anxiety I get when I am running alone this early. It matters not how many times I do it or how ridiculous the anxiety might seem.