2 Chapter 2- Hi! I am a bus!

With the alarm ringing at 7 in the morning, Adam woke up early. Groggy from having to stay up till 2 am the night before, he got out of his bed and wobbled his way to the bathroom. After washing up he got into the shower.

Today was his birthday. He knew it would be a long day as his parents usually liked to make a big deal out of occasions. So a simple laid back meal and then watching a movie or two to end the day, which he hoped for, was the last thing he expected to happen.

Realizing that he had to make preparations, he hastened his pace and got out of the shower and changed into a casual shirt and joggers. Making his way to the kitchen he opened his cabinets and refrigerator. Taking a quick scan anyone would be astounded. Even rats would starve in this kitchen of his.

Lately, he had been ordering out as he was way too engrossed in his research and had no time to spare for the preparation of his meals. This left him with an excessive amount of reusable containers and no ingredients for anything.

He knew that if his mother came by and saw the state of the situation, the last thing he needed to be worried about was her extravagant plans for the day. Rather he would have to spend the day being nagged at constantly. She had already been on his back recently to set him up with a daughter of one of her friends and the last thing he wanted to do now was give her more ammunition to use against him.

"I'm way too old to be nagged by my mum." He said dismally. "Never mind ill just go do it now. I need to stock up on my essentials and I need to buy a few decorations for the party. It is almost 8 now so I should have at least 4 hrs till they arrive. The general store is just 10 minutes away so considering I take no more than an hr and a half in there and then another 30 mins at the props shop opposite it. I should be back and still have an hr and a half to set everything in place. Everything should work out, as long as they don't decide to pop by early."

Having decided his gameplan he got to it immediately. Having no time to spare he picked up a lightweight hoodie from his room and put it on as he walked out of his apartment and locked the door behind him.

The area he lived in was occupied by 3 to 6 storey buildings. It was quite an ordinary residential area but something about its arrangement just left a person feeling satisfied by its aesthetics. It was neither too fancy nor too drab or messy.

Walking down the road Adam couldn't afford to stop and appreciate the view. So taking a quick glance at his surroundings he hurried his footsteps and made his way to his first stop the general store.

Nothing out of the ordinary occurred as he shopped at the two stores and to his surprise, he was actually able to come out a few minutes earlier than he expected.

Walking out of the store he had two to three bags of groceries hooked onto each of his ten fingers and 2 small cardboard boxes 1 balanced on top of the other in his hands. Though he was not the most athletic or fit person he was still considered average. However, this amount of weight was truly a bit too much for him. With his fingers going numb and his arms starting to burn he rushed to get back home.

He would have jogged back if only he wasn't balancing the two boxes in his hands.

"I really can't hold on any longer! But I'm soo close to home. Considering it is me…if I try putting everything down now and take a break I am guaranteed to fumble and embarrass myself. Especially since my hands have gone numb." Not willing to take the risk he trudged on till he reached the crossway just outside his apartment building.

He was truly at the end of his ropes at this point. He was heaving heavy breaths and he felt like his arms would fall off at any moment. Seeing his building the sweet euphoria one feels when they're just about to accomplish their objective kicked in and along with it, so did his tunnel vision.

"Luckily it is not summer yet or I would have truly melted." Thinking such mundane thoughts he failed to realize the people around him had halted their footsteps at the crossing.

"Hey, you!"

"what are you doing!"

"It's red!"

The people around him yelled in unison but before he could make sense of what they were trying to say he looked over his shoulder to find a bus in his face.

Time seemed to slow down to the point that it almost stopped. They say you see your life flash by just before you die but Adam was too preoccupied at the ridiculous appearance of the bus that was about to kill him to care. In a word, it could be described as 'derpy'. Two big round lights that looked like they were made to be laughed at and a grille that seemed like a lackadaisical smile of a fool.

"who the f$@# made this thing? Is this thing going to kill me? You must be kidding me."

"I wouldn't mind being struck by lightning or at least give me a truck. I wouldn't even mind a car!" but the reality was truly quite cruel. It was too late to change it. Indignant he couldn't help but remember a game he was playing recently which had vehicles in it.

Every time that they would ram into other players with a vehicle they would yell 'Hey! I am a' and the vehicle name. it was a stupid tradition that the community of the game had created.

Putting his attention back on the bus he couldn't help but imagine the bus saying "Hey! I am a bus!".

With that derpy face, it was too perfect and too cruel to him. He couldn't accept it and he wouldn't. The world, however, didn't seem to care and in the next instant, an immense force struck him and everything turned black. His consciousness faded away instantly.

...…

"what do we do with this one?" a calm and soothing deep male voice said.

"Leave that for when he wakes up! Whose fault is this first? How could they let a soul from such a remote planet get all the way here to the doorstep of the chamber of the gods!" This time a Husky and angry voice bellowed.

"Everything is possible and so is the probability of nothing happening. Who are you to have a say in the workings of the universe? Hmph" A low clear as water but sharp as ice voice of a woman who was clearly irritated by the arrogance of the former followed.

"Sister Tyche is right. And doesn't the matter of souls of the dead come under your jurisdiction? Who are you trying to put the blame on?" a smooth and seductive voice chimed in. though she was angry as well, the allure in her voice seemed to be ingrained and wouldn't change no matter her mood.

The argument intensified as the conversation proceeded and it didn't seem it would come to an end anytime soon.

While the adults argued, four little troublemakers made their way to a glowing orb placed at another corner of the hall.