01. Et Cetera: Chapter 01 - The Complications of Missing a Bus

Et Cetera

Chapter 01 - The Complications of Missing a Bus

"I hate taking the bus!"

- Gino Lane

It's not that it's a bit inconvenient. Rather, the issue is…when's the darn thing going to get here!? Pardon me, but I haven't introduced myself, have I?

The name's…erm…Gino. Gino Lane. I'm an assistant. An assistant to what, to whom, or of what? Not important. I'm standing on the side of the road, mentally self-narrating as I wait for the bus to arrive. This is not weird at all! Everyone does mentally self-narrate, right? Please, hear me out!

I recently relocated from a small town to…a city that looks about the same as my hometown, except wider and a bit densely packed. And a bit more tall buildings compared to my hometown, not that there were many in my hometown in the first place. You get what I'm saying, right?

In this city, where new beginnings are waiting for me…

…are the outskirts, the rural area of where I live. There are a lot of friendly, welcoming people here compared to the city, or from what little I experienced of the city thus far. The rural area is also more scenic, with mountains looming in the near distance, floral changing with the seasons, and a more calm, aesthetic, serene beauty and atmosphere that I've always longed for practically my whole life. Certainly didn't get this back in my hometown.

I don't mind living the rural life. In fact, I prefer it. I don't think there's any other place I'd rather be. The only problem is that it's a pain in the ass to get to the city and even more of a pain to return FROM the city. The bus stops here don't make much of a lick of sense. There are bus stops that have the same name as another nearby bus stop, but they aren't distinguishable from each other. A bus stop's name is Flower Rock Station? Well, there's also a Flower Rock Station bus stop in the opposite direction, in the opposite direction to the left, and in the opposite direction to the right. So pick a bus stop, roll the dice, and chances are that you most likely are at the wrong bus stop to where you need to go. At least put a 'north', 'south', 'east', 'west' on these things, for cryin' out loud!

"Any moment now, the bus will arrive, and I will be on my way to my job orientation!" I said aloud with shining enthusiasm. "After all, it's only morning time. The day's just beginning!"

7 AM turned to 8 AM. 8 AM became 8:45 AM. 9:34 AM crept up on me before I realized it, along with the slightly uncomfortable warm, autumn weather.

"This is the punishment I get for having false optimism, right?" I said with a cheerful smile. I remove my phone from my pocket and open the transportation app that was recommended for me to download before I moved here. "Maybe I'm just at the bus stop early, and the bus will arrive at….7:25 AM! The freakin' bus was supposed to have arrived over two hours ago!? What the hell?!"

I took a deep breath and regained my composure. "Losing my temper won't help. Let's look for another arrival time. Look, another one is supposed to arrive in another minute or two."

As these words escaped my mouth, a bus arrived. Finally! I may be a little late going to the city for orientation, but I can now get to where I need to be. I'll let Mr. Supervisor know what's going on once I get settled in on the bus. He'll understand.

"Good morning! Is this bus going towards the urban district of Ikisakata?" I asked the bus driver with a kind smile and closed eyes.

"No."

"No? Eh?"

"This is the bus to Bridge Ahead City."

"Then…what bus is to Ikisakata?" My smile grew kinder.

"I reckon it's that bus stop behind you."

I turned around, only to see a bus passing by a Flower Rock Station bus stop because no one was waiting to board that specific bus.

"Oh shoot, and that was the last bus until after lunchtime," the bus driver said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Until lunchtime? Then, what time will it come back?"

"2 PM."

"Oh, I see," I said in deadpan kindness, a smile still on my face, eyes still closed. "Then, if you'll excuse. I'll let you continue on with your day. Thank you very much."

I took a step back, exiting the bus, and bowed politely.

The bus drove off as I was still in my bowed position. I stood in that position for a while…a brief but long while. Calmly, I positioned myself upright, got out my phone, and dialed Mr. Supervisor.

Brrrring. Brrrring. Brrrring. Brrr…

"Hello, this is Aiam Supervisor," Mr. Supervisor spoke.

