OK, here's the deal: I'll start with a few sentences. Add as much or as little as you choose. The direction is at the perogative of the author of the moment.



Each Thursday at precisely 11:03, Maria caught the #66 Castroville Road bus into downtown. As usual, the bus, except for the driver, was empty and she had her choice of seats. Normally, the driver was a gringo, both attractive and friendly, with a good sense of humor. They would chat some while he followed the route into ...

..the city. Maria lived just beyond the outskirts of the town and was ever so thankful the bus came out this far.
She was busy smelling the roses and touching the rose buds, 'this time of the season is the best', she thought to herself. Watching the world come into bloom before her very eyes. She hoped inside that tomorrow the rosebud would open and show its beauty to the world, she could hardly wait for it's unveiling.
In the distance she heard the rumble of the bus and hurridly picked a rose to give to the driver. Normally she would never think of doing such a thing, but during their chats he had mentioned it was his birthday today and as a little surprise for him, she picked the fullest one.

"Ouch, SHIT!", she said, and instictively drew her bleeding finger to her mouth as she dropped the flower.
"Damn thorns."

Carefully picking it back up, she put it behind her back and walked quickly to the stop to be ready and waiting. As the bus approached the figure behind the wheel seemed larger.
Much larger. As the bus nearer she could tell that Joe wasn't driving today, and let the rose slip to the earth behind her.

The bus came to a halt, the driver stopping fast enough to make the dirt on the side of the road kick up. The doors flew open and a big, burly guy was behind the wheel. He looked just like the guy she had seen on the television that morning, an escaped convict from Dry Plains prison wanted for murder and suspected armed and dangerous.

She smiled, hoping to mask her thoughts and wanting to flee but felt frozen in spot.

"Get in!", rumbled the man, his voice breaking the invisible hold on her. She jumped a bit, then decided it best she get in and act like nothing was wrong. Hopefully she was mistaken and tried hard to hide her fear from her face.

Out of force of habit,she sat down in the seat directly behind him, then immediately wished she hadn't of done that but it was too late to move now. He slammed the door shut, glanced in the mirror above him making eye contact and said..."

"hey little missy, want a ride" instantly her back went up and she knew he was the criminal. Luckily she had her cellphone in her purse and she only needed him to stop watching her for a few minutes and she could call the police.
Once he started driving she slowly opened her purse, took out her phone and dialed 911 but just as the call went through...

the criminal hit the brakes throwing her forward. As she hit the farebox, he grabbed her phone hand & jerked it out of her grasp. Then he roughly pushed her away, again to concentrate on the thickening traffic in front of him. One last bridge to cross & they would be in downtown San Antonio, where

his brother Tony was living. He knew if he could just get to Tony's, he would be able to get away free. The only problem was what to do with this woman he picked up.
Maria had landed on the floor in the aisle and eased herself back into the seat. Rubbing her arm, her mind was racing as to what to do next.
Out of nowhere came a low moan, it sounded like it came from the back of the bus.
'Joe?!?!'

"what the..?"she started to say, but caught herself and remained silent.

The driver had heard the moaning and quickly replied to her, "Shut up and stay still, or else...

... you'll wind up just like he did. Now, sit down!"
Silently, she complied.
With all of the commotion going on, the novice driver had been distracted just long enough - to screw up. As he turned forward, he was just in time to see - not one, but three police cruisers parked not 50 feet away, working another accident - and there was no-way he was going to stop. In a blur of slow-motion panic he sees an overturned tanker truck and maybe 25 people when in a crash worthy of a stunt scene in a Spielburg movie, the speeding bus crashes into and climbs the back of the rear most car in a spectacular shower of sparks and grinding noise, launching itself .......

straight towards the police cruisers.

The policeman, hearing the crash, immediately turned and ran, yelling for bystanders to get clear. The bus came crashed down onto it's side with a deafing bang and the sound of screeching metal on pavement filled the air.
The bus smashed into the cruiser and finally came to a stop, a flame visible near the rear of the bus.
"OMG!!! it's going to...

melt my Snickers bars! I left them on the front seat." The fat cop whined.

The bus suddenly vanished. No sound, no oil slick, no broken bodies, it just wasn't there any more. ...........

....in its' wake, a deafining silence ensued. Even the fires were out. In its' place, snow began falling within a beam of light..............

completly encompassing a whole city block. Slowly the snow begin to disappear, leaving in it's place a bed of lilies that glistened with newly fallen rain. The cop, struck with wonder at the sight, turned toward a nearby woman and said...

..."... Would you like to go out for a drink once this is all cleared out?" To which the woman replied:" As long as you're buying, why not?" By then, the .....

test results should be back. I have to tell you, those antibiotics better work fast.", she allowed, scratching herself vigorously around her pubic regions.

She turned to the policeman to ask where they might meet later, when suddenly, plummeting out of the sky fell a....

300 lb glowing sea turtle, speaking Hebrew ...

and spinning in circles. While the cop and the woman were watching the turtle, a local college student heard a loud....

mouth spouting off about his religion. "God save the heathen turtle!" he yelled, handing out slips of paper to passers-by. "The wicked shall go to hell!" The college student did what any civic-minded young lad would do...

... and jumped up to bean the bible thumper with a rock. The kops all laughed as the thumper collapsed beneath a shower of ...

acorns falling from a near by tree. The bible thumber turned out to be an imposter - he was really a big green smelly..

Secular Humanist Liberal who was pretending to be a Bible Thumper so that he could.....

form a non-profit organization and thereby avoid paying taxes all the while playing the poor TV preacher

and pretending to heal the sick and cast out demons.

In a way he blamed his mother for the twisted turn his life had taken. But then really deep inside he knew his father should shoulder half the blame. Then again that was all a lie too. He had made his own choices along the way and now there was no turning back.

And his poor daughter Maria stuck taking the bus every night, late and alone, rain or snow, heat or cold. That was DEFINITELY his fault. Maybe someday he would have the courage to approach her and somehow make it up to her that he had abandoned her and her mother.

In the mean time, if he could just get a little bit more money together with this scam, just enough to...

fill up his gas tank, so that he could go visit