First day of school, jostling for position at the bus stop.

Rory’s acting cocky. Just back from Canada, he’s sporting a new puffa jacket. Superior filling, not the polyester of his peers.

The bus arrives and they swarm towards the open doors.

POP goes Rory’s jacket, and goose feathers fly.

Bryony Lorimer is a Scottish writer living in Edmonton, Alberta. Her work has appeared in Capital City Press Anthology (a project of the Edmonton Public Library) and is forthcoming in DarkWinter Literary Magazine.