"Hello, this is Gino," I greeted with a calm, resolved tone.

"Gino? Where are you? You're supposed to be at the office for orientation!"

"I couldn't get on the right bus, so there's no way for me to get there until after lunch."

"Have you not ridden a bus before? How can you make such a simple mistake?!"

Simple my ass. "I'm sorry, sir. Could you come to where I am to pick me up? I know how important orientation is, and I don't want to miss it." My voice was still calm yet resolute.

"That's too much trouble! Find a way to get here or else you're fired!"

"Yes, I understand. Sorry. I will find a way."

In the same manner as how I spoke, I ended the phone call. I calmly stand for a brief yet long while. A bird flew above me and left a fresh present on my formal suit. Bird poop. On my suit. Hehe. Haha. Of course that would happen to me. With my phone in hand, still calm and resolute, I redial Mr. Supervisor's number.

"Yes, this is Aiam Supervisor."

"Hi, this is Gino."

"Gino? Please tell me you found a way to get here!"

"Mm. I'm going to walk there."

"Walk? But that's over two hours!"

"Mm, I know."

I end the phone call with a touch of the button and waited in silence as I gathered my thoughts to take the next course of action. No sooner than I began to think, I received a phone call.

"Yes, this is Gino."

"Gino! Stay where you are! I'm coming to pick you up! Don't start walking, please!"

***

"I'm Aiam A. Supervisor!"

"I'm Aiam Yor Supervisor."

"And we are your supervisors at JetCo!" the two supervisors greeted in unison.

I sat in silence for a few seconds until I asked, unfazed, "Are you two related or something?"

"Not at all, we just happen to have the same first name and last name," Aiam Yor said straightforwardly.

"Yes, yes, what are the odds?" Aiam A. said in boisterous laughter.

"I say you two are odd!" I swiftly berated, like a straight man in a manzai comedy routine.

As you may have guessed, I have arrived at the office that I am to work at, in clean clothes, of course. Aiam A. retrieved me from my bus stop in the boonies, and the orientation presentation had recently concluded. Suffice it to say, I was the only person present because I was the only person the company had recently hired, but that's beside the point. Who are these two supervisors, you may be wondering? Allow me to clear up the confusion.

Aiam Yor Supervisor is my supervisor. He greeted me at the airport when I arrived to this country. His duties are to help me settle into my new location in Ikisakata, ensure I am faring well during the first month or two, and train me in my new position. He is a serious person; so serious that I don't think there's even a funny bone in his body. He's so serious he practically threw me into the wilderness and expect me to survive on my own, despite being new to not only Ikisakata City, but to this country as well! I don't think I will get much help from him.

Aiam A. Supervisor is a supervisor as well. She seems to be easy-going yet diligent in her duties, always with a smile on her face. While I admire her attitude and tendency to find joy and humor in most things, it is difficult to know when she is serious or making a joke.

"Do you have any questions about what was discussed in the orientation, or any confusion that needs to be cleared?" Aiam Yor asked.

"Yes, why are there two supervisors?"

"Ah, yes, good question," Aiam A. spoke. "You see, every employee in a department needs a supervisor to make sure they are on task and that the assigned tasks are being completed to the best of their abilities. And there is another supervisor to ensure that the other supervisor is performing their duties to the best of their abilities and aren't slacking off. Understand?"

"Then who supervises that supervisor who is supposed to be a supervisor to a supervisor?" I asked.

"Silly Gino, I can't supervise myself!" Aiam A. guffawed.

"I didn't ask if you could supervise yourself. I asked who is your supervisor."

"I am Yor Supervisor, Gino."

"I know you are my supervisor!"

"Actually, Mai Supervisor is my supervisor," Aiam A. said.

"Mai Supervisor?" I asked.

"No, I am your supervisor, Gino. Hasn't it been clear already?"

"I'm not asking if you are my supervisor! I'm asking why is there a supervisor named Mai Supervisor!"

"But I'm not Mai Supervisor," said Aiam A.

"You can't be your supervisor because I am Yor Supervisor."

