CW: Wrong Bus by Tricia

I will never be so careless again to take the wrong bus. An unforgettable incident had left an indelible mark in my heart.

It was in the morning and I woke up quite late. Quickly, I changed into my uniform, grabbed my bag and dashed to the bus stop. That particular day was the day when I had an English Examination and I was late for it.

“Oh! I will be late! What am I gonna do?” I muttered under my breath, my heart pumping vigorously.

Just when I was thinking of all the possible consequences that I might bear, a bus arrived and I boarded it hastily without looking at the bus number. The bus was quite crowded and it was hard to find a seat. Fortunately, a man in front of me stood up and alighted from the bus. I sat down, drawing a deep and long breath to calm myself down.

“Why there are no students in the bus? It is only 7.05 am,” I thought, looking around the bus.

Just when I looked out of the window, I saw that the bus was driving away from the housing estate and to an unfamiliar place. I was shocked.

“Excuse me, where is the bus heading to?” I asked a lady sitting right beside me.

“Oh, to Jurong,” the lady answered, with a raised eyebrow.

At that moment, I felt faint. A fluttery feeling of panic overpowered me. How was I going to take my English examination? Where was this place? How was I going to get to school? I did not know what to do.

Immediately, I alighted from the bus at the nearest bus stop which was far away from???. Once I had alighted from the bus, I recalled what my mother said.

“If you had taken the wrong bus, do not panic. Be calm. Alight from the bus at the nearest bus stop, take the same bus back to where you were and board the right bus from there.”

I did what I was told, feeling butterflies in my stomach. Everything was in control. The only obstacle was time. I was running out of time! I looked at my watch and it showed, “7.20am”. The English examination would start at 7.30 am!

“Oh! What I am going to do? I was left with ten minutes before the examination started. It was entirely no one else's fault but mine!” I was very scared, scared that I would be barred from taking the English examination.

Seconds stretched into minutes. The seconds seemed like hours to me. At the eleventh hour, I made it to my classroom. The invigilator had written on the white board, “English Examination, Paper 2…” I put my bag outside the classroom and took out my pencil case. The invigilator gave me the examination paper. The clock struck 7.30am.

“You may start your examination now,” the invigilator said to the class.

There was no time for me to settle down. “I am not going to do well in this examination!” I said to myself, however, feeling quite relieved that I managed to make it in time to do my examination.

After the examination, my classmates asked me what had happened. Not only three or four but the whole class of forty-two pupils. Everyone asked me individually and I had to repeat my story for forty-two times!

“I had taken the wrong bus…..” I repeated.

This incident will forever be etched in my memory and I would not take the wrong bus anymore in future again, never ever!