Tuesday January 17th

Something unusual that happened that day

It was a relief that I was punctual for school. Otherwise, I would have been spending my lovely afternoon with the discipline master, even if it was not my fault.

Yesterday after getting ready for school, I went downstairs and waited for my school bus to arrive. It was a daily routine and I expected nothing out of the ordinary. Shortly after the arrival of the school bus, I boarded it and sat at my favourite location beside the window. I turned to my activity while on the bus – looking out of the windows and admiring the serene morning scene

Just when I was deep in thought, the bus jerked a few times before slowing to a stop. The engine coughed a few times and went dead. I turned to see the bus driver getting off the bus and looking aroud, trying to identify the cause of the breakdown. Moments later, he returned on board and announced that the bus had broken down. Surprisingly, my friend was still sound asleep in this time of crisis. We proceeded down the bus single-file and were told to complete the rest of the journey in the cab. Still rather confused and in shock at what happened, I stepped out to flag a cab with the rest of my friends.

An artist impression of a bus breaking down (sorry but it was really hard to draw using a mouse)

The last time I took the cab was half a year ago when my family went to my grandparents’ home. Usually, we would not have taken a cab but we had too many things to carry home so we had no other choice.

As a cab was about to approach, another group of students got the upper hand and beat us to the cab. I decided to be a ‘kiasu’ Singaporean after what happened and rushed to flag the cab at the next opportunity presented. Very soon, we were on the way to school. The ride was smooth and we encountered no other difficulties.

On arrival in school, I realized that I did not have enough money to foot the bill. I started to conjure images of the driver blowing his top and was relieved when my friend offered to pay in advanced. I heaved a sigh of relief and was glad that I made in to class on time.

Reflecting on this incident, I feel that it was a really close call. Despite the unusual incident of my school bus breakdown, it has left behind a significant memory.