"But you can't be my supervisor because I am above you."

"There's a Yu?"

"Yes, it's the twenty-first letter of the alphabet!" Aiam A. replied to me with beaming enthusiasm.

"Argh, enough of this!" I yell with exasperation. "I have another question! If my position at JetCo is assistant, then what am I an assistant of?"

"Not important," Aiam A. and Aiam Yor responded in swift unison.

"Of course, it's not important," I muttered, sighing tiredly. I pinched my forehead in exhaustion. "Is the orientation over? I want to go back to my apartment. It's been a long day…"

"Certainly! I think we've said our piece for today!" said Aiam A.

Tell me about it.

"Do you need a ride to your apartment?"

I looked over to Aiam Yor, who was pretending to be occupied in order to avoid eye contact while whistling completely off-key.

"No, I will take the bus," I said with a calm yet fed-up annoyance.

Aiam Yor suddenly changed his whistling to an upbeat, on-key tune. This guy!

"Super! It shouldn't be a problem for you to get back!"

***

"Of course there would be a problem for me to get back!" I shout in the pouring rain.

It's nighttime. I am standing under a shelter at a place named Aido Station. The station appears to be defunct and is surrounded by forests, a path that leads into the forests, and a road that leads to who knows where. Without a doubt, I am far away from Ikisakata City, and maybe even further away from the rural community where I now reside.

"Think, Gino. How did I get here?" I said to myself, recalling the events that lead up to my current predicament.

After I left the office in Ikisakata City late in the afternoon, I walked to the bus station, where I input the directions to my apartment, and got onto the correct bus as noted in the instructions given on my GPS app. From there, I followed the route that the bus was taking on the app. The bus deviated from the route that it was supposed to take, so much so that I decided to disembark after a few stops. From there, I decided to walk to another bus stop that could take me to the rural community and wait for that bus.

As per my GPS information, the bus that I boarded was the last bus of the day en route to the rural community. Otherwise, I had no other way back to my apartment, and I am a two-hour walk from the city to stay at a hotel for the night.

After boarding the last bus of the day, the bus followed the route as detailed on the GPS app. No deviation, no delays. Everything seemed to have gone well. I couldn't have disembarked at the wrong stop because it WAS the last stop on the route, as depicted on the GPS app. I was the last person onboard the bus as well. Is it possible that the GPS app has been faulty the entire time? No way that the world's most trusted GPS app, Guuggle Atlas, is faulty with its directions, right? Right?!

"Heh, there's only one logical conclusion to all of this," I presently chuckled in a calm yet cool manner. "Guugle Atlas…is a piece of crap! Accurate my ass! This app is ass! Poo! It's what's made in a digestive system before it even comes out as nature intends!"

Lightning flashed in the sky after my outburst, followed by a loud, lengthy thunder.

"Alright, Gino. Outbursts such as these aren't going to get us back to the apartment. And no way am I going to spend the night in this creepy, cobwebbed, spider-infested, things go bump in the night, dilapidated station. Times like this calls for desperate measures."

The expression of rough contemplation masks my face. My mind is made up.

"Aaaaaand off we go to the wonderful woods ♪ The wonderful, scary woods we go ♪" I sing cheerfully with a bright smile, skipping along the path into the dark, unknown forest in the pouring rain.

I know what you're probably thinking. Why go into the dark, unknown forest in the pouring rain? It's easy to say what you would do if you were in my situation, but when you're actually in the situation, would you really take the action that you told yourself you would do?

Many people don't think logically in times of desperation, and I'm one of those people. All that is on my mind is the desire to get back to my apartment, a place where I know I am safe and at least have some familiarity. I was going to make it happen, no matter what.

If I were to go into the forest and walk along the path, maybe it'd take me to the rural area, or at least to a place where I can be safe until the morning. I wasn't going to stick around that rundown station where anything could happen.

I am barely thinking that anything could happen to me while in the forest. No bugs because of the pouring rain. No presence of dangerous animals because they are taking shelter from the pouring rain. No poisonous plants along the path except maybe a few tree branches and roots. I just want to get to safety. That's all.

