Mommy, today I saw a naughty man on the street. He was making poopie and the bus driver almost ranned him over! Honest, I tried not to look. 'Member the time I opened the door when you were doing poopie? I musta skeered you cuz you farted (giggle) REAL big and then yelled at me. It made me laugh, and you sounded mad but I could tell you tried not to laugh too. But you weren't poopie-ing in the street. I guess that a good thing, huh Mommy? But then bus driver yelled "SHIT!" real loud cuz he almost ranned the poopie man over. "YES! I yelled, SHIT! EEEWWWW!"
Daddy didn't like it when I said that, but the people on the bus they was laughing! Were, I guess. Daddy he made me look away from that poor man who had no potty to poop in. Then I was sad. I'm glad I can make stinky poop in a potty. Thank you, Mommy and Daddy. I wouldn't want nobody, er, anybody, to see me but I wouldn't poop in the street. Maybe in the bushes if I couldn't make it to a potty. But that poor man had no bushes for his business. I think it would be good to write the Mayor so he can make a law where people on the street can only poop in bushes. Hope it does not kill 'em.
* * * * *
Bus driver called me Prince when we got on. I told him my name is Chris! He said "What a great name, so is mine! We must be twins from another era." I think Chris didn't finish that word. What is "era?" But that's okay. Even though he wore a mask to scare off Covie-boogies, his eyes smiled at me and I liked him right away!
I was dressed in my nice suit you and Daddy gave me at Christmas. We sat near a boy who had clothes with tears in them. He was dirty and he looked sad. He looked hungry too. His daddy looked mad when I smiled at them. I asked him what his name was.
"Matt," he said, but his voice was not very loud. I tried to sit next to him, but Daddy held me back. "Six feet distance, son," he told me. I do not understand what that means. Why can't I get close to people like I always want to? That boy looked like he wants friends. I looked in my backpack and found a bag of peanuts. I handed it to him, but Daddy grabbed it away.
I asked Daddy why, but he was digging for something. He found some wipes and washed it off. I guess there were covie-boogers on it or something and Daddy didn't want the boy to touch them. Covie is a bad monster bug, Daddy told me. It is a killer, I guess, and my blood can't fight it. That's why I have to wear a mask. I see a lot of people wearing masks these days, but why? Are they sick too? I don't want to go to hospital again and get poked with needles, do I? Daddy always tries to keep me safe. Daddy gave me a new wipe and washed my hands with sanity-tizer, he calls it. Then he let me give Matt the peanuts.
Is sanity a disease Mommy?
Whatever. I just wanted to make friends, so I gave him the peanuts. Matt looked skeered. He wouldn't take my peanuts, Mommy. He shook his head and looked at his daddy. Matt's daddy looked mad and said something to Daddy, but Daddy said something kind of quiet to him, and he smiled. I couldn't hear it. But then, Matt's daddy let me give him the bag.
Matt liked the peanuts soooo much, Mommy! He ate them fast! Matt and me, er, I, talked until he got off the bus. He's really nice, and taught me some Spanglish! We both love baseball, have bratty sisters (sorry Mary), and want to be race car drivers when we grow up. He plays soccer and I always wanted to but I'm too sick. I hope I see him again next time Daddy's car breaks down and we have to ride the bus!
* * * * *
Then a mean lady got on the bus and yelled at the driver. I like Chris. He called me Prince! Oh yeah, I told you that part. Maybe 'cuz we have the same name. Whatever. But that lady had so much stuff, she kept getting on and getting off, taking more bags from the sidewalk onto the bus and making it hard for people to walk down the aisle. Daddy said she was without a home. How does that happen? Doesn't someone love her? The bus driver was using his nice voice, but the mean lady kept saying bad words and telling him he was racy or something like that. I don't think Chris the bus driver is a bad man. He has a great smile, and says nice things to everybody who gets on his bus. But now Chris was mad, like when people tease me because I have no hair and you get angry with them.
It was scary, Mommy. That lady said bad words and yelled at Chris for a long time. She said she had Covie boogies and spit at him! She coughed bad and spit again, but missed him this time. Then, Chris made her get off the bus because she was so mean. She slapped him too! The police came and took the bad lady away. I went up to Chris and told him I was sorry the lady was mean to him and to say thank you for being so nice to everyone.
He cried, Mommy! He reached down and patted my head and told me I was a kind boy. His eyes were sad, but they smiled at me too.
It took a while to go again, because his boss came to talk to Chris. He must have told her about me, because she came and told me I was a good boy to help Chris when he was sad. It must have helped, because he got back in and drove again. I was so happy! Mr. Chris reminds me of my Sunday School teacher. He reminds me of you, Mommy. You are always so sweet and kind to everyone. I wish you were here with me and Daddy right now. Riding the bus is fun! But it's crazy kinda weird too.
* * * * *
People are strange on the bus, Mommy. They are "plugged in and tuned out" Daddy says, because they say nothing and look at their phones the whole time. It was so quiet I asked Daddy to play "I Spy" with me. We were having a lot of fun, finding green signs, pretty trees, funny-dressed people, weird cars and everything else!
Then I saw a man get hit by a car and didn't want to say I spied something red. He bled into the street, Mommy! It was sad, because he was right outside my window. He ran in front of our bus when he got out and didn't look like you taught me. Chris had to stop the bus and call for an an-belance. Then he had to talk to the police and tell them what he saw. I wanted to help because I saw it happen, but Daddy said no because Chris told them all they needed to know. He reminded me I had to go in for my KEMO treatment, and he looked worried. My heart was going pitter-pattery but I didn't tell. I asked Daddy why I couldn't help too, but he didn't say anything. He just shook his head and hugged me, and he looked sad too. He must have felt my heart, because he seemed scared. It was scary to me too, but I didn't want Daddy to be so nervous. We were having so much fun together, even though a lot was happening. I always love being with Daddy. He makes me feel safe and loved.
