Bus Stop

With a new flash story at Ruthie’s this week, and Divine Interview due for release on SOL this Wednesday, I though I could talk a little about some of my other stories that have a home at Storieonline. I’m hoping over the next few week/months, I can discuss all of them. And I’ll be adding my thoughts on the stories to my website too.

So, let’s do them in the order they were posted shall we?

BUS STOP

Bus Stop was posted to SOL in November 2004, although it was originally written in something like 1998. It was the third piece I submitted to the ‘Fishtank’ (in June 2004) and it’s benefited hugely from it’s time there. At a little under two and half thousand words, it’s by no means a long story—but it’s done quite well at SOL, with a score of 9.05 (Qscore 7.19)

It’s told in 1^st person and in the story our narrator, Paddy, finds himself having to ride the bus to work everyday because his car has broken down. One afternoon, on his return jorney, the bus is full of shoppers and he has to stand. Unfortunately (or fortunately as the story turns out) for him, the person standing in front of him is a very attractive young lady with some heavy bags. As you can imagine, being forced up close to a sexy young woman has an effect on Paddy—an effect that she notices. When they eventually get off the bus at the same stop, Paddy offers to help her with her bags and she offers to help him with something else.

The story is essentially stroke. There isn’t as much plot or character development as I’d like although there is a strong sense of Brit humor running through it. It was inspired by my own travels on the bus to work back in the days when I didn’t have a car. I’d often fantasised about some of the women on the bus and wanted to explore the possiblities—what can I say, I’m a perv.

Bus Stop is one of the stories that makes up “Two Ks and No Space”, my anthology of stories available in hard copy via Lulu.com.