After some time, I stopped skipping and began to walk along the forest path. Sometimes the path seem to go up a hill, sometimes it'd go down. There were times when it'd curve left, and times when it'd curve to the right. Because of the darkness, I couldn't tell what was on the left or right of me, if it were trees, a river, a cliff, or a chasm, and I had no intentions of finding out.

A few minutes grew to longer minutes, and longer minutes soon began to feel like hours. The further I progress on my trek, I begin to come to my senses, that maybe it was unwise to have gone into the forest. Maybe I should have stayed at that station. It's not too late to turn back, but it will be a long time until I return. I am tired. Weary. My phone is on its last battery power, even in power-saving mode. I am beginning to feel helpless, yet despite my outbursts and unsophisticated responses, and how I am able to turn any unlucky moments and situations into humor, I always have hope that things will work out for the best. I want to play the Pokemon Black/White series again.

Thunk!

A hollow sound is heard. I pause, unsure of what I heard. I take another step forward.

Thunk!

The sound and the feeling beneath my feet are familiar. I take another step, suddenly falling forward. I catch hold of myself before I was to fall flat on my stomach, placing a hand on the ground to regain my balance. Except, it wasn't exactly the ground. It felt like hollow wood! I exert my weight downward to stand upright. Once on my feet, I carefully place one foot forward, this time slightly upward from where I stand. There were some trouble at first, but my footing made contact with what was preventing me from walking forward with ease. It was a step! I'm standing on wooden stairs!

With one slow step forward, I gradually begin to pick up the pace as I excitedly yet carefully begin my ascension. Where are the steps taking me? What's waiting atop the stairs? Excited to solve the mystery, I increasingly pick up the pace. After who knows how many steps upward, I place a foot forward, almost falling over again. I catch myself again by placing a hand on the ground, my chin resting against my chest.

I arrived at the top of the stairs in this forest! I lift my head to see a moss-patched cabin with yellow light from a lantern, barely illuminating the porch on the outside but brilliant from the inside. Behind and around the cabin, the forest continued. I don't think it is peculiar or out of the ordinary to come across this cabin in the middle of the forest. Actually, I am relieved to have found it. Once more, I push myself to stand upright. Without hesitation, I proceed toward the cabin.

***

I step onto the porch. With the back of my hand, I gently knock on the cabin door.

"Hello? Sorry to bother you, but I need assistance."

Silence.

I knock on the door again, this time, slightly harder in case the occupants hadn't heard my knock.

"Hello? Is anyone here?"

Silence replied once more.

In normal circumstances, I would turn around and leave, but where else have I to go? I place my hand on the doorknob and slowly turn it to know whether or not it was unlocked.

It was. Exerting my weight, I slowly open the door.

In direct sight is the main area of the cabin, which can be considered a living room. The lantern is sitting in the middle of a table, the light faintly illuminating the other rooms of the cabin. The middle room is a kitchen, and two rooms opposite across from it seem to be bedrooms. On the left side of the cabin is the bathroom. There isn't a room on the right side of the cabin.

I revert my attention to the main area of the cabin. On the left and right of the table is a couch for two people. In the corner directly to my left is an old CRT television with two bent antennas. Its last use is anyone's guess. Dust and cobwebs cover every piece of furniture in this room. It's probably the same for the other rooms.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" I call out.

Silence gave the same answer.

"I guess this cabin is abandoned. Don't mind if I make myself at home for the night."

I invite myself in and close the door behind me.

The rain continues to fall against the cabin windows. Seems like it's not going to let up anytime soon. I examined the old television in the corner from afar. It's turned off, its cord unplugged from the wall, not that there would be any electricity in this abandoned cabin.

I pick up the lantern on the table and begin to explore the other rooms of the cabin. It is just as I expected. The beds are placed and decorated in the room exactly how I imagine it to be: like the old flowery beddings you'd see in the 80s or 90s, side by side with only a nightstand between them. Both rooms also have a dresser to store clothes and such. Nothing interesting to see here.

