A journey I won't forget

Buzzz... buzz... Her eyes opened wide, time checked it's 6 am then she tapped the alarm to silence it. She turned to the window and saw that it's already bright. The air in her small cramped room was warm. She suddenly got up, I have to prepare for work, she thought. When her phone suddenly beeped for a text message, it's her mom “ Hannah, tomorrow will be Papa and Mama's golden wedding anniversary. Are you on your way here?”

“ Oh my God !” She almost forgot this very important event in their family.

She checked her big calendar hanging on the wall and saw that today is actually the start of her leave. She requested a leave of absence more than 3 months ago. Hahaha! How could I forget, she thought. She hurriedly checked her luggage, then put her long black straight hair up in a bun, and took a pen and paper to list down the things she needs to bring. She needs to move fast to catch the bus tonight.

She replied, “ Yes mom, I'll be there.” Okay, I can do this!

Whooow...whooow... Andrew is breathing heavily as he continuously jogs around the neighborhood. This is his usual morning routine to warm his body up. Now he is already sweating a lot, he checked his watch, it's just 6:30 am and he could already feel the warm summer air. His throat was drying so he immediately gulped a bottle of mineral water as soon as he got home. Suddenly, his mobile phone on the table rang. He quickly checked to see who's calling, oh it's my big sister, he answered it and before he could even say a word,

“ I thought you are coming here to help me out?” “I told you this is gonna be a big event and I ran out of people.” “ Don't just hide there, forget about her, get out and move on!” “Blah, blah, blah...” After all that she has been said finally she asked, “So, are you coming here to help me or not?” Gosh! She's like a machine gun.

“ Of course! How can I say no, to my one and only gorgeous sister”, he replied.

It's 6:00 pm sharp, Hannah was already at the bus station going South, to her hometown. She's wearing faded skinny jeans and a pink blouse. Her long black hair down, she's wearing just a bright pink matte lipstick and has her sunglasses on. She's carrying a big backpack and pulling her luggage. She looked around and see that there were too many people waiting for their bus. That's the usual scenario every summer vacation, everybody's excited to go to their hometown. Looking at these people plus the hot temperature made her feel dizzy already. Good luck to me, it's gonna be a long journey...

Honk! Honk! That's the bus going to her hometown. She took out the ticket from her pocket to confirm the bus number 1074. Her eyes brightened up, yeah that's it!

She immediately stood up and went directly to the bus but even before she reached the bus door, all the people flocked in front of the bus door already. “ Please fall in line and take out your tickets!” shouted by the bus conductor. “Once you get in please check your seat numbers and then put your baggage in the cabin baggage.” instructed by the bus conductor again.

One by one, they showed their tickets and got on the bus until it's Hannah's turn, she looked at her seat number 27 next to the window, that's more like it...Now, everybody's seated and the bus conductor is counting the passengers. “There's one more missing, so well just wait for 10 more minutes, if he doesn't arrive, we'll go,” announced by the bus conductor. Hannah put on her earphones to listen to music to relax and tried to sit comfortably.

Time passed so quickly, She suddenly heard the bus conductor shouted “Last 2 minutes and well get going!” When suddenly a tall man on dark blue jeans, black shirt, and white sneakers came rushing and shouted “wait!” Andrew was catching his breath as he ran with a heavy backpack to catch the bus. Thank goodness I made it in time...

He got on the bus and immediately look for his seat. Of course, since he was late there's only one vacant seat left and that's seat number 28. He saw that there's a woman sitting by the window next to his seat and she's currently engrossed in the music that she's listening to. She didn't even notice that I'm standing there or probably she didn't care at all.

So the bus started to move and it's gonna be a long journey...

Hannah heard her stomach grumbling, she checked her watch it's 6:45 pm, it's almost dinner time. Andrew heard that too, so he took two chocolate bars from the side pocket of his backpack and offered one to Hannah, “would you like some?”, he said. “ No, it's okay”, she replied. “ Come on, I know you're hungry, I heard your stomach complaining already” with a teasing smile on his face. Oh, he caught me there. Before she could say yes, Andrew already peeled the wrap and put it in her hand then he started eating his chocolate too.

“ Eat it, it's clean.” She looked at him and studied his face for a while and she could see the sincerity on this man's expressive dark brown eyes. Nice pair of eyes, she thought. She couldn't resist anymore, so she just said “Thank you” and gave Andrew a shy smile. She's cute... Andrew thought.

As they were eating their chocolate bars, they felt something strange about the bus. It's swaying left to right. They both turned their eyes at each other with a questioning look. What's going on? Both came to their thoughts. Then the passengers started to react as well, they all felt that there's something wrong with the bus. So one lady asked the driver, “What's happening?”

“The break is not working!” Upon hearing that the passengers started screaming.

Fear suddenly struck Hannah. She grabbed Andrew's hand and said “Oh my God, I'm scared!” He holds her hand tightly and said “Brace yourself!”

The driver tried to control the bus but no matter how he stepped on the break, it was really not working. Good thing the road is clear and there were no other cars coming. The bus conductor tried to calm the passengers and shouted, “Everyone please brace yourselves!” Some people were crying, others were praying while others kept quiet and prepare for the next thing to happen.

Andrew hurriedly hugged Hannah, buried her face on his chest, and put his hand on her head to protect her. “We'll be alright”, he whispered...

They felt a strong impact as if they hit something hard. Then it was too quiet. The next thing they knew the bus was at a full stop. “Is everyone all right?” The voice of the bus conductor broke the silence. That was the only time passengers could react and tried to check each other. Andrew opened his eyes to check Hannah with her eyes still closed. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?” his eyes full of concern. She opened her eyes and started to cry. So Andrew had to hug her again to comfort her. “It's all right, we are safe, ” he whispered as he tapped her back.

Thank God nobody was seriously hurt. Some passengers got minor bruises. One by one the passengers get off the bus and they decided to stay at a stopover lounge to recover from shock from the near-death experience they had.

Andrew ordered two cups of coffee for them. He brought to the table where Hannah was seated. “Here, drink this to keep your body warm.” “ I think we haven't gotten each other's name yet, I'm Andrew.” His eyes are bright and full of expression again as he extended his hand. “I'm Hannah,” she replied and she reached for his hand.