Part I: The Bus
It was a damp and grey day. The room was dim when Laina
awoke to the sound of rain on the window. She looked at the clock and rolled
over. The only thing demanding her attention was the pillow beneath her head,
but soon enough the day beckoned her to join it. Laina rose from her slumber
and went about her morning routine, much like many mornings before only without
the haste or numerous glances at the time. And as she finished her breakfast and packed her lunch she looked
outside and prayed the rain would stop, not because she didn't like rain, but
because she would soon have to walk in it, no matter how hard it fell.
With rain
jacket zipped and hood up, she braved the wet dreary day and began her
adventurous journey to the west of Ireland. Fortunately the rain had dwindled
to little more than a drizzle and remained that way for quite some time. And as
uncomfortable as it was to walk with a seemingly very heavy duffle bag, she
reached the town hospital where she was to wait at the bus stop. According to
her sources, the stop should have been just past the hospital buildings, but
there was nothing there, not a sign nor a bench or any form of a bus stop, at
least as far as Laina was concerned. With a fear of missing her bus and a sense
of uncertainty about what to do, she walked into the hospital building in hopes
of finding a local who might be able to give her some sort of direction. Upon
inquiring, the hospital warden assuredly informed her that she simply had to
wait anywhere along the main road in front of the hospital.
"Anywhere?" she asked with a hint of disbelief. "Yes, just along
the road there," she replied. "Right," thought Laina, "I
guess I'll just go and find a relatively safe and visible spot." After
finding such a spot, she stood and waited. The bus was scheduled to arrive in a
matter of minutes, but it would likely not be on time. How much so was
uncertain and Laina didn't want to take any chances of missing it, so she stood
firm, despite the increase in rainfall. Sure enough, the bus was late, five
minutes, ten, fifteen, and finally twenty. At that point Laina was a
little concerned that perhaps she had read the bus times incorrectly or the bus
had somehow already passed through without her noticing. She rang the bus
station and was patched through to the driver. “Oh sure. We’ll be there in
about three or four minutes,” he said. That seemed like a curiously precise
number of minutes for such a late bus, but it was assurance enough for Laina to
continue waiting until it arrived.
After nearly
half an hour, Laina boarded the bus and took a seat. She had a connection to
make in Knock Village, but unless the bus made extremely good time, Laina
already knew she was going to miss it. There was no point in being pessimistic
though. Who knew? Maybe all the bus drivers were having an off day and this bus
would be late too. Even so, the hour and a half passed and there was no way she
would make the connection and the next bus wasn’t until five pm. That was 4
hours away. Feeling slightly discouraged, but also a sense of humor in the
situation, Laina phoned the friend she was meant to meet at her final
destination. It looked like she was stuck in Knock, by no means indefinitely of
course, but nonetheless stuck, and according to Keilah, it was a terrible place
to get stuck. There was some truth in that because there really was not much in
Knock at all, unless you enjoyed shrines to Mary and buying plastic bottles for
holy water, which you could have at that point easily used to collect the
gallons of rain falling from the sky.
Not wanting to
be wet or haul around her bulky duffle, Laina found a quiet café to sit in and
read. After choosing the café, she wished she had chosen somewhere a little
warmer or at least with more character, but still feeling optimistic, she
reminded herself that the place she had chosen was well lit and quiet, perfect
for reading. She ordered some hot soup and took out her book, eager to let her
mind wander into a fantasy – if you are curious, she began reading Lord of the
Rings for the first time.
At last the
waiting, that didn’t actually feel terribly long, came to an end and Keilah
(and Mum) came to the rescue! In the end she gained or saved three things:
first, the money that would have been used to buy the second bus ticket,
second, peace and quiet to begin a good book, and third, a story to tell
afterwards, and for your sake, the last may have been the best reason.
The End
Taste of Ireland: School buses in Ireland look just like
the other buses (big coach buses), only they are labeled for school use.
