The Gaurdian Angel

A story in honor of a person that i met

The bus came, though late; it was the same bus that I always travelled by with my schoolmates to school. The bus was not really in a good condition, it always used to creak and groan as if we were forcing it to win a marathon. You never knew when the parts of the bus would fall down and it quite often happened that the bus got some complications enroute and need a long time to recover. But with all these also, my bus is very dear to me, without travelling in it my day is incomplete. I cherish the noise it makes because it sounds like a symphony to my ears. My name is Rahul and I am studying in Juvellin Public School in the eleventh standard and the bus I am talking about is my school bus. Coming back to the present, while getting on the bus, my attention is caught by the seat which I have been trying to ignore for the past three years.

As per my routine I get to my seat at the back of the bus because of the rule in our bus that the seniors have to seat themselves at the back and the juniors at the front. Now as I am getting seated my mind is flooded by memories which I have been trying to forget for the past three years. I don’t remember the year clearly but I must have been in the second standard at that time. The same bus used to come and pick me up and take me to school everyday but the only difference was that I used to sit in front and that the particular seat that I talked about earlier used to be occupied by a person who was the conductor of the bus as we used to call him. Conductors are incharge of buses.

 

He was a very lean, slender skinny person with a coffee coloured complexion and snow white hair. He was tall and must have been in his fifties. He was a very cheerful, patient person. He had a voice which contained weight and dignity. Whenever I used to get board the bus he used to pass me a smile which I used to return and as time passed, we became very good friends. My bus stop is at the last so he always used to come and sit besides me and talk to me in his usual dignified voice. He used to talk with me about my school, teachers, friends, what I study, etc., in return he used to tell me his experiences, give me advice and many other things. Whenever I achieved something he used to tap my shoulders and praise me. I still remember the day when I told him that I came first in my class when I was in the fifth standard. The next day he gave me a chocolate. I always saw him as my grandfather because I had lost my grandfather when I was just an infant. He was like a guardian angel for me. Our last conversation is crystal clear in my mind. I must have been in the eighth standard, when one day he came to me, looking unusually old. He was walking very slowly and looked very weak. I could see the signs of his nearing end on his face. I asked him, “Uncle! Something wrong?” He replied “Nothing! I was thinking of my family. My family does not stay here with me; they live very far away in another state. I haven’t seen my children for two years now. I call and send them letters regularly. I send all the money I earn but now I am worried because my sons don’t do any work and are always loitering around our family house. If something happens to me tomorrow who will look after them?”  He had tears in his eyes. I didn’t understand clearly but deep inside I felt that I was going to lose him.

 

He had saved me from an accident which occurred near my bus stop. While crossing the road after getting off the bus, a rash driver dashed against me and ran without any concern for the victim of his carelessness. The conductor by god’s grace turned to bid me goodbye and saw me lying on the road covered all in blood. The blood was gushing out from the back of my head like wine. He immediately picked me up and rushed me to nearby hospital, but by the time I was admitted in the hospital I had lost a lot of blood because of which I had the immediate need for blood. My blood group being AB positive (Universal Receiver) had no complications in getting blood from any blood group but the problem was that the blood bank was thirty minutes from the hospital. At this moment the conductor donated blood for me and rescued my life. 

 

A week passed, we did not talk to each other. Since the second week of our conversation he had stopped coming. A new conductor had taken his place. Several days passed, I grew suspicious, but didn’t have the courage to speak to the new conductor. One day, after summing up all my courage I asked the new conductor about my friend. I asked him in the afternoon while coming from the school. I felt a chill run through my spine. I asked him, “Do you know why the old conductor is not coming?” “Oh! Him. He died a few days ago. He had cancer. Very good man, I must say. What can we do?  We cannot rub off one’s fate.”  I felt myself falling down a never ending well. As if in a trance I went back to my seat and sat thinking about my friend.

For a few days I could not believe that he was no more; but I have become accustomed to the fact that my friend is dead and started ignoring the seat.  However, now I am reminded of him, by the seat. Though not mortally present I can still feel his warmth and cosmic presence by looking at the seat. He would always be present in my heart, as a fond memory. Now when I go to school I am reminded of my guardian angel.

Reviews

[Ahena MK]

Beautiful story... Nice to know that you care .. Wonderfully narrated