Strangers on the bus.
Each day, in a city of
millions of people.

All locked in their own
schedule, city runs like
a well-oiled machine.

How quaint though, that with
all the buzz, the same people
see the same people.

Every freakin’ day.
Until something changes. Like,
Jill getting new job.

She now takes route 3
to commute. She likes the side
facing seat. Less germs.

Or so she thinks. James
also prefers sideways due
to motion sickness.

So now here they are
most days of the week, facing
each other. No words.

But James wants words. Jill
is cute. Curiosity
piqued. But too timid.

Then, the day comes. He
steps up and decides to strike
up conversation.

If she’s single, he’ll
ask for a coffee house date.
His courage kicks in.

He sings “SexyBack”
as he spit shines his black shoes,
prepping for work day.

Then, an intense and
literal pain in the ass,
brings him to his knees.

He rushes to the
ER. Hemorrhoidectomy
of the urgent kind.

Complications. He
has to spend the night. He dreams
of Jill from the bus.

She glides in as a
dream Angel and changes his
IV bag. They talk.

He tells her he’s in
love with her, girl from the bus.
She smiles. Vanishes.

In the morning, James
is discharged. He has doctor
note- Yay! Week off work!

But a week is too
long to go without talking
to Jill. He must bus.

The next day, he boards
#3 and takes the seat
across from Jill. “Hi!”

James is shocked she made
the first move! “Did the doctor
clear you for work?” What?!?

Holy shit, she’s a
psychic! He sees his wristband.
Pops it off, face red.

He stares at her white
shoelaces, then the blue floor.
Plan has gone so wrong.

“Don’t be ashamed. Those
hemorrhoid buggers are common.”
“But, how do you know?”

“The anesthesia,”
she sighs, “I was your nurse. We
talked about the bus.

“You are enamored
with a female passenger.
Did you ask her out?”

James shakes his head as
the #3 abruptly
arrives at a stop.

Jill rises, whispers
in James’ ear “Just don’t tell her
about the hemorrhoids.”

Just as gracefully
as she exited James’ dream,
Jill exits the bus.