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“Is this yours?”
He grins and nods. “I dropped it on accident.”
My smile widens at how cute he is as I hand him the ball back.
“Thank you!”
“You’re welcome.”
He returns my smile before he runs back to a woman sitting not too far from me, most likely his mother. She waves at me, and I return it.
The speaker crackles above me. “Now boarding for Forest Creek, Wisconsin.”
Taking a deep breath, I stand and get in line.
Shaking brings me out of my reading and I look around, wondering what’s going on. Then I feel it again. A feeling I’ve felt far too many times in my mom’s old beater.
There’s something wrong with the bus.
Panic instantly claws at my chest. Are we going to be stuck on the side of the road? For how long? Looking around, I notice we’re in between towns without a house in sight.
A child’s whine to my left catches my attention and I realize it’s the little boy who had dropped his ball at the station. Apparently, he and his mother sat across from me. Luckily, no one chose to sit next to me, so I’m in the aisle seat and my bags are in the seat by the window.
“But Mom, I’m bored,” the boy cries as he throws his hands in the air.
I bite my lip to keep from laughing and turn, digging in my bag for some pens. There are only a few pages left to read in Mom’s last journal, but there are a lot of empty pages in it. I have an idea that might help the little boy, and me for that matter, keep our minds off our predicament. As long as his mom is okay with it, that is.
Unlike how I am around adults, I’m hardly ever nervous around kids. Since I was little, I’ve always wanted to run a daycare. To find creative ways to get them to learn, and of course, to have fun. Also, to help build some of their foundation blocks that they’ll build on over the years as they grow into adults.
Turning back to the mom and boy, I can see the tiredness and exasperation on her face, which makes me wonder how long he’s been bored while I’d been reading.
“Um, excuse me.”
They both turn toward me, and the mom eyes me warily. “My name is Mae, and I couldn’t help but overhear that you’re bored. I happen to have some paper.” I pause again as I show them, and then lean in a little closer. “Do you like playing tic-tac-toe?”
His eyes light up and he quickly turns to his mom. “Mom, can I? Please?” he begs.
She gives him a hesitant nod and I hold out the journal, thankful its wire bound, as that will make this easier. “Do you want to start first?”
He happily takes the notebook from me and starts drawing the grid. His mom mouths ‘thank you’ to me and I smile, waving her off. Turning sideways in the chair, I cross my legs and settle in to play tic-tac-toe and who knows what else while we wait for an update.
Three hours later, the repair truck finally makes its way out to us, along with another bus. Our bus driver stands up and whistles to get everyone’s attention.
“I’m very sorry for the wait, everyone, but another bus just arrived that will take you the rest of the way into Forest Creek.”
“Mae, will you sit by us again?” Jordan, the little boy, asks as he bounces on his toes.
“Absolutely, little man. Do you want to go back to hangman or play some more tic-tac-toe?”
He scrunches up his face as he thinks. “Hangman! I think I have one that will stump you.”
The smile that lights up his face is absolutely blinding, and I can’t help but smile in return. Shifting in my seat, I grab my bags and wait for them to gather their things. When they’re ready, Jordan leads the way, skipping up the aisle.
“I can’t thank you enough, Mae. From now on, I think I’ll always carry around some extra notebooks and pens on future trips just in case this ever happens again,” Susie says as she laughs, and I join in.
“It’s not a problem. I love kids. Besides, playing games with him and talking to both of you helped pass the time.”
She bumps my shoulder. “Are you nervous?”
