It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

“Platform Number Four, now boarding.”

He was a cynic, but there was nothing now that could possibly ruin his trip home. The plane that took him across a time zone had faced very little turbulence, and he knew that this was helping with his fear of heights. The therapist’s suggestion that he fly back was actually useful (better than that nonsense about opening up to people). He had a good flight with no alcohol necessary, and he even took an air-sickness bag as a memento (strange little collection he had now). No, he was simply one bus ride away from home and he would see the family, old faces and sights that he knew so well.

“Hello, sir!”

A friendly driver? Well, it was the holidays, and he must have been from my hometown. He seemed to be himself that way). The man was a little older, heavier, wearing glasses and the uniform of the company that ran both the airline and the bus (very unusual), and his smile seemed genuine (all those slight crinkles around the eyes…) Their final stop was over two hours away, and had no airport of its own, so he would be forced to, once again, grab another bus and then taxi up to the old place. It felt different taking it from the airport than the usual rundown bus terminal where he kept an eye on his luggage by sitting on it, but this was a good start. There were no homeless people here or late-night freaks looking to offer drugs or save his soul as he transferred rides. This would be a simple trip to the very familiar sights of his past.

“Hello to you! Can I put this in the side?”

The driver smiled again, and he already had the side panels up for storage. “No problem. Are you heading all the way to…?”

“Absolutely. Family won’t leave.”

He smiled at the passenger again. “I know, I know… A lovely place to visit, but…”

“Absolutely wonderful to leave.”

Now they were both laughing as Ralph took out his ticket and had it scanned. The other passengers seemed indifferent to the joke. Most of them would probably leave in the first hour of stops (they looked like they lived out in the bush), and he did not want to delay their return to the wild.

“Thanks…”

“No worries. Now, get on board.”

“Okay.”

Was that an order? Something a little too rough…?

He carried his backpack up into the narrow aisle.

*

It was an unusual move for him, but he decided to sit right behind the driver. From the number people waiting in line and the clear weather, it was good to be able to see everything in a ride that would end just as the sun was going down. Some snow clung to the roads, but the unusual warmth of the season had take over many of the towns here, and it was hard to think of a new year about to stroll in. It was also a bright and sunny day, so he could remind himself of all he remembered of his hometown after such a long gap between now and his last trip to see the folks. The driver waited a moment for any last-minute stragglers and the pixelboard indicated that they had at least five minutes before the scheduled trip.

“So, we heading out soon?”

The driver, looking back through his bifocals, seemed surprised to see the man behind his seat.

“Oh, yeah. We have a schedule to keep and you can never tell who is going to show up at the last minute.”

He kept the door open as they all waited; the hum of the bus flowed through them; he looked up at the clock.

“Four minutes…”

“Yeah, and then no conversations with the driver.” He took off his glasses and pointed at a plaque right below the pixelboard. It warned about smoking (tobacco and other substances), vaping, and discussions with the driver. All the restrictions were indicated with simple pictograms circled and then slashed with red.

He smiled.

“I won’t bore you with my life story.”

At least the driver smiled at this.

“Believe me, I’ve heard them all. One woman went back to her husband who cheated on her and told me that she believed that this time – this one special time – he would change. That was over the summer, so it had nothing to do with resolutions or other nonsense. Another guy had security chasing me down the road as we pulled out because he turned out to have a warrant on him. Great to be in the news, sometimes.”

The wind picked up and a definite chill filled the cabin. The driver simply ignored it and stared ahead at the asphalt that was whitened by crushed salt.

“Then there are the students. Usually, they aren’t a hassle. They are just trying to find the easiest way home and, let’s face it, bus rides aren’t that much compared to planes or trains…”

“Right…” He looked up (they had two minutes to go).

“But sometimes… Sometimes, you get one or two that just want to make trouble for the rest of the passengers.”

He noticed for the first time that the driver’s hands were on the steering wheel, gripping them until he could almost hear the cracking of knuckles. Looking back, he wondered if any of the other passengers were noticing or hearing this (most were in the back, which was surprisingly dark).

“And you have to take care of it.”

“Um, sorry, I didn’t…”

“You have to take care of these problems…these wise guys who think that since you’re a bus driver, you must be lower than lower; you must have wasted your life in order to be behind that wheel and devote twenty years of your life getting people home safely. All on a simply overnight trip and it was the holidays, too. All because some stupid kid decides to ignore as many of those rules as he could because he is a big man at a big school and his family can take care of any problems…”

With a hiss of gases, the door slammed shut.

“Not on my bus.”

A red light flashed on the dashboard. They had to leave.

“Not on my watch.”

All the inner lights switched off as the announcements were made and the itinerary announced. He looked around at the other seats and decided that he had to stay put.

“Okay, now. No talking.” The engine started and the driver pulled the steering wheel to the left and onto the clear path of road. “We have to get you all home.”

They made their way down the road in silence.