The Graveyard

Full of dead semi's and buses in a back lot, all are silent and aging and rusting in their final resting place. Oh, the stories they could tell us. The buses are on one side and the semi's are on another. They have been dumped for newer models. Their owners quickly forgot how dependable they were with all the miles and years they had together.

Some have not been here long, and others are very rusty. Inside some of the buses there are still signs of their use - papers on the floor, fingerprints on windows, candy wrappers on the floor, a broken cookie. a route sheet on the floor by the driver's seat. Some seats are ripped and torn, and the vinyl is cracked on the older ones from the heat and sunlight. Some no longer have motors. I sit in the driver's seat and daydream I am driving the kids again and I am transported back to my days of riding the school bus.

The over the road motor coaches are near the back and I pick a newer one to enter. Yes, it has seen many, many miles. Wonder if it did cross country or just local trips? Busted seats, overhead luggage racks - some are busted, some are missing. Bathroom door is hanging by one hinge. Most of the windows are gone. The ones that are left are cracked. There's a lot of trash.

I take a look at the semi's. Some have been here a very long time. I go to some of the newer ones. So many have been in very terrible accidents. Not much left of them. The steering wheel is bent and twisted at angles it is not designed for and the driver's seat is the same. Driver's door is gone. Even parts of the sleeper are gone.

There are maps, or parts of maps, on the floor next to dried blood. Some belongings of the driver are scattered inside. I continue my walk thru this graveyard and head to the front. I pause and look again at these vehicles, some still new enough that you think they will start up and head for the road. You can even read parts of the names of the companies/school districts on them. All so full of life at one time. Now just a memory to those who used them. Their last ride is now done. The motor is silent. The wheels no longer roll. As I leave, I go away with happier thoughts of the good life they had.

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