The Bus Driver’s Last Detour
Chapter 3 - The stop after work
Owen parked the bus and signed the final log. His replacement asked whether there was anything unusual about the route. He mentioned the tight turn near the bakery and the hospital stop where people sometimes moved slowly.
"Leave time to let them sit," he said.
At home, he placed the flowers beside the kitchen window. His wife asked how retirement felt. He said he was unsure what to do with tomorrow morning.
A week later he took the bus as a passenger to visit his brother. At the hospital stop, an elderly man struggled with the step. Owen rose to help, then waited while the driver lowered the bus.
He sat down smiling. The route no longer belonged to him. The small kindnesses never had. They moved from person to person, carried in the ordinary space between one stop and the next.
