Day Eighteen in England - The Bus driver who got up on the wrong side of the bed.

Ello mum,

This morning, Tony got us up early, yet again, because today, he sent us off on a bus to Brighton! I was really excited, but because of another rough night, I slept nearly all the way on the bus (it took an hour and a half to get there.) Upon our arrival, the first thing I saw an H&M at the entrance of the mall. My desire was to head straight there, but my growling stomach staged a coup. Alix and I found a table and chairs conveniently across the street and we ate the sandwiches made for us. Finally, I fulfilled my desire and immersed myself in the store. We walked around some more inside the mall, and because we were there so early, we had all day. It was so much fun. We tried on lots of clothes and I bought a few things. At around 4:50, feet hurting and wanting to go home, we tried to catch the bus, but didn’t know where the stop was. All we knew was that the bus we wanted came every hour on the hour. We had ten minutes. Frazzled, confused, and desperate, we looked around for a bus stop. When we found one, we waited for about twenty minutes and decided we had missed it. We found a nearby coffee shop and waited for the next bus. At around 5:40, we went out to wait again. A little bit before six, down the street, I watched as our bus drove out from an intersection. I grabbed Alix by her purse strap and ran like crazy. We caught up to it at another bus stop where it stopped to let off passengers. I saw the doors close, to my horror, and I sprinted up and knocked frantically on the door. Two ladies that had gotten off the bus slightly protested on my behalf as well. Reluctantly, the bus driver opened his doors and I asked if he went to Horsham. He replied, his words coated with sarcasm, “Yea, I go to Horsham.” With that, he shut the doors in my face and drove away. The ladies that had protested before were outraged and attempted to help us, but they didn’t know where Horsham was. I felt like crying right then and there. Luckily, there was another lady who overheard our predicament and helped us find the correct bus stop we were looking for. It amazed me how people could be so different. Not but a few weeks ago, we had the bus driver sent from heaven, Steve, who was nice enough to pick us up at the wrong stop and give us directions to the store we were looking for. Now, we had the bus driver who got up on the wrong side of bed this morning, who didn’t help us at all. Anyway, with another hour of waiting, we caught the right bus and Tony picked us up from the station. We ate dinner with one of Tony’s friends named George and then went up to pack our things for we are leaving tomorrow! I’m glad to be going home, but will dearly miss the hospitality and kindness of Tony and Maggie. Well, good night mommy! I love you.

<3 always,

Your Rae of Sunshine