'Shoe'Napped - Part 02

Where were we? Okay. Yeah. Here we go (keeping in mind, our BGMs).

LOCATION : AAAA XYZ
TIME : 10:10PM

I start walking back towards the bus stop which is a very few meters away. But it definitely wasn't a very short walk, because you have made a real blunder. What could turn out to become a bigger blunder is the fact that you make a little bit of a foolish attempt, and you still get back home sometime in the midnight without your bag of shoes. Wouldn't you end up thinking,

"At least you could have had yourself a lot more time to sleep after all the mess that has happened till now"

I cursed myself.

In the mean time, I called up the boss of my house to say that I would get back home a little late, as I had extra work at office. (Who is going to monitor me? But at least I was a little guilty about the fact that I was not truthful)

As I approached the exact point where I got down from the bus, I saw another "B18" approaching me (Gosh! Is this bus a part of my fate? You actually tend to think about your fate only when you are being screwed). I was excited to see that. But something else seemed to have bothered me. What was it?

Zooming my sight into the board which displays the route number and the destination, I got to realize that this bus is not heading towards what I thought would be the usual terminus that the majority of buses would be heading to. 95% of the buses would have its end point as 'the broadway terminus', and I had made a small calculation in my mind thinking that it would take a total of one hour to carry out my stupid and so-called "effort" after that "effortless" and "silly" act. But...but... this mighty "B18" goes to a place which is beyond the broadway terminus.

Cursing myself again. What else could I possibly do? 'Difficult' was becoming 'very tough' at this moment. I got into the bus and was waiting for the bus conductor to give me a ticket. Gathering money from my pocket to prepare myself for this. Before I got a ticket, I got a call from Rakesh and he said,

"Hey. I went back to the bus where I got down and I could not spot your shoes there dude!!!"

I knew the answer myself. I replied to him saying that I had realized the same and am on a leap towards a mighty hunt over the very same pair of shoes. He must have thought if I was a fool of 21st century or something. Never mind all these, when you are capable or doing mistakes, that too when you learn something in life. The bus conductor came towards me and I explained him the fact that I left my pair of shoes on the previous bus, and would want to go to the bus depot to see if it is still under the seat where I sat. He was kind enough to understand my situation and rightly understood, the place where I wanted to go to, and gave me a ticket. This bus was decently crowded.

Again, I could sense that some of my co-passengers gave a weird look at the way I was dressed up. It started disturbing me and I shouted at all of them saying,

"Hey. What are you all looking at? Are we all going to attend a party tonight? Then why the hell are you people discomforting me with such looks?"

Of course, I shouted at all of them from the inside of my mind only. I would not want to get chopped. Had to keep all my expressions and thoughts completely shut, and just be a little positive of the fact that I got the right bus at least.

Time on the watch was ticking faster but I felt that my time was definitely not. I took a wide look at all the other passengers in the bus. They all must be heading back to their homes for a peaceful sleep after a warm day. I knew it for a fact that it was only me in the whole bus, who had done something and is doing something foolish. What to do? Negative thoughts go through our minds when we are under pressure. All that I was waiting for, was this whole event to get over ASAP, no matter if I succeeded or not.

The bus passed across the broadway terminus. And I was just thinking that I would be reaching the terminus of "B18" in a few minutes. It went on and on and on. It would have taken around 30 minutes since I crossed the broadway terminus, and it still didn't look like I was anywhere close to reaching that place. Suddenly, the bus conductor poked me and told,

"This bus would actually take a longer route to reach its terminus. I would advise you to get down in the next stop, and take another bus (he told me a bunch of numbers and none of them were catchy to me at that time) from there. It would help you to reach the place faster"

I had no other option but to readily obey his words of wisdom. At least someone was there to understand the situation and guide me. I also had no clue about the place where I was, at that time.

The bus stopped then. He told me to quickly get down from the bus and catch the other one that was approacing us from behind. All I had time to say was a small 'thanks' to him, but it meant a lot to me. I got down right then from the bus, and then ran to catch the one that he asked me to. Boarded it, and again, all the passengers were puzzled to see a creature like me, at that time of the night. Cannot help it myself. I didn't even have any time to think of what was actually going on, and went to the conductor straight away to ask him for a ticket to the terminus.

Seems that this bus just passes by the terminus where I was supposed to go, and he told me that It doesn't stop there. Now, again, I briefed him about what happened, and told him that the conductor of the previous bus suggested me to get into this one, so that I can reach there faster. Surprizingly, this man was also kind enough, gave me a ticket, asked me to sit down for a few minutes, and told me that he would poke me when I am supposed to get down.

Phew!! Look at what all I had to go through because of one silly mistake and an even sillier decision to undo my silliness.

LOCATION : AAAA XYZ
TIME : 11:00PM

I think conductor gave me a ticket which costed one grade higher than the minimum fare. So, i got myself into a conclusion that this was yet another ride which is gonna eat my time. The conclusion was rightly done. After a lot of yawns, the conductor called me and when I went towards him, he told me to go to the bus driver and request him to stop the bus near the terminus.

I went and stood behind the bus driver and looked at his face through the mirror. I think he was heavy, and sported a pretty big moustache. Boy! This isn't the guy whom you wanna give your request in such a bad situation. Still, I had to do that. Asked him if he could stop next to the terminus and he readily answered that the bus would not stop there. Again, I briefed him on what happened, and he said 'okay'.

Few minutes later, he stopped the bus and pointed at the bus terminus and told me that this was the place where I wanted to go to. I thanked him (as usual) and got down from the bus. This time I was pretty sure that I need not travel any distance further away. I crossed the road and went into the bus depot.

Guys!!! It was truly an amazing site on such a 'not-so-amazing' situation. It was a huge bus terminus. Hundreds of buses parked like matchsticks.

(To be continued......)