The 'Not So Perfect' Drive

Hey Peeps!

I'm Arushi, a fifteen year old, who loves reading and writing. This blog is my tiny section of the WWW where I post short, whack-y stories. 

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The 'Not So Perfect' Drive

It was the perfect drive. I was in a bus with my best friends, singing Bollywood songs at the top of our voices, while enjoying the refreshing breeze. It was about 7 in the evening, and we could see the sun set on the overhead horizon. It was one of those pleasant autumn days, which had just the right blend of warmth, humidity and coolness.

We were the U-14 Mother’s International School’s Girls’ Soccer team and were about to take a 9 hour drive across our state in our old coach to compete against our school’s arch rivals- The LandMark State School. As we had started relatively late, only at 5:30 in the evening, and were not expected to reach the lodge before the wee hours of the morning.

We played weird games (which were not necessarily quiet or inactive), clicked tons of selfies, showed off the power of our vocal cords and munched on (unhealthy) snacks for the first couple of hours. As soon as we started showing the first signs of tiredness our coach (the trainer, not the bus), anxious to make sure we conserve our energy for the game next evening, ordered us to ‘go to bed’.

We had, earlier, stopped for dinner and refreshments in an inn and were supposed to brush and change there, but when 14 ‘athletes’ have to get ready for bed in a small 10 feet into 8 feet washroom, it gets, umm… tricky. Though it’s gross to think about it now, but in reality, none of us brushed our teeth, wiped our bodies or did what we were supposed to do. We all had simply gossiped and chatted, till our coach had angrily knocked on the bathroom door.

To be honest, I was quite drained out after all the fun we had, and was ready to retire by the time the lights were dimmed. We all branched out and occupied seats and tried to find a comfortable position to sleep. Snoozing off was much more difficult than what I had expected, thanks to the hard seats, lack of leg-space and flies. But around 10 we all, finally, caught on some zzzs.

Till that point our bus drive had been quite smooth, but now things started to spice up. A violent jerk interrupted our peaceful slumber. Before we could express our frustration over being rudely awakened, we were shocked to notice the sharp and abrupt movements of the bus. We were shocked, and a look at the grown ups’ panic-stricken faces were enough for us to understand something was seriously wrong. Within seconds, our bus turned 180 degrees and crashed into a nearby bicycle stand.

Before we could react or even fully comprehend the incident (read accident), we felt a weird smell engulfing our bus. It was an awful odour, but it was even scarier to see fumes rising from the bus’s engine. We were all terrified, and wanted to cry or helplessly shout, but the urgency of the situation triggered our survival instinct (well, maybe, I’m exaggerating a little).

Though we had all practiced fire drills in our school, we did not have a clear exit plan out of the wrecked bus (obviously!). While someone tried to open the handle of the door, our coach told us to calm down and tackled the emergency exit. Our Soccer-pump was thrown at the big back window and it shattered the glass to pieces. Meanwhile, the fussy latch of the emergency exit gave way, and we jumped to clean fresh air and safety. It’s right to say that we evacuated the bus like pros.

We, immediately, sensed the presence of the crowd that had gathered around the ‘accident scene’. The bystanders had been watching our drama unravel from a distance, without showing much inclination to help, but had been cautious enough to inform the police of the accident. Thankfully, the patrolling cars soon arrived and after a few enquiries, we were allowed to go. According to the officer, it was a ‘simple matter of brake failure due to lack of regular servicing’.

Soon, we saw a giant trailer come and stop by our ‘old coach’. Then, after a few squeaks, a giant crane started to lift our heavy bus and tow it away. It was a slow process, and crane seemed to have difficulty in doing his job. But, after a slight struggle, the bus relented and the coach was dragged down the road. It was such an unusual sight to witness.

We were all quite excited after this accident, and couldn’t stop chattering about it. It did not seem ‘scary’ now, instead a thrilling scene out of an adventure novel. We would surely be mini- celebrities in our school for the next few days.

We walked about 100 meters to an inn and informed our parents. It soon became evident that the ‘tour’ was cancelled and the next course of action was basically to spend the night in the inn and take a train back to our city the next day.

This was one of the times a cancelled tour didn’t dampen our spirits.

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