“Hey, Regina, the bus is coming!”

“Hey, are you listening to me? I said the bus is coming!”

“Regina…!”

I look up to see the annoyed look on my friend’s face, a frown creasing her forehead. She was already on her feet, school bag slung over her shoulder.

My upturned face must have been a mask of puzzlement. Rudely interrupted from the alternative world I’d been immersed in whilst waiting for the school bus, I felt disoriented and struggled for a moment to return to reality.

Looking past my friend’s shoulder I see the red school bus hurtling down the hill to our stop.

“Where were you? I was calling for like about 5 minutes!” she cries.

“I didn’t hear you at all,” I say, hurriedly getting up from the wooden bench, picking up my bag and throwing the book inside.

“That must be a good book,” she laughs.

The bus stops, the pneumatic doors open outwards and we both climb in.

“In response to the WordPress daily prompt: “Tell us about your favorite way to get lost in a simple activity — running, chopping vegetables, folding laundry, whatever. What’s it like when you’re in “the zone”? “