It was a rainy day. He walked alone, along the waterlogged footpath, placing his wrists in his pant pockets to kill the cold. He knew had to travel a long way today, but he was unsure whether he would be doing it with comfort. The bus station was still a long way ahead, even though it fell in his range of vision at the end of the street , around the last corner.

As he entered the bus station, his eyes searched  for the bus he had to board. Unfortunately he could not find one, probably the bus he was expecting already left . He was confused for a moment and decided to approach the enquiry counter.  The man in kakhi gave him an uninviting look and said something in his native slang ,which was beyond his understanding. But he could make out there is a long way ahead for the next bus and he knew he had to find ways to cut his time in the station.

He moved to the rest room . The sound of water dripping from the crack above broke the silence in the room.  The floor was covered with e remains of the food who used the rest room before.

There were few others staring at him, probably asking a question which he could not make out. He found a position to sit and move towards the place. As he sat, he could feel cold water seeping through his pants. He remembered , He had fogotten to wipe the water clean on the seat , before he sat. But he was so tired to do it and had others important things to think about.

Hours passed by, and he could suddenly hear the roar of the engine behind him and instantly he knew his bus was approaching  the station. People started rising  from where they sat and whoever were standing were already moving out fast to catch the bus.

He moved out with the crowd and soon became the crowd. He had to move faster than the others to grab a seat in the bus as there was hours of travel left. But as soon as he caught sight of the bus door, a long breath left him. The door was blocked with people trying to push to enter the bus. He looked for another door. But the driver was using it and instantly he killed the thought.

He saw very few people entering the bus , but the rush on the door persisted. A man in a white shirt and black pants, who looked like a sales man, was mounting on the big tyre and placing his bag on a seat, ensuring his seated travel.

He watched as the salesman placed the bag on the seat and moved to the door.He looked at his wet shirt and removed it to expose his white sleeveless inner wear. He searched for another vacant seat in the bus and found one near to where the sales man had booked his.  With great effort , he climbed on the tyre and threw the shirt to book his seat.

An inner joy and a cruel satisfaction crept him as he saw the crowd trying to pull themselves up in to the bus. He thought he has done his job for the first time in his life.   He made his way in to the bus looking for the seat he booked . Sales man was already seated and he had pulled out a book to read. But his seat was gone . He looked at the salesman with a quizzled look. His eyes met the salesman’s eyes, but soon the salesman pulled his eyes and dug it deeper into the book .

He looked around in vain to find another vacant seat. As his eyes glanced through, he found the familiar color of his shirt. He made his way to the front of the bus through the resisting crowd to find the man wearing it. From the view behind , the man looked bald. As he touched  the man wearing his shirt a sense of shiver passed his hands, thinking how he should react.

Sensing the touch, the man wearing his shirt turned his head  around with a question in his eyes- “who are you ? ” .  The moment he saw a man with a white sleeveless vest, he smiled, exposing his gum with not a single teath. The man was in his 70’s and beard a tired look in his eyes.