The Bus Driver’s Last Detour

On his last day before retirement, Owen drove the same bus route he had driven for twenty-eight years. The company gave him a badge and a cake he could not eat until his shift ended.

At the hospital stop, a woman boarded with flowers. She recognized his name and asked whether he remembered waiting for a girl with an oversized schoolbag. Owen remembered many schoolbags and said so kindly.

The woman said her mother had worked early shifts. Missing the bus meant arriving late to school. Once, during heavy rain, Owen had waited while she ran from the corner.

He remembered the corner then, and the child who always thanked him twice.