Next, I explore the kitchen. There is a fridge here, of course. Though, I don't dare to open it and examine what's inside. I've played enough horror games to know that it's usually nothing delicious, erm, nothing welcoming when you see a fridge inside an abandoned place. Even if it wasn't a macabre sight, I sure as heck don't want to see any bugs that somehow got inside, nor any moldy foods that may make my eyes figuratively vomit.

With a chill running up my spine and goosebumps on my arms, I avert my attention away from the fridge and towards another wooden cabinet with a glass covering. The dishes were kept inside, neatly organized. The dishes look homely, invoking a feeling of warmth, that whoever lived here last was a warm-hearted person. It wasn't only the dishes that give this impression.

The curtains along the window, placemats on the kitchen table, and the neatly placed tea or coffee set. The feeling of warmth soon grew to nostalgia and a bit of sadness. It made me wonder about what kind of person lived here; what was their life like; their personality; their outlook on life; what kind of fond memories were made in this cabin; why'd they choose to build a cabin in the middle of the forest, and why'd they abandoned it? Before the sense of nostalgia and sadness grew even more, I exit the room.

The only room left to explore is the bathroom. I am hesitant. I don't want to see any creepy crawlies or anything that'll freak me out. And I sure as hell don't want a mirror to be the first or last thing I'd see. But if I were to ignore the bathroom, something will definitely plague my mind: the thought that there could be a killer hiding in the bathroom.

Shit, why'd I come inside this cabin without thinking of the possibility of a killer hiding out here?! I'm just like the characters in those horror movies! The same people most people say they'd never be! This is another situation where you wouldn't do what you'd always say if it were to actually happen.

I sigh deeply to calm myself. I've already inspected the other rooms and nothing has happened. If there were a crazy ax murderer hiding in this cabin, they would have already struck me dead because of my carelessness. Enough with this; let's just get it over with!

I instinctively turn on the light in the bathroom and began my inspection. The bathroom appears to be a small, typical room. There's a counter with a sink and a mirror staring at you as soon as you entered the room. The bathing area is to the left, and the toilet is to the right. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Wait. I turned on the light? Why? How? Why is there a working light switch in the cabin? How is there electricity in this cabin, especially if it's in a forest in the middle of nowhere? As if life is telling me that my thoughts are being read, I turn to the right to see an electric breaker. It was covered with dust, cobwebs, and spiders from top to bottom, side to side. And it was switched off.

My eyes widen. My heart is racing. My anxiety is climbing higher and higher. I clumsily back out of the bathroom, only to hear something that sounds like a waterfall.

Wait. A waterfall? I'm inside a cabin. I shouldn't be hearing a waterfall! I Unless...is it raining heavily now?

I promptly move the lantern toward the source of the sound and peer in that direction.

Everything is the same as I had entered this cabin. My eyes dart to the window. The rain hasn't picked up; it's just as before. Everything is the same…except…the television. It's on!

The television is on a static channel. My eyes quickly dart to the floor, only to see the cord is still unplugged.

Unplugged. The television is unplugged. But it's on. It's on.

My heart is racing, almost as if at the speed of sound. My anxiety is climbing to heights beyond the stratosphere.

No. No way. No way I can stay here. No way no way no way no way no way. I gotta get out of here!

With the lantern still in hand, I run at a breakneck speed towards the door that leads outside. I pass a couch and the TV during my franatic burst.

I feel something heavy on my leg. I collapse onto the dusty floor, dropping the lantern. I move back an inch, another inch, and an inch more. Slowly. But I am not exerting any energy to move. How am I moving? There's no other explanation. I am being dragged!

I look behind to see what is dragging me. It is then that I receive my answer, an answer that has me completely speechless, breathless.

A hand attached to a disembodied arm, coming from the TV! Even the appendage is like the static on the TV channel!

What the hell? What's going on? Why can't I break free? What's going to happen to me? Why did today have to happen? Why am I –

Gino was dragged completely into the television before he could finish his thought.

The CRT television switches off.