• The old bus bounced down the old side road, proceeding with its monotonous life. The quiet autumn day drifted slowly by, not uttering a sound. The dull roar of the bus's engine and the sound of its worn tires tore at the silence like a knife. Luckily for both the bus and the peaceful day the job was almost done; there was almost one stop left to make.
    Within the lonely interior of the depressed bus sat one child. He sat in the lonely back seat, his gaze cast upwards toward the sky. His name is Adam Burnes. As the bus groaned to a stop in front of his house Adam hopped of his lonely perch and began the unbearably long walk out. Because of his small size, Adam was terrified of the bus. The aisle always resembled the maw of a creature about to swallow him. As he dropped down the huge steps Ms. Bates pulled out her cigarettes and proceeded to smoke one.
    "See you tomorrow Adam," Ms. Bates said in her raspy, phlegm filled voice. "Be sure to dress warmly, it's going to be cold."
    "Oh, I will!" Adam replied with his fake enthusiasm and fake smile that he afforded everybody who thought they knew him. Ms. Bates closed the door and waved goodbye as the depressed bus slowly began its trip home. Myrtle Bates, bus driver for as long as Adam had been alive, has been the nicest woman Adam has ever met. Yet, with every passing day he found her more and more irritating. Her voice made him shiver, her fake hair color made him cringe, the smell of her made him gag. How he wished she would perish, along with that terrible piece of junk the schools call a bus. How he hated his life.
    Adam was home, but it was to nothing. Adam lived with his father in a simple trailer but his father was never home. He was either out "with friends" or "working". Adam's mother had died two years ago from complications with ALS. She had been Adam's lifeline, she had always helped him through the cruelty of his classmates. None of the other kids liked Adam. He never knew why. (to be continued)