Passing Cars | Teen Ink

Passing Cars MAG

June 8, 2008
By Julia Holemans BRONZE, Arlington, Virginia
Julia Holemans BRONZE, Arlington, Virginia
3 articles 0 photos 0 comments

I am standing on the corner, hesitant, waiting for the beauty that maybe will come for me. Vulnerable, perhaps, behind my black glasses and pearled ears, zits and braces. The cars whiz past me, carriages smoothly gliding, and I watch the people. I watch the men driving alone, the older girls with their shiny, straightened hair and perky breasts, the women barely visible behind piles of groceries, the older couples. I watch these people’s hands. They clutch cigarettes, coffees, soda cans, each other.

I watch their faces, lined with sorrow and laughter, lined with makeup and the crusty remnants of sleep. I watch these people, these strangers driving by me, not seeing me, and I think how funny it is that they sit in their thrones of leather and vinyl, thinking they are alone, but there, there I am, watching them, trying to read their pasts, their presents, their futures, without tarot cards, thinking how odd it is to see human souls encased in glass and steel, private tragedies driving to some unknown destination.



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This article has 37 comments.


on May. 8 2016 at 11:09 pm
moderndancer SILVER, Overland Park, Kansas
5 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Going out doesn't make you a bad person, just as much as going to church doesnt make you a good one." -Miley Cyrus

I love how you are able to read other and their actions and yet are able to put it into beautiful words that others are able to understand. A blessing and a curse, a truly remarkable talent.

Maddy_Koch_3 said...
on Apr. 10 2014 at 8:38 pm
Maddy_Koch_3, Bradenton, Florida
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss it you will land among the stars. —Les Brown

Short but sweet :)

on Oct. 15 2013 at 7:33 am
eatclouds BRONZE, Alexandria, Indiana
4 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation. -Graham Green

I really, really love this. Good job

on Aug. 7 2013 at 4:30 pm
RelativetoWriting GOLD, Brecksville, Ohio
13 articles 0 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.&quot; <br /> -Walt Whitman

I love this topic- of observing people and in doing that, observing human nature. Wonderful work!

on May. 9 2013 at 10:38 pm
OriginofGenesis BRONZE, Honolulu, Hawaii
1 article 0 photos 1 comment
This is amazing. You are very sensitive and perceptive, keep writing. :)

bwriter24 said...
on Jan. 18 2013 at 12:22 am
this is fantastic

on Mar. 27 2012 at 6:56 pm
Emily Lathrop BRONZE, Los Alamos, New Mexico
2 articles 0 photos 3 comments
Cool! I kind of wrote something like this, called Coffee Shop Stories, with the whole part about not knowing who they were and stuff. Check it out.

on Mar. 5 2012 at 2:02 pm
LoveWriting01 BRONZE, Urbandale, Iowa
4 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn&#039;t have the heart to let him down.&quot;<br /> <br /> --Abraham Lincoln

I like the simpleness. I enjoyed this read a lot :)

on Jul. 29 2011 at 11:32 am
wordlover27 GOLD, Vancouver, Other
15 articles 0 photos 12 comments

Favorite Quote:
&lrm;&quot;For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness...&quot;<br /> -Audrey Hepburn

I love how you took something so simple and made it breathtakingly beautiful :)

on May. 2 2011 at 6:45 pm
RiverSong BRONZE, Baltimore, Maryland
3 articles 0 photos 100 comments
Beautiful! Five stars!

on Jan. 20 2011 at 3:22 pm
Sara Isaac SILVER, West Orange, New Jersey
8 articles 0 photos 5 comments
This is wonderful.

bubj98 said...
on Sep. 24 2010 at 11:03 pm
amazing.i think its great how you think of things.i feel the same way

on Aug. 11 2010 at 8:10 pm
J-blotting-ink SILVER, Kalamazoo, Michigan
8 articles 6 photos 20 comments
This is really a beautiful piece, and a good concept. I have similar feelings about phone books. There are names laid out in front of you, and you can only imagine the connections they have to each other or the kind of lives they lead...

on Jul. 20 2010 at 6:49 pm
Hi-5_Girl BRONZE, Moosic, Pennsylvania
4 articles 3 photos 18 comments

This was not intended to be added on to mustlovemuse's comment. :) I hit the wrong button by mistake.

~The Hi-5 Girl


on Jul. 20 2010 at 6:48 pm
Hi-5_Girl BRONZE, Moosic, Pennsylvania
4 articles 3 photos 18 comments

I too enjoy watching people driving by. Sometimes I even make up life stories for them. Again I'll say what everyone else here is saying, your words flowed so well it made me want to keep reading even though this piece is so short. Bravo!

~


Sliva23 BRONZE said...
on Jul. 2 2010 at 8:06 am
Sliva23 BRONZE, Melbourne, Other
3 articles 0 photos 58 comments

Favorite Quote:
Love to faults is always blind, always is to joy inclined. Lawless, winged, and unconfined, and breaks all chains from every mind.

I truely love this....it actually made me think and then cry for some unknown reason

on Jun. 28 2010 at 11:11 pm
eternalsunset BRONZE, Buffalo Grove, Illinois
1 article 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;And in that moment, I swear we were infinite.&quot; --Perks of Being a Wallflower

This is truly Beautiful. Keep Writing!

on Jun. 28 2010 at 3:12 pm
mustlovemuse BRONZE, Norwood, Massachusetts
1 article 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I write for the same reason I breathe- if I didn&#039;t, I would die.&quot; - Isaac Asimov

Awesome. Very well written... the flow of the words you chose is incredible. :)

rayj095 GOLD said...
on May. 15 2010 at 6:45 pm
rayj095 GOLD, Gadsden, Alabama
19 articles 6 photos 11 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;And if we&#039;re lucky, we realize, in the face of everything, in the face of life, the true dream is being able <br /> to dream at all.&quot; -Grey&#039;s Anatomy

Awesomee! Very short and puts a good point out there :)

on Apr. 23 2010 at 9:35 pm
Schickster SILVER, Ithaca, New York
5 articles 0 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;You can&#039;t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus.&quot; -Mark Twain

Incredible! I've had the same thoughts, but you put them into words with grace and beauty. Keep on writing!