She awoke with a start and realized the bus had gone over a bump. She looked around and saw she was the only one on the bus. Outside the window was the stop before her's. Had she been dreaming? She pulled the cord and waited for the bus to stop. She looked at the driver but he just mumbled "Good night" as she stepped gratefully off the bus.

She turned and watched the bus drive down the street till it disappeared in the dark. She shook herself and hurried toward her apartment. The rain had stopped but it was still wet and cold. It felt good to get into the warmth and see everything ordinary and familiar. "It was just a dream" she said aloud. "I fell asleep because I was tired and cold and the bus was warm".

She checked her voicemail but, as usual, there were no messages. No one wondering how she was. No one calling to tell her she had a job, a new job. She looked around and took a deep breath then stopped. The clock said it was 2:23 AM. She had caught the bus at 5:30 in the evening. The clock must be wrong. She looked at her watch and it said 2:23 also. She must be dreaming again. The best thing would be to go to bed and worry about it in the morning, when she really woke up. Thank goodness the next day was a Saturday and she could stay home. Maybe she was going crazy. People did when they lived alone, or so she'd read and seen on the news. All the wackos seemed to live alone.

When she woke up the sun was shining and the clock said 8:00 AM. She looked around and stretched. What a strange dream. By the time the coffee was ready and she was eating her eggs, made the way she liked them, over easy so she could mop up the yolk with toast. The joy of living alone. Jack always hated to watch her eat her eggs. Jack always hated everything she did.

"Sue Ellen" he would whine, "Sue Ellen, you can't do that. What would people say? What if someone saw you? Sue Ellen, can't you understand." What a wuss. Oh, well, he went on to be someone, but with that little ass kisser he dumped her to marry. Life could be worse, he might have stayed with her. Now all she had left of him was his name, Wallace. She really needed to change back to her married name, but she just hadn't bothered.

She was watching the news and heard the announcer say "five people who have disappeared while waiting for the bus. The police have no clues as to what happened. No bodies have shown up. They were all adults, 3 women and 2 men. Most were last seen waiting for a bus in the evening." A clerk at a convenience store was saying "Yeah, he stops in here for coffee all the time. I saw him about 6:30 night before last. He was complaining about having to wait for the bus in the cold. It's the last I saw of him. I think he works just a block away."

Sue Ellen shivered as the night before came flooding back. Was she suppose to disappear? Why didn't she? What happened during the missing hours? Did they just drive around?