Stephanie was a bud driver, in Minnesota. She was talking with her sister-in-law, Linda, about the birthday of her husband, Gary.
“Yes, Linda, I’ll be home early for Gary’s birthday. Don’t worry, it’s not that cold anyway. I mean for Minnesota. It’s definitely not the worst weather we’ve had,” Stephanie said to Linda.
It was cold outside, and there was ice on the road, so her tour took more time than her usual. She was driving school kids back to their houses, as she was the school bus driver.
It came to the last student on the bus, Jimmy. She usually had always waited for children to enter their houses, but today, she was in a rush, as she wanted to arrive on time to her husband’s birthday.
“Hey, kid. Better rush home before this gets any worse,” Stephanie said to Jimmy.
“Can we wait a bit, Mrs. Tyson? It’s a little scary out there,” Jimmy asked.
“I can’t wait forever, kid. I need to go home too. Your house is not that far from here. Don’t worry. You just need to run really fast, and your mom will be there with some hot cocoa,” she said.
“Ok, if you say so,” said Jimmy, as he was convinced. He took his bag, and ran back to his house. Stephanie didn’t wait for him to get inside his home, and drove back to her house.
The birthday party of her husband went perfectly, as she wished for. “Darling, my party was wonderful, and the food…hmmm…yummy! Thank you so much,” Gary said to his wife, Stephanie.
“Linda helped me a lot. I’m just glad the weather didn’t slow down my route that much,” she said.
“You didn’t have to worry, though. Those kids’ safety is all that matters,” Gary said.
Then Stephanie had thought about Jimmy, “Did he went home safely?” she asked to herself.
As they got into their bed, she opened the TV, and got shocked immediately, as she heard the news. “A young boy got lost earlier today after school and wasn’t found until 10 p.m. He managed to find shelter in a neighbor’s empty dog house, just a two-minute walk away from his home,” had stated from the news channel.
“Authorities stated that the boy had some frostbite but is already in stable condition at Oak Valley Clinic. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bernard, are grateful for all the help they received from neighbors and officials during this time,” it ended.
Stephanie started to cry as she screamed, “OMG!”
“What? What’s going on, Stephanie?” Gary said, as he got scared for his wife.
“That was Jimmy! He got lost today! He’s my last stop. I kicked him off my bus, wanting to get home early. He was scared about the storm, but his house was only five minutes away from my stop. This is my fault!” Stephanie screamed again.
“Calm down, Stephanie. Please,” said Gary.
“I have to go see him tomorrow!” she said. When morning came, she immediately went to the Jimmy’s side.
“Mrs. Tyson, what are you doing here?” said Mrs. Bernard, as she was there, outside of the room of Jimmy, in the hospital.
“I saw the news about Jimmy last night. I had to come see him. How is he doing?” Stephanie asked.
“Oh, he’s fine. He’s just a little spooked and has a bit of frostbite on one toe. But doctors said everything would be all right soon,” Mrs. Bernard said.
“Thank God!” said Stephanie.
“Thank you for coming, Mrs. Tyson. That was so nice. You always take care of our kids like they’re your own. It’s amazing,” Mrs. Bernard continued.
Stephanie was feeling guilty, as she didn’t wait for Jimmy to enter his house. But she decided to stay silent about the issue.
“You can go inside and see Jimmy while I go deal with some paperwork,” Mrs. Bernard said to Stephanie, when the nurse had called.
“Mrs. Tyson. You’re here!” said Jimmy, when he saw Stephanie in his room.
“Hey, kid. I heard you got lost yesterday, but you have some crazy survival skills, huh?” said Stephanie.
“Yeah. It was scary at first, but then, it was like an adventure. And it was warm inside the house. I used a dog blanket, but my toe still got a bit frozen. It’ll be fine soon,” Jimmy explained.
“Jimmy. It’s my fault. I should have waited with you inside the bus or walked you home. I was selfish. Can you forgive me?” Stephanie asked.
“It’s not your fault. I got a bit confused with all the snow, then my glasses fogged. The worst part is that I was right next door. So embarrassing! It won’t happen again,” said Jimmy.
“No, it definitely won’t happen again,” Stephanie said.
From that day on, Stephanie had waited for any child to enter their house, and didn’t left until she confirmed that they all went back to their houses, safe and sound.
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