She didn't look back as she boarded the bus headed for the Salem Airport. She knew she would probably never see any of her friends again. She held her one piece of baggage close to her as she found a seat towards the back of the bus.
Once she was seated she sat her bag down beside of her and pulled a wad of money from her pocket. She counted it carefully, to make sure everything was there. Sure enough, every cent she had earned was there in the palm of her hand. Her life's savings. One hundred and seventy-three dollars. It was just enough to buy a plane ticket.
She carefully put the large wad back into her pocket and put her bag into her lap. She leaned against the window and closed her eyes. Tears threatened to surface to her eyes if she opened them, so she just sat silently with her eyes shut tightly.
"It's bad luck to look back," she said to herself. "But luck has never been on my side, anyway." She stepped off of the bus and looked behind her, towards Salem.
As the plane began to take off, she looked out of her window and whispered to herself, "I'll never forget you, Salem."