Strange Bus

I felt the breeze on my face as I walked out the door. I swear I heard my name in it.

 I eyed the beach in the distance. If I could just take a seat in the sand, If I could just let my toes into the water, I’ll be able to breathe again. I looked back, making sure no one was awake. Now, any normal girl would've waited until the sun was up, but I was never considered “normal.”

 I closed the door quietly, then walked down the footpath. It was three in the morning. Twilight. A magical thing happens at twilight. That’s when it appears almost as bright as day. I made carefully sure not to step on chalk drawings. My grandmother told me it was bad luck to step on a child’s chalk drawing. There was not a vehicle in sight. I love it. It’s so quiet. The breeze was soothing. There's room to breathe, and to think. Unfortunately. That peaceful feeling didn’t last long. There were headlights.

 Fearing the worst, I ran to the bushes and hid. I waited until the lights passed by. To my horror, they slowed down. Right by where I was hiding. I held my breath. My heart skipped a couple of beats. I held tightly to my backpack. Ready to use it as a weapon.

 I was expecting a vehicle. To my surprise, it was a possum. A giant possum with multiple feet. The possum had something on its back that looked like a double decker bus, without wheels. A woman stepped out. She floated down from a magic carpet. I couldn’t believe what I was seating– I meant seeing. The carpet landed on the ground and the woman walked right up to me. Something was off about this woman. Her skin was bronze, and a bit too shiny…

“Are you coming?” she asked.

  Her voice was monotone. I blinked.

“W-what?” I asked.

  She rolled her eyes.

“Do you need a ride?” she asked.

  I looked at the possum. It smiled at me. I looked back at the strange woman and shook my head quickly. The woman crossed her arms. It sounded like scraping metal. I winced

“Why do you have a bus pass then?” she asked.

  I stared at her, my brows knitted together. She rolled her eyes.

“Check your coat pocket.” she told me.

I reached into my left coat pocket.

“Your other one.”

I reached into the right. To my astonishment, I pulled out a laminated sky blue bus pass. “Strange Bus: Twilight hours, we’ll take you to where you need to go.”

“Well, come on! I have a busy night. I don’t have time to chit-chat.” said the woman.

 You know in horror movies, people yell at the stupid girl not to hide in a graveyard? I felt like that girl. I mean, who wouldn’t be intimidated by a possum bus and a possibly robot driver? Then there was this part of me that thinks, “If I don’t get on that bus, It’s going to bug me for weeks.” So I made the possibly stupid decision of getting on the bus.

  I followed the woman onto the flying carpet. The carpet was a green and blue pattern. It looked like a map. I looked at the bus. It looked like any normal bus, except it had abnormal passengers, and it was surprisingly cleaner.

“Take a seat.” ordered the woman.

 I took an empty seat. The bus began to move. I looked outside. There were nothing but stars. I began to regret my decision when I heard a voice in the seat in front of me.

“First time here?”

  I looked at the source of the inquisitive voice. It was a little girl with large black eyes and a very large blue bonnet. She had her arms on the seat as if to make herself tall enough to see me. I nodded, trying not to seem freaked out about the fact that she had black orbs for eyes.

“Don’t worry. Olympia Talos is the best bus driver in the business. Despite being an automaton.” she assured me.

“A what?”

“A bus driver. You know, someone who–”

“I’m sorry, I know what a bus driver is, but what is an automaton?”

“Clockwork people. Someone who has gears instead of internal organs.”

“Like a robot?”

  The little girl gasped and covered her mouth, as if I had said something offensive. She looked around and then turned towards me.

“Okay. You probably didn’t know, but you should never call an automaton a ‘robot.’ They get very offended by that. Besides that, unlike robots, they have souls. Recycled or artificial souls. Robots just have AI.” she told me.

  I nodded, acting like every single thing she said made perfect sense. Then she asked for my name. I told her, then she told me hers:

“Virtue.”

“That’s a neat name.”

“Thanks! My mom named me after a dead old woman she had to help prepare for a funeral. She’s a mortician.” she informed me.

  I nodded.

“So… what are you doing here alone?”

  Virtue laughed. My eyebrows knitted together.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Did she not explain the rules to you?”

“Rules?”

“Yes! The rules! Oh! Did she not explain them to you?”

“No! I didn’t realize there would be rules on a magic possum!”

“You’re funny! So, one of the rules is that you have to go on the bus alone. You also have to be respectful. Believe it or not, this is the safest bus to be on ever. Oh! And you also have to wait until the bus driver calls your name to get off.”

  I tried to process the rules. None of them made any sense to me. They seemed a little suspicious. Just then, the bus stopped. I felt like I should make a run for it.

“Boarding!” Olympia announced.

  I got up and ran.

“What the heck are you doing?! You don’t get up during boarding!” Virtue shouted.

  I ran to the door. Then I froze. It was all desert. No houses. No footpaths. Just sand. I heard screeching in the distance. A giant black and blue worm came out of the ground in the distance. Olympia came up on the carpet. A woman with gazelle horns draped in blue came up with her.

“What in the name of Coppelius are you doing?!” Olympia snapped.

  My mind froze.

“Sit down! Boarding means staying seated until someone else climbs on! Not running out like a headless chicken!” she snapped.

  I ran back to my seat. Virtue was waiting for me. She looked like she was trying to stifle a laugh.

“You know, you need to work on your listening skills.” she told me.

  I stayed there for what seemed like days. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel sleepy at all, or hungry, or thirsty, and I have no desire to go to the restroom. I just kind of sat there, listening to Virtue talk, and listening for my name. I also thought about my parents. They were probably worried about their daughter being missing. Virtue’s company was strangely enough, comforting.

“Virtue. Your destination.” Olympia announced.

  Virtue smiled.

“That's my name!” she squealed.

  She hopped down from her seat.

“It was so nice to meet you! I hope to see you again next time!” Virtue told me.

  She got off of the bus to a large Victorian house. The bus moved again. Silence. I’ve gotten used to the weird passengers that come aboard. A woman with scars on her face, a dog person in a suit, a woman with snakes for hair, a child without a face, a moth person, and a half fox person. Then there was this one passenger. This one was the scariest of them all. He looked like a bear, if a bear had spikes and was zombified. He sat right next to me. I covered my nose with my coat. He smelled awful. He then turned to me.

“Can you do me a favor?” he rasped.

  The other passengers stared at me. I wish Virtue was here. He turned his back towards me. I saw an arrow in his back.

“A knight did this to me. He wanted glory. He wanted to kill me. He couldn’t. I’m in pain.” he rasped.

 I looked around. Then at the arrow. I took a deep breath, then pulled at it. I pulled at the arrow until it came out. Then something happened. The wound instantly healed. The spikes had blossoms on them and the bear creature looked much healthier. The other passengers applauded. I thought I saw Olympia smile through the mirror. She called the passenger’s name. The bear creature stood up and smiled at me.

“Thank you. I leave my blessing to your grandmother.” he told me, with a stronger voice.

 Then he got off the bus. Just then I heard my name. It was time for me to get off. Olympia walked me off of the bus. I checked my clock. I couldn’t believe it. It was the exact same time and day that I got on.

“Thank you for riding with us. Enjoy the beach. We hope to see you again.” Olympia told me.

I walked off of the carpet and waved goodbye to her. She waved back and smiled. Then as suddenly as the Strange bus came, it was gone. I sat in the sand. I dipped my toes in the water. I felt at peace. I felt the breeze on my face. I swear I heard my name in it.