Then the worst thing happened, Mommy. Chris fell down on the sidewalk. The policeman got down and tried to help him, but he must have gotten mad because he started pushing down hard on Chris up and down, so hard! It hurted him Mommy! Why? He was so nice to me and everyone else!
Other polices came and it was so loud sirens and shouting and then another an-belance and a fire truck came too! I ran out the door and yelled at the police to leave him alone! Chris was so nice! Daddy pulled me back and hugged me. I didn't know why he wouldn't let me help that nice bus driver. I was mad! Then Daddy told me something bad was wrong with Chris and I was so sad. I cried.
Another bus driver came and we had to move to his bus. Everyone was talking on that bus, about poor Chris. A hard-attack, they kept saying. I hope it wasn't too hard.
* * * * *
Daddy talked to me a lot until we got off the bus at the hospital. I didn't feel good then but didn't tell him because he seemed so scared. I sat on his lap the rest of the way, and he showed me a trail he promised to take me on to hike there someday. He tried to hide it, but I could tell he was sad.
Chris had said nice things to Daddy about him and me, and that made Daddy smile. It's nice to see him smile, because since I got sick he has been so sad. I don't want him to be sad anymore. He's my hero! Daddy ROCKS, Mommy! You do too. But Daddy is my bestest friend... EVER!
Then I don't remember what happened next. I fell asleep or something. Daddy was shaking me, trying to wake me up, but I couldn't. I woke up in my own an-belance. It was so exciting! But scary too because I couldn't breathe right. I always wondered what it sounded like from inside one, but it wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. Daddy was there, then I was gone again. Wish I knew what was happening.
* * * * *
I'm in the hospital now, and Daddy is here. The nice nurses put needles in my arms and seemed in a hurry to get me inside this dark room. Daddy is sad, and crying a little. I woke up and Daddy said you will call in a few minutes when you get off work. I hope your mean old boss lets you out early. I want you to come here and be with us. I want to tell you about...
* * * * *
Chris hears a commotion from the next room in the Emergency Room. Although sedated, he hears the name Christopher Dumas from a doctor outside his curtained partition. That's the boy from my bus! He gets out of bed and pulls the curtain back to see doctors and nurses furiously working on a child in the next station.
"What's going on there?" Chris shouts. He sees the boy's father, who looks over and recognizes his earlier bus driver. Tears streaming down his face, he simply shakes his head. Arms crossed, the father bows his head, crying. Chris feels his chest tighten again. This time the pain envelops his entire body. He falls to the floor, pulling down the IV tower. A flurry of activity erupts within the small space between the two beds. They try to save both, and lose both battles.
* * * * *
Two minutes later, two heart monitors simultaneously bleat a single monotonous tone. Both patients have expired. Chris's mother arrives at that precise moment, and both parents break into a loud sob. Their beloved son Christoper has lost his battle to leukemia on the day before his seventh birthday. Bus Operator Chris Tovrea has been declared dead after a flurry of activity at his side, of a massive heart attack. He has nobody there to mourn his passing, being a widower whose children are thousands of miles away.
* * * * *
White mists, ghostly whispers and wandering shadows greet both Chris and Christopher as they rise above their deathbeds. Looking down, they watch each of their earthly bodies lying in repose. One has parents sobbing over it, the other lies alone.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" a young voice asks. "Where am I? Mommy? Daddy?"
"I'm here, buddy," an older voice answers. "It's Chris. Guess we're goners now, eh?"
"I don't wanna... die," the child voice whimpers. "I didn't get to see Mommy before I went away! Let me go back!" He erupts into a child's anguish.
"It's okay, kiddo," the older voice says. "I wasn't keen on leaving yet either, but here we are. Don't be afraid, Chris. I got ya."
Another whimper, then sobbing. The elder Chris reaches out his soul's feelers into the ether. Trying to find his bearings in this new plane, he feels dizzy and disoriented. But somehow, he knows the other Chris is more afraid and in need of comfort. Throughout his career as a bus driver he has reached out to people and helped them through rough turbulence. Instinctively, he flails his "arms" about in search of the nearby lad. Then he realizes he has no arms. All he has is his soul, and it is beginning to find calm in this new dimension sans human body. He concentrates on the voice and floats toward the boy.
They connect, entwined and held in place. The boy's soul is slight, soft and trembling. It clings to him, tighter with each passing moment, which could be years on Earth. Soothing and whispering soft nothings, the elder comforts the precious youth. Having occupied his human body for nearly 60 years, Chris still feels his body and wraps his arms around the lad as he had his six children while alive. His right hand massages the young boy's scalp, which now bears a full head of flaxen-blond hair. In that moment, Chris realizes he can actually see again! He pulls the lad free a bit and looks down into his eyes. The younger Chris meets his gaze, human tears still welling from within.
"Leave me a moment, lad. Go back down and hug your parents one last time. They will feel it, and they truly need you this one last time. That way, they can never forget your love for them as they have loved you."
The elder watches from above as the child sails down to envelop his beloved parents one final time in the love which they had all shared for a brief moment in the eternity we all share. The elder keeps rising, but his vision holds strong. Soon, he views the younger rise to meet him once more. The child sports a bright smile, just as he had when boarding the bus just a while ago. This time, there is no pain in the lad's eyes... only peace and freedom from the pain Chris had seen.
The younger rises quickly to the elder, who once again holds him in an embrace of comfort and love.
"Perhaps," the elder muses, "we'll find a 't' waiting at the end of our names' rainbow."
Together, they rise.
If more people could look at things through the eyes of innocence, maybe things would be a little better in the world....
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