Children Short Story – Cheater in a Bus
Photo credit: Alvimann from morguefile.com
Once Swapnil got up in a bus to return to his home. He was well standing when the conductor proceeded to him and asked for the fare. He paid the fare and after taking the ticket, he saw the conductor asked for the fare to the person sitting on the seat in front of him. To that to everyone’s surprise the man told,
“I have paid you the fare much before, but that time you were about to give me the ticket when you needed to go towards the door. You went and have forgotten to give me the ticket at all after that. From then I had been waiting for you to give me the ticket or looking for you to ask for the same from you, but was unable to do the same.”
To this the conductor started telling how he has one helper at the door and he never ever needs to go to the door, and that the man is mistaken with some other bus incident and have not paid the fare. The conductor also told that even if he needed to go to the door, he never ever keeps ticket or return pending, as he has no hurry as again he has a helper. He has this practice from long ago. However all in vain, as the man was not at all interested to agree.
At last the conductor was about to leave the hope, when Swapnil felt bad looking at the conductor’s face. After all, they are so poor and this is their only earning and earning in good manner and not by stealing or cheating. So they also are not expected to be cheated. But just looking at the face of the man sitting in front of him, Swapnil immediately remembered another similar incident, the other day, when that man got up in a same bus from same stop with Swapnil, and got down earlier than Swapnil, without paying the fare at all. The man’s face was quite unusual and strange for which Swapnil was keeping a thorough watch over that man and thus came to know this. However the conductor never verified that day and so the man also could escape. He knew the conductor was telling the truth.
Immediately a trick clicked Swapnil’s mind. He slowly put his hand in his pocket and drew a ticket of the previous bus he availed and slowly put the same half way inside the pocket of the trouser of the man sitting in front of him, escaping the man’s notice.
Then started telling as the conductor was about to leave, “Hey what’s this?”
Slowly then drawing out the ticket he had put continued, “Sir, when you have have the ticket, why are you denying? Hope you might have forgotten.”
To this the man smelling of an opportunity quickly grabbed and said, “O yes, now I remember, you later gave me the ticket. I was totally confused with my previous journey. You told correct. O yes this is the ticket..see of 9 rupees.”
Then what all was done by the conductor and Swapnil was just the viewer.
The conductor told, “O sir so every bus conductor forgets to give the ticket and to you only. Good show me the ticket. This is not at all this bus’ ticket. You have similarly forgotten that you have not paid the fare for this bus. So now pay it.”
Still the man started telling, “O no then you only didn’t give me the ticket. See I have it for the previous bus.”
Conductor now with a more angry voice, “Sir, the place you would go, the fare for you would be 7 rupees. Still seeing 9 rupees ticket, you tell its your this bus ticket. Means you have not paid also the fare in actual, else you would have well remembered the fare. Why this time you never pay the fare for any bus. Some people are like this. If your pocket is searched, noone would find any ticket.”
Man: “Then what is this?”
Conductor, ” This is the one, this man kept in your pocket,” pointing at Swapnil.
Man: “I don’t archive them. I throw away once my journey ends.”
Conductor, “Then how come you were telling this was still in your pocket.”
Man: “I might have forgotten this time.”
Conductor: “That is most important..You are a great forgetful person. You have short term memory loss I guess. So you should either not go out of your house, or you should do whatever you are told to once you come out of your house by anyone, as you don’t remember. So for that you are cheated or not you have to take care. So now give the fare.”
Man: “You might be correct. I might not have paid the fare. You could have asked for this more calmly…”
He paid the fare and got down immediately though his stop was far away and was never seen in that route.
__END__
