The Freaky Busride

By Kadeeja Ruwaidah

The rustling of leaves and hard panting sounds echoed as the girl ran through the forest thickets. She was running to put distance between herself and... and what? What was she running from? She couldn't remember. Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet disappeared and a loud thud resounded. A sharp pain shot through her arm and down her body.

Her eyes flashed open, and immediately half shut as she squinted. Thin streaks of light shone through the blinds, and she found herself fallen on the floor. She was in her room, not in some forest. That was just a bad dream. The girl let out a sigh of relief and momentarily forgot about the dull ebbing of pain in her arm. "Silly me", she laughed at herself. But the blaring siren-like ring of her phone brought her back to reality immediately.

It was camping day!

And that was the alarm! She was gonna be late! Nicah wrestled the tangled blanket off of herself and threw it onto her bed. The floor-length mirror opposite of her bed revealed the platinum blonde standing there in just her pajama shorts and a tank top. Nicah grabbed her phone to check the time, and boy oh boy, was she late. The girl had about twenty-three missed calls and about a hundred message notifications from her various social handles.

"Shit, Shit, Shit. I can't believe this," she cursed herself, panicking. She didn't know how to get to the school campsite if she missed the bus. And it very well looked like she would.

The next ten minutes was a flurry of hurried motions as she tried to get herself into a semblance of a good look for a camping trip.

Her platinum-blonde hair was combed straight down, and her fair skin looked fairly fresh. Her mystical jade eyes stared back at her, but the black circles under her eyes were prominent and she didn't have time for makeup.

Last night had been a long night for her. She shouldn't have procrastinated on packing her bag until so late. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been up so late and overslept.

Nicah Rhoswen, a teenage girl with major procrastinating syndrome. The only reason she ever did things on time was because of her Nana, Ms. Alberta, who's her caretaker and the one who keeps her together.

But Nana was on a well-deserved vacation that Nicah herself had prompted her to go on. Nicah had assured her that she was a college student, who could look after herself for a few days. But it seemed to look otherwise now.

You see, Nicah had been sent abroad -by her parents- when she was just twelve years old, and Nana was the caretaker they had appointed her. Her parents hadn't ever told her why they sent her away, and Nicah never really felt like asking them either. But Mrs. Alberta took good care of her, so Nicah was well looked after.

She hurried out, hauling her luggage. Their class had been scheduled to go on a camping trip, and they were expected to be by the University early in the morning.

But she was late, so all Nicah could do now was call her lecturer and inform them that she'd be coming directly to the campsite, which she had no clue how to get to. But she could work this out, she said to herself. It was the age of technology!

Nicah typed a quick message back to the caller of the twenty-three missed calls; Stacey Wallner, her best friend. She walked to the bus stand near her home, adjusting the heavy backpack on her shoulder

The air seemed crisper than usual, and a wind blew by her, making her shiver slightly. The nearby trees were devoid of leaves, pointing to the onset of winter.

Nicah was glad that she was bundled up in her black jeans, her cream and brown striped sweater T-shirt, and the cozy warm beige scarf tied around her neck. Wrapping it all up was her brown Chelsea boots.

She sighed, cursing herself again. She had been so excited about the trip, and now she had to be late. The campsite was a little off way, and buses that went there were rare to come by, as she understood from Google.

She was starting to feel dejected when she heard a loud horn coming from a distance. When she looked down the road, she saw a bus rumbling on its way. The headlights of the bus momentarily blinded her. It was bright daylight outside, why the heck was the bus driver driving with the headlights on?

She had to squint her eyes to make out the silhouette of the vehicle.

The bus flashed by her and came to a stop precisely where the back door entrance of the bus was parallel to her.

She stood there paralyzed, thoughts contradicting on whether to enter or not. She hadn't even made out where the bus was going.

"Hop in young lady, lest you be left behind by your comrades as they enjoy their trip," she heard the jolly, booming voice of a man floating from inside the bus.

Nicah blinked several times in bewilderment. How did he even know that she was going on a trip with her friends and classmates?

But she was late, and she couldn't afford to waste any more time, so without any second thoughts, she climbed the bus, which may have been a bad idea, but she was in a hurry.

The bus was empty, which slightly raised her suspicions again. And it was dirty and littered. Only the seat at the back was a bit cleaner and empty like it had been cleared out just for her.

"Hang in there young lass, I'll make sure you join your mates soon," she heard the same voice, and when she looked up, she saw it was the driver.

"Thank you?" she said, her lips pulled down in a frown and confusion clouded her brain. The driver was talking as if he was the captain of a ship, and not the driver of an age-old, almost falling apart, contraption on four wheels.

The driver tipped an invisible hat in her direction." I'm Larry Greybo, your captain for the duration of this journey. Please be seated and enjoy the ride," he stated with a toothy grin, before he started up the engine of the rust bucket, and off they ambled away.

The whole gimmick sounded so corny to Nicah, and she was in doubt whether this bus would even make it halfway through to the campsite with the pace it was going. It was obvious that this bus was an ancient relic.

Well, she should be glad that she was able to board a bus, at the least. But the slow ambling pace of the bus started to make her think otherwise. Would it have been faster if she'd just walked all the way?

She decided to just sit back and enjoy the ride like Larry had suggested.

