Children Short Story – Must Pay Bus Fare
Photo credit: clarita from morguefile.com
Once what happened, Swapnil was waiting for a bus while returning home from office. After sometime he got one and he quickly boarded on that. The bus was somewhat empty and Swapnil even managed to occupy one empty seat. As he sat, he found that the person sitting beside him is known to him. He had seen him travelling many a times before. He even knew where the man would get down.
Now there’s a rule that if a bus suddenly breaks down in middle of its tour to its destination, then the conductor need to take back the ticket from each and every passenger there in the bus then at that point of time, and need to return back that amount of money it would cost the passenger to buy another ticket in a bus of same route from the point of break down to the passenger’s destination.
So a similar thing happened. The bus Swapnil was in, suddenly broke down. There was a problem with gear system. The passengers all rushed to the conductor to get back their fare. Swapnil knew its somewhat a loss to the bus owner, driver and conductor, though they would take back ticket and also retain some money barring the cost from here to each passenger’s destination. Swapnil felt pity on them. Swapnil thought they are doing fare business and so they deserve a profit rather than loss and so he decided of not asking for his money from them.
But he found the man who was sitting beside him, he knew that his journey costs him the minimum fare and funnier even, the bus broke down in the same place where he intends to go. And still he is demanding for that minimum fare telling he needs to go to a place where also the fare is minimum from where he boarded. So he is in a mind set to take back the full money and make the journey of his free.
Swapnil quickly played a trick. He caught hold of the man and started telling, “O no Sir, don’t worry. I know you. Allow me to do this favor to you since I know you at least by face and also in this particular journey. I have a relation with all the bus drivers and conductors of this route. They need not pay you back. Whichever bus comes next and would go to wherever you want to go, I would talk to them and let you board and travel free of any more fare.”
The man thought, “its good to remain unpaid than to do a free of fare ride this time and then pay again unnecessarily while returning, when my destination is this one itself.”
He quickly said “O no, thanks, I just din’t notice. This only is my destination. Actually became old no, so missed out. Its good that I noticed now or else this time I would have reached the place free of fare as you would have spoken with them for me, but while returning it would have costed me unnecessarily another same amount which together would have stood to double in my this time journey, as then you would not have been there for me to tell them again, and even if you were there that would have had been injustice!!!!”
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