3 March 2013
#sundayrepost I'm cheating because I saw eddies weekly challenge
With two children going missing in the small village of Steeple Dale in the past year the villagers were very wary of any faces they didn't recognize in their town. The police have been and done countless talks in schools warning the children to be extra vigilant about there business and to stay away from strangers. It's been headline news up and down the country, on the front page of all the nationals the pictures of a small boy and girl both ten years old who went to the shops for sweets and never came home again.
Billy was sprinting down the road waving his arms frantically at the driver with his school bag bouncing up and down on his back and his hair plastered to his face by the rain that was hammering it down, but the driver didn't see him or simply couldn't be bothered to stop, either way Billy had missed his bus. "Can this day get any worse?" he thought to himself, he'd already been in trouble at school for not doing his homework and had to sit through half hours detention because of it and now to top it all he was going to be late home for dinner because he missed the bus.
Billy knew he had at least ten minutes until the next bus came so he sat down next to a sweet looking old lady with a trolley who smiled at him as he wiped the rain of the bus stop seat and sat down. "Alright Sonny where's your coat? You'll catch a death in this weather" She asked Billy as he sat down. "It's still at school I forgot it, Mum ain't gonna be happy, especially now I'm late for dinner again as well". "I don't know, kids of today its a good job the bus is coming, try not to miss this one" she said with a laugh.
As the bus pulled into their stop Billy helped the old lady on with her trolley before flashing his bus pass at the driver who just waved him on without even looking at it and headed for the top deck. "I hope she don't come upstairs" As much as he liked the old granny the 'top deck' is for kids and the bottom is for old people he thought as he sat on the back seat, with his back against the side window and his little legs stretched out on the long seat. Billy hated the start of winter. Cold dark, freezing mornings waiting for his bus and then having to go through it all again on his way home. As he watched the last of the sunlight disappear into the horizon he heard someone coming up the stairs. "I hope it's not that granny come up for another chat" he thought to himself, but it was not the old granny, it was a man.
Billy didn't like the look of the man one bit as he emerged from the stairs. An old man with a big bushy white beard that had turned yellow around his mouth, he was wearing a tatty blue suit with no tie, brown shoes, topped off with a checkered flat cap. He walked right to the back of the bus and sat on the chair in front of Billy. Billy could smell stale cigarettes and alcohol and felt very uneasy. He was about to go downstairs when the old man turned around and gave Billy a toothless grin "What school you from son?" he said in a croaky voice. Billy panicked a little, the man had piercing blue eyes that fixed on him, he certainly didn't want to be talking to this man at all so he lied. But, he said the first school that come into his head "Steeple Dale". With this the old man laughed, a horrible rasping laugh they sent shivers down Billy's spine. "Ain't that where them kids went missing from?. Terrible business that" the man said without taking his eyes off Billy. "Yeah we are all worried about them" Billy said as he stood up "anyway this is my stop coming up see ya" Billy rang the bell and started to walk towards the stairs. "Ain't that a coincidence" The man said standing up "It's my stop to".
Billy panicked, his stop was on a lane surrounded by trees, he had a five minute walk in the dark ahead of him which scared him at the best of times, but today he had a strange man getting off with him. As Billy descended the stairs he saw the little old granny with her trolley sitting at the front of the bus. He went over and sat next to her "Are you alright Sonny?, you looked like you seen a ghost". Billy quickly explained that he didn't want to get off with the strange man. "It's ok Sonny I'll look after you".
As the old man reached the bottom of the stairs he gave Billy another one of his toothless grins and a wink before getting off the bus in the pouring rain. "I didn't like the look of him either Sonny, you can never be to careful nowadays, why don't you get off the next stop with me and phone your mummy from my house? I don't mind, I'll even give you a slice of cake, do you like cake?". This didn't appeal to Billy either but he was already very late home and in trouble for missing his dinner, he could use this as a great excuse for being late and not have to tell his mum about his detention at school. "As long as it ain't got currants in it" he told her "Ain't that grand" she said.
Billy and the little old granny got off at the next stop and walked in the rain to her little cottage. "Wipe yer feet Sonny" she said as she opened the door and led Billy inside. "I'll put the kettle on". Billy sat at an ancient looking table in the front room and wondered to himself why all old people's homes smelt of lavenda and had antique looking furniture with flowers on wallpaper. "Here's your tea Sonny and a nice bit of lemon cake, now I'll just go get that phone". She put down a horrible looking, milky cup of tea in front of Billy and the cake didn't look much better to him either. He was just about to attempt a bite of the cake when the doorbell went and made him jump. "Don't worry Sonny it's only my husband Bert". Billy wasn't worried and had a bite of his cake, that tasted a lot better than it looked. "Wipe your feet Bert, we got company". With this Billy turned round and froze in absolute pure terror as he recognized Bert straight away, he was the man on the bus.......
The Man On The Bus • Opuss № I