Jim was waiting at the bus stop for the number 105. He was going to visit his sister in the hospital, even though he was only twelve years old and had never rode a bus alone before. He had to go alone because he had no-one to go with him. His father had left many years ago, and his mother had died five years ago from cancer. His sister looked after him, but she too now had cancer. The doctors had said she didn’t have much more time to live. They had called him and told him to come to the hospital as soon as he could.

Jim had been waiting at the bus stop for what seemed like an eternity when he saw the man in the bright orange suit. The man’s suit was getting wet through from the rain, though he didn’t seem to mind at all: he was smiling to himself. As this strange man approached, Jim held his breath, hoping the man would pass him by. But to Jim’s horror, the man stopped right in front of Jim.

“Why do you they call it a bus stop?” asked the man, smiling.

“Sorry?” asked Jim quickly, his voice squeaking a little.

“I said, why do they call it a bus stop? Is because the buses stop here or because the people do?”

“I don’t know,” said Jim, staring at his feet.

“Or is it because the rain stops here? Or even time itself?” asked the man. Jim shifted uncomfortably.

“Back in my day, we didn’t have bus stops,” the man continued, not noticing Jim’s discomfort. “We didn’t need them.

We didn’t have buses. They hadn’t been invented. Where do you suppose the word ‘bus’ came from? What did the word mean before buses were invented?”

Buses hadn’t been invented? How old was this man? He didn’t look that old.

“Your sister’s in hospital, isn’t she?” asked the man.

Jim froze. “Y-y-yes,” he stuttered. How did he know that?

“I bet that she’ll be just fine,” said the man, and winked. “Tell her to get soon, from me”. With that, he walked away, to Jim’s relief.

Jim noticed that the rain had stopped. The bus came a couple of minutes later, and Jim almost dropped his change because his hands were trembling. When he arrived at the hospital, he had tears in his eyes, and wasn’t sure why. He went to his sister’s room but she wasn’t there. He asked a nurse, and she led him to a room where doctors surrounded his sister, doing various tests. They told him that the cancer had completely gone, though no-one knew where or how. It was miracle. Jim hugged his sister tightly and silently thanked the strange man in the orange suit.