The Apologetic Old Man

He moved cat-like because that’s how you needed to flow when getting onto the bus. Little did our protagonist know that today was a day of old men. He leaped in, his broad shoulders fighting for space amongst other commuters. It was a tiring day of sitting in the office, going through documents and typing things out. One never realises how tired you get, until it’s time to return home, until it’s time commute.

The red bus was crowded as always. Our protagonist made his way through the crowd, shoving his body through the thin spaces and little gaps. Some people grunted and hissed out loud, others bore the grievance in silence, it was just the way of traveling. There were no empty seats, so he stood there by a crowded side. The bus, as always was a jerky one, it went over bumps, the brakes constantly creaked and not even minute passed by when it didn’t jerk.

The bus finally passed a main junction and made its way across. People got up, there was more shuffling and a line formed to exit the bus at the next stop. A seat got empty and our man moved in like a predator to take the seat in the hopes of having a relaxing ride till the end of his journey. However, just as his foot moved in, a tap was felt on the shoulder. A glance behind revealed an elderly gentleman with his thick white beard and sparsely populated bald head.

Silently sighing to himself, the protagonist stepped aside and let the man sit. A grin spread across his white bearded face and he gave out a thanks.

For the most part, the journey passed uneventful, until the elderly gentleman realised that he wasn’t sitting in a Senior Citizen Reserved Seat. Immediately, he started apologising. He assumed it was a Senior Citizen seat that he had taken. In fact, the senior citizen seat was right in front of the one he sat on, so it was easy to get confused.

Awkward is not the right word to use… odd would be a better description. Our protagonist felt odd every time the elderly gentleman turned his head and apologised.  

It was an odd journey of an apologetic elderly gentleman who was trying to figure out a Bus Reservation system. 

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The Savage Man

Over twenty people stood patiently and impatiently at the bus stop. All of them waiting for a bus to reach their destination. In front of the bus stop was a road packed with vehicles zipping away. In the distance a red bus appeared and suddenly, everyone was edging forward on the road. A slight tensed feeling seemed to float in the air among the waiting crowd. The bus rolled onto the stop. At least a dozen hands, taking the shape of claws, must have shot out, grabbing the railing inside the bus to haul themselves in. 

A dozen hands acting at the same time, all for their own gain. 

It must have been 30 seconds, that’s how long the bus stood there before the wheels began moving. A small number of people were still trying to shove their way into a bus that was already full of people.

“Janwar !”, screamed out one man, “You scratched me! Should I throw you out of the bus”. The screamer was a thickset man who stood inside the bus, just in front of the entrance. He was shouting at a thin, lanky man who had a confused expression on his face. “You scratched me when you jumped into the bus. You savage!”, the thickset man accused again.

His hands were raised, elbowing several passengers, as he showed a few slim scratches on his hand. The thickset man had an accusing glare.

“I... didn’t do it”, the lanky man managed to answer against his accuser’s aggressiveness.

“You savage! You liar”, cried out the scratched man, not giving a care of the passengers around him, both his hands shot up and grabbed hold of the lanky man. “Janwar! I’ll throw you off this bus”.

In a mad rage, he started pushing the lanky man out of the bus. The poor souls behind the lanky man battled for their life against the anger of thickset man as they hung out from the bus.

“Oye! Oye!” the bus conductor shouted from the front, but his voice was far from them, had no effect, and there were just too many passengers in the passageway to reach and stop the man in time.

“Stop this!” a shrill voice of a woman called out as she was shoved down the bus’ staircase. Her feet were struggling to stay on the bus and her hands fought to keep hold on the railing. All it would take was a slip and she would tumble down the staircase, out the bus and so would everyone else in front of her.

A dozen hands move in unison, all with the same purpose. They grabbed the thickset man’s collar and jerked him back. Now, you can guess the rest of what happened to the savage man who gave in too easily to his anger.

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