The Commute
The Commute The Morning Commute left unspoken
It was a miserable day. It had been a miserable for a month and Peggy, the old doddery woman, waited at the bus stop in the pouring rain.
Raincoat zipped up, umbrella held tightly, Peggy waited for the bus to come. There were the usuals that hovered, she however sat on the cold metal bench.
Through the stormy clouds, the bus windows burst through. Like always, the bus pulled up outside the station and waited for everyone to get onboard.
Peggy was slower than she used to be, but she managed with her walking stick. She pulled herself up and stumbled towards a free seat near a window, it wasn’t as though she could see much anyway, as they were all steamed up.
Peggy unzipped her coat a little and shook her umbrella, tapping the excess water on the side of the seat, while people clambered onboard. A regular young man who sat a few rows behind, An elderly woman, like Peggy, took her seat at the front, followed by two-woman mid conversation, who sat away from each other.
The bus set off on its journey. Peggy rubbed the condensation from her side of the window and peered out.
They continued their bus journey without another word, so quiet that the early bird chorus sang loudly, even though the birds were drenched. The driver themselves, drove with two hands on the wheel, eyes focused on the road in front.
Ahead, a lone young man stood waiting at the next bus stop, shivering, holding his phone. The bus came to a halt and he hopped straight on and paid. Walking past everyone, he made sure to glance at them. Each of them turned their backs on him and looked towards the windows.
He sat by Peggy. Her umbrella had been propped up against the seat. The lad, exchanged looks, Peggy tutted, the rest of the bus, including the driver glared at him and tutted also.
He sat right beside Peggy, so close she could smell his minty breath. She turned her back to him, staring out at the window she’d wiped. The lad held his phone out and started clicking away. His thumbs were working overtime, typing up and down. The silence had ceased. All anyone could hear was the constant clicking from the young man’s fingers against his phone screen.
Altogether, everyone including Peggy next to him, turned around, the bus driver even looked, using his rear - view mirror, and glared.
He put his phone to his left ear, the ear closest to Peggy’s face.
“Yeah, hiya, just on the bus now, will only be a few minutes.”
His voice was like nails down a chalk board. The glares everyone gave the young man had gone from annoyance to anger.
This young man spread his legs out wide. Peggy, a small woman, clung to her umbrella and coat. She couldn’t enjoy the vista this morning, even if it was stormy. Squashed where she sat, Peggy caught the attention of the other passengers. The bus driver, seen looking at him in the mirror, didn’t drive as well as he usually did.
Their journey became turbulent, the more the young man spoke out loud, laughing and spitting down the microphone. Each word that left his mouth made the driver swerve. Each little bump of the road, normally expertly avoided, made everyone jump in their seats.
He was oblivious.
Peggy could feel herself getting nauseous. Holding her umbrella out in front of her provided little to no comfort. She scowled more than she had ever scowled before. The others joined in, though the driver had gotten so rattled, he came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the road. It was a blessing no cars were on the road this early in the morning in such bad weather.
The sudden stop made the young man hang up his call, look around him and stand up from his seat.
“Is this my stop?”
Nobody answered, just watched him, judging.
He had the audacity to smile at everyone when he made his way towards the front of the bus, where he thanked the driver and left.
The driver himself looked rattled by this point. His tie askew, his face pale as a sheet, but the lad was gone.
They didn’t celebrate his departure. They watched him walk down the road in the pouring rain, figuring out where he was meant to go. They all spent the rest of their morning journey in complete silence. Peggy even moved her umbrella, popping it onto the chair next to her.
About the Creator
Elizabeth Butler
Elizabeth Butler has a masters in Creative Writing University .She has published anthology, Turning the Tide was a collaboration. She has published a short children's story and published a book of poetry through Bookleaf Publishing.
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By Sara Wilson4 days ago in Fiction
The Frozen Pass Mystery: The Night Nine Hikers Ran Into the Darkness
In the winter of 1959, a group of nine university students decided to attempt a difficult expedition through a remote mountain range deep in northern Russia. The leader of the group was Arman Karev, a calm and experienced hiker known among his friends for planning tough but exciting adventures. Joining him were his close friends: Leonid Petrov, Sasha Morov, Nikolai Varenko, Yuri Sokol, Viktor Belin, Irina Volkova, Tania Orlov, and Mira Petrenko. All of them were skilled hikers. Some had already completed several winter expeditions before. None of them were beginners, and they knew exactly how dangerous the mountains could be in February. Still, adventure called them. They began their journey at the end of January, carrying heavy backpacks, cameras, journals, and enough supplies to survive the brutal cold. Their goal was to cross the frozen mountain pass and return home with stories of challenge and victory. During the first days of the expedition, everything seemed normal. Photos later recovered from their cameras showed the group laughing, walking through deep snow, and setting up camp under the pale winter sky. They looked happy, confident, and completely unaware of the mystery their journey would become. But after they failed to return on the scheduled date, worry began to spread. Days turned into weeks. Finally, search teams were organized to look for the missing hikers. When rescuers reached the area where the group was believed to have camped, they quickly found something strange. The tent was still there. But something about it felt wrong. The fabric of the tent had been cut open from the inside. Experienced hikers would never destroy their own shelter in the middle of a snowstorm unless something forced them to escape immediately. Outside the tent, the snow told a silent story. Footprints led away from the campsite. But the rescuers noticed something terrifying. Some footprints appeared to belong to people who were barefoot or wearing only socks. In temperatures far below freezing, leaving shelter without boots or coats would be almost certain death. The tracks continued down the slope toward a dark forest about a kilometer away. When searchers followed the trail, they discovered the first two bodies beneath a tall cedar tree. It was Yuri Sokol and Leonid Petrov. Near them were the remains of a small fire, as if they had desperately tried to warm themselves before the cold became too much. Between the tree and the abandoned campsite, three more bodies were found: Arman Karev, Sasha Morov, and Nikolai Varenko. Their positions suggested something heartbreaking. It looked as if they had been trying to crawl back to the tent before collapsing in the snow. Weeks later, after heavy snow began to melt, the remaining four hikers were discovered inside a nearby ravine. What investigators saw next made the mystery even darker. Irina Volkova had a fractured skull. Viktor Belin had several broken ribs. Mira Petrenko was missing her tongue. And Tania Orlov had severe internal injuries that looked similar to those caused by a powerful collision. Yet strangely, there were almost no external wounds. Even more confusing, there were no signs that anyone else had been present. No other footprints. No evidence of an attack. Some of the hikers’ clothing was later reported to have unusual radiation traces, adding another layer of mystery to the case. Over time, theories began to appear everywhere. Some believed a sudden avalanche might have terrified the group. Others suggested secret military tests happening in the mountains that night. A few locals even claimed they had seen strange glowing lights in the sky during the same period. But none of the explanations fully answered the biggest question. Why would nine trained hikers suddenly panic so badly that they cut open their tent and run into the freezing darkness? Years later, the case file was quietly closed with a strange explanation. Officials simply stated that the hikers died due to “an unknown and overwhelming force.” The mountain pass where the tragedy happened was later renamed Frozen Pass in memory of the lost hikers. Even today, hikers who visit the area say the place feels unusually quiet. The wind moves slowly through the snow-covered slopes, and the forest stands dark and still beneath the mountains. Some visitors say that standing there at night feels unsettling—almost as if the mountain is hiding something. Something that happened long ago. Something no one has ever fully understood. And perhaps never will.
By Baseer Shaheen 2 days ago in Fiction
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