Nineteen Never came

Hey! So this is a small side project… should I continue? 

Jordan rushed into the classroom three minutes late, holding a dripping umbrella. Everyone stared when he walked in, because his jacket and hair were soaked all the way through. “Sorry,” Jordan said, breathing hard.

“My bus didn’t show up, so I had to run the last six blocks.” He dropped into his seat, shivering slightly, as the teacher handed him a paper towel. Even though he tried to laugh it off, Jordan kept glancing back at the window where the heavy rain continued to pour.

“Where’s that bus” Jordan whispered to himself

“What bus?” Kaiden asked from behind him.

Jordan turned “bus nineteen”

“No wonder you missed the bus—“

“I didn’t miss the bus! It never showed up!”

“No wonder because we don’t have a bus nineteen!”

“We…don’t?”

“Boys. Is there something you’d like to share with the class?” The teacher asked

“No ma’am” Jordan stammered, then turned slightly back to Kaiden “what do you mean no bus nineteen?”

“Rumors say that bus was—“

“Boys! Enough!” The teacher snapped “we are in math class! Not gossip hour! Wait until art, band, or drama class go talk!” She barked

“Yes ma’am!” Kaiden said standing so fast his knee was slammed into his desk, kids sniggered.

He sat down, embarrassed then leaned forward “that bus was hijacked in 1999, everyone died. The bus driver was the only one alive with the hijackers and he drove off the highway and into an ocean. It was on a field trip, people call it the field trip or no return. I don’t really like that name, personally it could be cooler, but some people say… the bus comes back and takes kids to where it was hijacked and drives into the river. Then once the kids die— no one remembers them… except their families”

Jordan’s eyes widened… we were told that hundreds of families in our neighborhood were crazy people, that imagined having extra family members.

Was that real?

Had their children disappeared… only to be dismissed as delusional?

Locked away in asylums?