Sleep Tight, Don't Let The Bed Bugs Bite.......

I rushed to the travel agency to get a ticket. It was already 9:00 PM and the last bus to Mangalore was about to leave. Gramma was sick and I had to visit her. She was asking for me. I told the travel agent that I needed a seater. He phoned someone and said, " Sorry ma'am. No ladies' seat". I said, "Any seat would be fine". He phoned the same person again and said, "One sleeper at the back; i.e; the last sleeper, is available". I said, "I don't want a sleeper. Give me any seater." At that point of time, I couldn't go looking for a ladies' seat. He said, "Okay. There's one seat. Seat number 5." I felt very happy. The seat would be somewhere in front and I wouldn't feel the bumps on the road. "The yellow bus over there ma'am. Get in fast. It will leave in a minute." I hurried. The nightmare began. I was in for a shock. I could see only sleeper seats. Immediately I thought - MISCOMMUNICATION. I remember saying, "Any seat would be fine. Even a gents' seat." He had given me a sleeper. A gents' sleeper!! No way!! I couldn't sleep next to a stranger. I told the conductor, "I asked for a seater. This bus has only sleeper seats". He said, "No ma'am. There are semi-sleepers at the back". Thank God!! I thought. There were 2 rows of semi-sleepers at the back. I sat on seat number 5. It was in the last row. Soon I realized, the blood-sucking bugs fell in love with me. Bed bugs all over my body. The itchy bites started driving me crazy. Then came Mr.Seat Number 6. He looked scary. I was the only lady passenger who had taken the seater. I asked the conductor if I could sit on the other seat. He said, "Okay". But, the bed bugs wouldn't let me sit or sleep in peace. The red bumps all over my hands, neck and back increased. The intense itching was intolerable. I called my mommy and started crying. I cried and cried. I did not want to go home. It was around 10:30 in the night and I told her that I wanted to get off the bus. It was too late and she wouldn't agree. I cried more. I did not realize that the crying was loud; loud enough for everyone to turn around and look at me. But what could I do? I couldn't stop crying. At last I told the conductor, "There are bed bugs in the bus and I can't sit here". He said there weren't any bugs. "It must be the mosquitoes. Leave the windows open", he said. I said, "No" and continued crying. He said, "Wait"and disappeared. He returned with a spray. He sprayed the insecticide all over the place where I sat. Three guys were sitting in front of me. They too wanted the insecticide. For half a minute I was happy that the bed bugs were, at last, bidding farewell. Immediately, the fragrance made me realize that the conductor had sprayed a room freshener just to make me happy. The bugs hadn't left. I looked out of the window. It was eleven and the bus hadn't left the city. I was angry that the bus was so slow and happy that I still had time to get off the bus. I now called my friend and started crying. He said, "Take a cab and come back. It's safe." I could go to Mangalore the next morning. I call mommy and tell her that I'm getting off. She says, "Okay". Had she refused, I would try convincing her. But now, I don't know why, I thought I would continue my journey. May be, I was scared to go back alone. My sister and brother-in-law were already in Mangalore. Had something happened and I was stuck in the middle of the night, there wouldn't be anyone. I would be alone till morning. I cried, cried and soon fell asleep. I woke up in an hour's time and it felt like a camel ride. The roads were bad beyond description and I was sitting in the last row of the worst bus. A nine-hour camel ride I thought. I was sitting in a roller-coaster bus which went up and down, and, turned round and round. Four or five times, I felt the bus would topple. Thank you Lord for keeping me safe. The bugs, the itching and the red bumps had all disappeared by dawn. Thank you Lord, once again. The usual nine-hour journey was a twelve-hour journey this time. The journey was bad and I was feeling very tired. This time, I wanted to, but hadn't gone into the bushes to answer the call of nature. The bus stopped and I took an auto home. Once I reached, without looking right or left I headed straight to the toilet and was finally relieved. I had a shower, slept for an hour and went to visit gramma.