It was the dead of night, and the city was asleep, miles and miles away. There were no sounds to be heard, no people to see on the outskirts. The only happenings were among three men at a bus stop, on a single bench, under a single street light. They had been here for a while now, not knowing when the bus would come. They were like tourists, unaware of their surroundings. The nothingness around them made things seem only darker. As they walked, the hope they were once filled with vanished in an instant.

“Do ya think we’ll eva get outta here?” the first man said to the other two. His grammar suited his style, for he wore mostly rags with his unkept body.

“At this rate? Not a chance..” the second man said. He was the most cultured of the three, he wore a distinguished suit, and looked quite wealthy.

The third man in the back was silent, currently engrossed in his newspaper. His face was hidden under his wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, despite how it was nighttime. Though his trenchcoat is worn, his gloves and his boots looked brand new.

“Ay, howzit back there?”

Nothing but pure silence came from them all.

“I guess he ain’t one to talk, eh?”

The second man stared at the sign outside the stop. It had routes labeled and times posted.

“It says here that we have another ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes? Ye gotta be kiddin’ me.”

“Yeah. after that, we’ll be taken to a subway station. We can go our separate ways from there.”

“There better be some’ere I can get a drink an’ forget all about this.”

“I second that.”

After some silence, they distanced themselves once again. After all, they knew nothing about each other. How could they trust one another? What if one of them was wanted? The thoughts raced as tension grew thick. The second man looked down towards his watch, and things kicked back up again.

“Hmm.”

“Eh? What?”

“The bus should have been here by now. It is three minutes late.”

“Whateva, it’s only three minutes. What’s the worst that could ‘appen?”

“It could be that it’s not coming today.”

“That won’t do! I’ve gotta get outta ‘ere now!”

“There is no point getting worked up over it. All we can do is wait.”

“I don’ care! I’m gonna start goin’ nuts if this thing don’t show!”

The first man was getting frustrated, and all his shouting made things only worse for those around him. The second man was clearly annoyed, despite how he contained himself. The third man looked up at them.

“Listen, no matter how many times you say it, it will not get us anywhere any quicker.” the

“You tryin’ to say I’m useless?” the first man said, rising from the bench.

“I am not. You are clearly misunderstanding me.”

“I know what ya said! You’re callin’ me useless!”

“If you were not as dim as you are, you would know that I am not!” the second man said, as he too had risen.

The two clashed with each sentence. The tension piled on. Back and forth, their voices boomed. But before these two could get at each other’s throats, the third man set aside his paper and stood.

“Both of you, shut up!” He shouted at them, full of anger.

The two were shocked. His voice was deep and confident, and so full of power. They were wide-eyed as they stared at him, and back at each other. And as though they were embarrassed with that they had done, they quickly apologized.

“My apologies.”

“Yeh, my bad.”

The third man sat down, calming himself down. He wasn’t satisfied with their apologies, but he knew mentioning it would lead to more conflict. But he was rather tired, and soon enough, he fell into a deep sleep.

As time flew by, their friendship was rekindled.

“Ay.” the first man whispered.

“Why are you whispering?” the second man whispered back.

“‘Cause he’s asleep over ’ere!” the first man nudged towards the third man, who was snoring with his newspaper covering his face.

But before they could discuss it any further, they saw a bright light coming towards them. It was the bus. It skid to a halt in front of them, the bus door creaking open. The two walk towards the bus, then look back at the sleeping man.

“We should probably bring him with us.”

“Aight, let’s carry ‘im up then!”

The two picked up the sleeping man, and with no trouble, they carried him up and onto the bus. They sat him down in the seat next to them. As the bus took off, the two men talked as if they were lifelong friends. And not after long the third man awoke and joined in on the conversation.

“Oh, I’m already on the bus. Did you two put me on here?”

“Yeh, ain’t that what ya wanted?”

“Haha, yeah, it was. Thanks.”

The three men parted ways as soon as they had gotten off the bus. They may not have known much about each other, but the time they spent spoke much about them. And as if they had known each other their whole lives, they said their friendly goodbyes and headed off.