The bus was parked 10 feet away from me. On what seemed to
be an eternity of a mob pouring out of it, the bus emptied itself- for about 30
seconds at most. People scrambled to get the nearest seats, struggled to place
their stuff in the overhead bins and strangled each other to get some more
elbow room. Did I miss Umbrella’s memo
about an impending zombie apocalypse? I definitely did not. Otherwise I’ll be
arming myself to the teeth. I just sighed and thought, “It’s just an hour and a
half ride, what could be worse?” So I just squeezed myself amidst the ongoing
chaos and sat there silently. “Not much longer now” I thought, “Not much
longer...”
Then I
immediately regretted the decision I made.
Every passenger
seemed to fumble around as the bus jerked, turned, pulled over to pick another
passenger (as if the insides of a bus were an abyss), braked, and sped up so
fast Newton himself would think his 2nd law is wrong. This public
utility vehicle really has the power to make everything in it tumble. I shifted
my weight to brace myself for further ‘evasive maneuvers’ this driver can come
up with. I would’ve been expressing my gratitude to his safety consciousness if
everyone was strapped down. No, this was different. The passenger count was so
high it makes the word ‘overloading’ very unfit to describe it! “Not much longer now” I thought again as I
tried to catch a breath without catching my seatmate’s, “Not much longer…”
I was
partially mentally incapacitated, due to the oxygen deficit aboard the bus, by
the time the bus conductor yelled out the first stop. The air-conditioner
thermostat was so low that winning-in-the lottery-3-times odds are much more
favorable. “At least the speed is well-paced now” I assumed. Suddenly, there
was a hissing somewhere in front and the bus door opened. Street vendors
stormed in while shouting their goods for sale. “For goodness’ sake I’m down to
the last inch of my personal space!” As if some false god was mocking me,
street children came in begging and pushing as the inspector chased them
through the aisle. “Not much longer now” I thought- though I doubted myself
this time.
I was
Spartan-Thermopylae-ing my way to the front as I know my stop is just a few
seconds away. The door swung out again and I felt like a zombie coming back to
life as I stepped down. Oxygen filled my lungs again and I stretched a little
to see if I lost any limbs- so far I lost none. Though it feels like the dark
lord himself casted a Cruciatus Curse on my sorry behind, I’m grateful I got
off that bus safe. Maybe tomorrow will be a much better trip… or maybe not. All
I know is that nerve-wracking trip will eventually come – later rather than
sooner.
“Not much longer now” I frowned at the thought “Not much
longer…”
