On an odyssey over an apple — Part 5

A traveller’s short story inspired by his journeys

Oddly enough, the driver looks somehow familiar to me. As I realised that I can’t sleep, I might as well try to prevent the driver from doing so and try to start a conversation. He seems a little confused, only speaks broken English, he appears to be called Andes. I try to find out where he lives and what he does, but Andes doesn’t understand what I want.

I’m giving up. But somehow I must be able to make sure that he stays awake. So I try to point at the broken cassette player. First with words, then with gestures, I’m touching my ears and make a questioning face.

All this only confuses him even more. I notice that a branch is lying in one of the piles, and use it to point at the music player. Then a blow shakes the whole vehicle. A box hits my head.

After regaining consciousness, I notice how Andes shakes his hand in pain. I suspect that he has struck against the sound system. Or was it a pothole after all? At least music is playing again. Carefully I try to put the box back in its original place. While doing so some apples roll onto my lap. I wonder if I should take one. I ask Andes, but again he doesn’t seem to understand. Secretly I bite, as quietly as possible, into one of the apples. Suddenly the tires squeal, I am pressed forward, some towers collapse as if in slow motion and the apples are still there. Andes gets out and opens my door.

He says we have arrived. All I see are the lights of hundreds of little suns in the background and I scramble things together, getting out. Andes starts to laugh too loudly and does not stop. He returns to the car. Totally confused I stop. As he drives off I can still hear him laughing. I don’t understand anything. I sit down on a bench.

The scales fell from my eyes, now I knew why he looked so familiar. Andes was the old man from the bus who wanted my apples so badly. A few minutes later I saw the first warming sunrays climbing up the horizon. I notice that there is a sign next to me. It is a bus stop that looks very familiar to me.

This is the 5th part of a short story I started to write 3 years ago. I recently found it on a flash drive and decided to adapt it on work on it again. 29th post for the ILLUMINATION 30-day writing challenge by Dr Mehmet Yildiz described in this article.