By Bus with Vicki - Part 13

Hello FFFs,
I pray you forgive this shameful delay
In posting this story so late today.

But, it's still Friday morning. :) I'm on vacation, at my grandparents', slept in, have had trouble with my computer, and everything seems to be taking twice as long to do as usual.
No, I haven't written anything this week. I've watched Little League instead. :) We are enjoying the World Series and were thrilled last night when our favorite team (from TN) beat KY. No, we didn't start out with a favorite team when we began watching at the beginning of the week, but TN has just grown on us. We love watching them play, their interaction with each other, the advice and encouragement the coaches give, and well, just everything about them.

I'm also trying to keep on top of planning for a "blog party" next month! :D Very excited about that! Stay tuned to learn more. Plus hanging out with my grandparents, helping with different projects and just taking a break from the usual things.

I also decided last night (I hadn't known about it before) to join my sister and Mom, in memorizing the book of 2 Timothy. Scripture Memory Fellowship has a challenge to memorize the entire book in 4 months. You can win a t-shirt and other things. Do any of you want to join me? Wouldn't it be fun to keep each other accountable, to encourage each other, and press on together in hiding God's Word in our hearts? Join now and let me know if you're in! And remember, I just started too. :)

I was going to tell you all kinds of things, but since it is already late, and I have some emails to reply to, I'm just going to go and let you get to reading.

By Bus with Vicki

Part 13

    As she sat, swinging her feet and wondering if she could find someone new to talk with–for Rose was quiet and the Greens were talking together–she heard crying. It sounded like a young child and Vicki, suddenly missing her younger siblings, leaned out into the aisle to look. It was a little fellow, not much younger than Johnny.

    “The poor mama,” she murmured to herself catching a glimpse of the mother’s face. “It must be hard to keep someone that young happy on a bus.”

    Something came flying over the seats and rolled to a stop at Vicki’s feet. It was a small ball. Instantly Vicki picked it up. Making her way carefully up the aisle, she stopped beside the seat where the young mother was trying to occupy her little son. “Can I play ball with him,” Vicki asked, smiling at the small tot. “We could roll it in the aisle. My name is Vicki. Did you just get on at the last stop?”

    A relieved look crossed the mother’s face. “Yes, we just got on. It’s the first time I’ve tried taking Tommy on a bus. I should have known he wouldn’t do well. But I hoped he would fall asleep.”

    Sitting down in the middle of the aisle, Vicki held out her hands. “Come sit with me, Tommy, and we’ll roll the ball. Rose, can’t you sit down there and play too?”

    Rose’s dark head looked around the seats. For a moment she hesitated, then timidly scooting over, she moved to the aisle.

    Tommy was delighted at the prospect and his tears disappeared. Back and forth the bright red ball rolled. Sometimes it bounced when Tommy threw it instead of rolling it, but the other passengers simply kicked it back into the aisle and the game continued.

    “I have a brother named Johnny,” Vicki confided to Tommy’s mom. “He’s two. But my oldest brother is named Thomas. I think he used to be called Tommy, but I wasn’t around then, so I don’t remember.” She chuckled at the thought. “Do you have other children?”

    Tommy’s mother shook her head. “No. Only Tommy.”

    It was beginning to grow dark when Tommy tired of the game. His young playmates left him sitting in sleepy silence by the window with his thumb in his mouth. The sight made Vicki a bit homesick.

    “I’ve had a lot of fun on this trip,” Vicki confided to Rose after the two girls had resumed their seats. “But I think I’ll be glad when I see my sister. I was supposed to get there in the morning but I tried to visit Montana instead. When do you get off?”

    “At the next stop, I think.”

    “So soon? I was hoping you were going all the way to San Jose.”

    Rose shook her head. “No. But I will be glad to get home again. I’ve missed my family.”

    Quietly the two girls talked as darkness settled over the land and the bus wheels continued to hum over mile after mile of highway.

    When the sun rose the following morning, Vicki sat up, stretched, and looked about. It was quiet. Only a few passengers were awake, but no one talked. Across the aisle, Mr. and Mrs. Green still slept with their seats leaning back. “I didn’t have to do that,” she thought. “I had the whole seat to myself, so I could lie down.” Rose had gotten off last night, and Vicki checked in her purse to make sure her new friend’s address was still there. It was, tucked away safely inside a pocket. “At least I can write to her,” she thought.

    To Vicki, the day dragged by. There were no adventures to delay the bus, for which she was grateful, for, though she didn’t really want to admit it, she was growing tired of traveling. Her active body longed to be out in the fresh air and her feet craved movement. The passengers remained stiff and silent. Only the Greens, who to Vicki’s great delight, were traveling all the way to San Jose, were friendly and tried to amuse the girl.

    “I suppose,” Vicki remarked after an unusually long period of silence, “that no one wants to be friendly with strangers because they don’t know them. On the first bus I was on, no one wanted to talk much until after we had a flat tire. I don’t want another delay, but something should happen to make people friendly.” Thoughtfully she rested her elbow on the arm of the seat and leaned her chin in her hand. “I suppose if we all played a game, it would help the time to go by faster. We do that at home. But what game could we play? We can’t play ball because Tommy and his mother got off earlier. Hmmm.” Absently she shoved back her headband, and her swinging foot nudged her sweatshirt about on the floor.

    It took some time before Vicki was able to think of a suitable game for the scattered passengers on the bus. Then, with a little coaxing, she managed to persuade most of them to move to seats near each other and presented her game. It was a continuing story, but Vicki had torn up a newspaper someone had left and each person was required to include one of the headlines in his or her part of the story.

    That lasted until lunch time. In the afternoon, Vicki decided that taking a nap was the best way to pass the time and joined the rest of the passengers in slumber. In that way a few more hours slipped by.

Have you ever played ball in a vehicle?

Are you ready for Vicki to arrive at her destination?

Are you going to join the challenge to memorize 2 Timothy?