The cool wind embracing her face, and sifting through her loose platinum-blonde curls, made her feel intoxicated. It was just the kind of dreamy weather for a travel siesta.

A soft yawn bubbled from her pink-tinted, pouty lips. Her long blonde eyelashes started to flutter, as drowsiness started taking over her. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open, when all of a sudden, she felt the bus coming to a sudden halt.

Nicah craned her neck, trying to see what the hold-up was. All she saw around was woods, woods, and more woods. Her dazed self sprang into attention when she realized that they were no longer among the urban civilization.

Wasn't it a long way from her home to the nearby woods? How come they were already here?

Confusion, shock, and fear invaded her mind, as her brows stitched together. She stood up from her seat and was about to ask Larry where they were, when --

"Shh." Larry placed his index finger on his lips, as he turned from his driving seat to glance at her. He then pointed a finger at the seat nearest to him.

And for the first time since she entered the bus, she noticed a heavily built man, dozing off in the front seat.

When did this guy embark on the bus?

Nicah's eyes widened, as she gaped with her mouth open. Was she going crazy?

She was sure that there had been no one in the bus when she had climbed aboard. So when did this man board the bus? As far as she remembered, Larry hadn't made any stops in between to collect any more passengers other than her.

She was dumbfounded and apprehensive. What the hell was going on?

Nicah started to think that maybe she'd really dozed off. That would explain how she lost track of time and distance, and the appearance of the new passenger.

Larry Greybo stared at her and mouthed a few words.

'Whatever you do, don't wake Mr. Dev up.'

Nicah just stood there, blinking sporadically, trying to process what she thought he said. She was good at lip-reading, but she wasn't quite sure if that was what Larry had actually said.

She finally shook herself off the daze, shrugged her shoulders, and grabbed her large backpack. She had to be thankful that she reached the campsite in one piece, at least.

She waved goodbye to the driver and walked to the door at the back. But try as she might, the door wouldn't open. It looked like it was jammed. She gazed towards Larry for help, but he just shook his head and pointed to the front entrance.

You've got to be kidding. How was she expected to maneuver throughout the trinkets and junk that was strewn across the bus, all the while making sure not to wake the passenger at the front?

'Good luck.' She glimpsed Larry mouthing.

Easy for him to say.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself. She could do this. She was a champion at sports and martial arts back at her school days, and she still had some of it in her. If she couldn't do this, then no one could.

She trudged carefully, until she saw the life-sized balloon doll of the president of the United States of America: Donald Trump.

She didn't know whether she should retch or just destroy the doll, but she moved on, reminding herself that she had to make as little noise as possible. She side-stepped around the doll, only to almost step over a squeaky Simon Cowell dog toy.

She retracted her feet almost immediately, balancing herself so that she accidentally doesn't end up falling, all the while, mumbling profanities to herself.

Nicah wasn't the type to curse, but so far, she was having an abnormal day and it was making her mood plummet.

Larry nodded to her encouragingly, watching her every step, as if he was testing her. She felt like punching the guy, but the miniature Stacey inside her mind (yes, Stacey is the one who keeps her in check, so much so that Nicah has an image of her in her mind) kept telling her to keep her frustration in check.

"Oh, come on. Give a girl a break," she mumbled to herself, irate, as she saw the next obstacle.

A skipping rope tied across the handles of the bus seats. She could've just untied them, but spying the bells tied at each end of the rope, she decided otherwise.

She shrugged off her large backpack, and slid it across the floorboard of the bus, under the skipping rope.

But it was too late when she saw the box of jingling Christmas decorations that were lying flat to one of the sides. The bag slid across and came to a standstill, but it did hit the box lightly.

Nicah winced, expecting a loud noise, but thankfully, the box only shook a bit. She looked up to see the man still snoring away peacefully, as she sighed in relief. She didn't even know why she was taking Larry seriously. And why was she on edge? But her intuition told her to heed the driver's words.

She continued, ducking under the rope, careful not to touch any part. Limbo had always been her favorite activity whenever they visited the beach. And this was just like child's play to her.

She heard Stacey's voice in her mind, 'Give me some of that athletic talent of yours. The sports God has deserted me.'

Nicah chuckled to herself. Stacey was the most unathletic of the unathletic people to ever live. She couldn't wait till she joined up with Stacey and the others. The sooner she gets this over with, the better.

She snatched her backpack, careful not to nudge the box of Christmas trinkets, and trudged happily to the front, passing the sleeping Mr. Dev.

"Oh my God, the anxiety shaved off a few years of life for me," she whisper yelled, glad to have made it to the finish line. At least, she thought of it as a finish line. It was more like an obstacle course at a sports competition than just stepping off the bus.

"Shh," Larry warned her again, his eyes widened and staring at her in warning.

She heard a slight groan from the Sleeping Beauty, but she didn't stick around to wait. She just hopped off the bus, waving to Larry without looking at him, and ran to where she expected to find her friends.

She heard a ping from her phone.

"Where are you?" The message read, from a number she had saved as Foxy Mama. Stacey.

She furiously typed back: You wouldn't believe what I had to go through. Tell you all about it soon.

She closed off her phone and started walking again, with a relieved grin blooming on her face. After all, she made it through the freaky bus ride, and now all she had was to look forward to the camping trip.

It was going to be epic!

By Kadeeja Ruwaidah