A huge part of today’s society takes the bus every day. From businessmen who commute to work to children who go to school.
You could say that society rests on the shoulders of the great drivers who take us from A to B.
They do everything they can to get you to your destination on time. A situation like this is very unique.
To become a bus driver, you have to be cut of a certain cloth. In addition to the regular, quiet citizens you drive back and forth, you sometimes have to deal with people who are loud, arrogant, dirty or otherwise annoying.
Margaret had never had a passenger like this. In the ten years that she has been behind the wheel of a bus, she has seen almost anything you can think of. Drunks, beggars, she has had to kick quite a few passengers off her bus because they were a nuisance to others.
It was a shift like any other. Margaret was on her usual early morning ride when she noticed something very strange at a certain bus stop…
She stopped at the bus stop. Once the doors were open, she saw a little boy standing on the doorstep. The boy was shaking on his legs and it was obvious that he had been crying. The boy looked anxiously at Margaret, who motioned for him to get in. Once the boy was inside the warm bus, Margaret asked him a question.
“Where are you going?” she asked the little boy.
Margaret may not have any kids of her own, but she was very good with children. She could see that this boy needed help and reassurance. So, she asked the question with a voice full of pity. The boy swallowed a few times, but seemed to feel a bit more comfortable afterward
The answer was not what Margaret expected!
As Margaret asked the question, she took another good look at the boy. It was a cool morning and the dew was still on the grass around the bus stop. There was not much to notice about the boy’s clothing, but when her eyes drifted further down, she realized that he was missing something.
This details was very alarming to Margaret.
Margaret saw that the boy had no shoes on. He wasn’t even wearing socks. He had been barefoot, in the cold, waiting for the bus. This was something Margaret had never experienced before. She couldn’t think of a good reason for the boy to be waiting at the bus stop like this. In addition, the boy seemed very scared.
Something wasn’t right here…
The boy seemed to hesitate. He didn’t immediately answer Margaret’s question, but stared at his bare feet for a while. Margaret waited patiently. She had a feeling that the boy might be in trouble. The bus had arrived at this stop too early, so Margaret could take her time without the other passengers running late.
The boy looked back at Margaret, who had become very curious about the boy’s story…
The boy bit on his trembling lip. You could tell he had been through something. Margaret was very curious as to why the child had been standing barefoot at the bus stop. She leaned a little closer to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Can I help you with something, boy?” she whispered reassuringly.
The boy knew he was safe with Margaret. He decided to share his story with her.
The boy said that he had been playing in his front yard that morning, when suddenly a rabbit darted by. Since he had never seen a rabbit in the wild, the boy ran after it. He was very curious where the animal would lead him.
Then disaster struck…
The boy lost the rabbit after a while. The animal had disappeared behind a tree and the boy could not find it anywhere. When the boy looked around, he saw that he had ended up in a forest. He decided to go back home, but quickly realized he was lost.
The little boy walked around confused and scared, not knowing how to get back home.
Then the boy saw the bus stop. The bright lad realized that if he stood there, a bus would drive by. He would be able to get in and find his way home. This was, of course, quite exciting. It took quite some time before a bus finally showed up. Margaret had finally stopped in front of him and that made the boy feel very relieved.
The story seemed to have a happy ending, but something gnawed at Margaret. Something didn’t sit right with her.
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