It was late, the kind of late where the world falls silent, and even the streetlights seem to hum with unease. Alex had missed his usual bus home after soccer practice and was left stranded at the dimly lit terminal. The schedule board flickered faintly, showing the next bus as “Route 99 – Midnight Special.” He’d never seen that route before, but with no other option, he stepped aboard when it arrived.
The bus was old, its seats worn and creaking under the weight of time. Only a handful of passengers sat scattered across the dimly lit interior, each lost in their own world. The driver, an elderly man with a crooked smile, nodded at Alex but said nothing. Alex hesitated before sitting near the back, close to the emergency exit.
As the bus rolled forward, the city streets melted away, replaced by unfamiliar landscapes. The buildings shimmered and shifted, morphing into towering trees, endless deserts, and even star-speckled skies. Alex’s heart raced as he stared out the window, trying to make sense of the surreal journey.
“First time?” a voice said beside him. Alex turned to see a girl about his age, her dark curls framing a curious face. She held a book in her lap, its pages filled with strange symbols. “Don’t worry, the Midnight Bus only takes you where you need to go.”
“Where I need to go?” Alex asked, confused.
The girl shrugged. “Everyone here has something they’re running from—or toward. The bus helps you figure it out.”
As the bus journeyed through bizarre and breathtaking worlds, Alex began to notice things: a basketball court in the middle of a forest, a classroom floating on a cloud, a family dining table set in the middle of a desert. Each scene tugged at memories he had tried to bury—his dad’s disappointment when Alex quit basketball, the loneliness of struggling in school, and the sharp pang of missing his late mother at family dinners.
The girl nudged him. “Looks like it’s your stop.”
The bus screeched to a halt in a quiet suburban street, eerily similar to Alex’s neighborhood. As he stepped off, the air buzzed with an electric warmth. There, waiting on the curb, was a version of himself—smaller, younger, with wide eyes filled with hope and determination. The boy held a basketball tightly and looked up at Alex.
“Don’t forget who you are,” the younger Alex said softly.
The bus’s horn blared, snapping Alex out of his trance. He turned back, but the boy was gone. He climbed back aboard, his chest tight but his mind clearer than it had been in years.
When the bus finally reached his stop, the real one this time, Alex stepped off feeling lighter. The Midnight Bus disappeared into the night, leaving him with the resolve to confront his fears and embrace his dreams.
He never saw the Midnight Bus again, but every time he felt lost, he thought of the strange journey and the boy on the curb, reminding him of who he was meant to be.
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