When the bus stopped in
Culpeper, most of the riders didn't get off. Knowing that I had another five hours until we got to
Williamsburg, I headed for the restroom and the snackbar. It was about 10 at night and the food counter was closed. I was at the mercy of the
snack machines, and they looked
puny. One bag of
Barbecued pork rinds and a column of
Fig Newtons. 14 other empty rows of little white half circles, snack tombstones.
I didn't notice her at first. She was sitting off to the side, curled up in and around a backpack. When I turned away with my waterbottle and shook my head, she reached into her bag and tossed me a box of animal crackers. The real ones with the circus wagon box and the little string handle.
You can have these, I got more.
I stuttered out a thank you and was going to offer her some...what?...water? Kleenex? I don't know. But the bus driver honked and I scooted out to the bus and left her there.
When I looked back over my shoulder she had already closed her eyes and was trying to appear asleep. Satisfied, I was thinking. Cheap Karma.