34. Chaos Follows

Tiff boarded the 2:45 bus to the mall. She looked down the bus; the passengers hypnotized themselves with the backs of seats, cell phones, and shoelaces. She was only two seats back when she noticed an old lady wearing a muted red sweater with a white collar. A small paper bag sat in the window seat next to her. The old woman was eating a peach.

“My I?” Tiff pointed to the seat.

The woman looked up at Tiff for a moment and then looked at her bag. She swallowed a bite and said “Not at all, dear.” She took the small bag and sat it in the aisle. Tiff squeezed by and sat down. The bus lurched forward and the paper bag fell over.

A small peach, who’s lifelong ambition to explore the world has taken it down a very dark road, decided to use this opportunity to roll to the back of the bus.

The old woman picked up the bag and put it in her lap before any other peaches rolled out. A siren sound entered the bus. The bus driver caught the faint lights up ahead and pulled the bus over. Tiff watched as a man walked along the bus with a pack of dogs.

The Labrador, whose father was a police dog, recognized the siren and ran out into the road. He was afraid of being missed, so he stood in the road calling his father’s name as the oncoming police car sped towards him.

Tiff stood up and watched the dog out the windshield. Other passengers followed suit and stood to watch as well. The police car was flying down the road blaring it’s horn at the dog. The dog stood its ground. Tires squealed and the police car spun around. The tail slammed into the bus launching the passenger’s heads into the next seat.

The peach, which had been feeling trapped in a dark corner in the back of the bus, used this opportunity to roll to the front and down the stairwell.

The bus driver pulled his head up and touched the steering wheel shaped bruise on his forehead. Shaking his head, he opened the door and jumped the stairs. His left foot landed on the poor peach. The driver slipped and fell down the stairs.

The peach, feeling bruised from the incident, rolled out of the bus before the police could question it.

The passengers started moving around, their hypnotic spell broken. They noticed each other for the first time and started mumbling. Tiff sighed and wondered why the busses always had an accident every time she left the house.

©Chris Richards