A Brief Story in One Act in Which Plinth Describes How He Lost It Today →[More:]I put my daughter on the short bus and while they strapped her into the car seat and got her ready, I moved my truck so I could load up my son and take him to daycare. As I walked up the front walk, some guy, stopped by the bus rolled down his window and said curtly, "Do I have to stop?" I replied, "It's a school bus. It's the law." He bounced back, "What the hell is going on? Why is it taking so long?" I spat back louder, "they're loading up my daughter. Don't be a dumbass." As he formed a reply to the effect that I should have her ready (I did), the bus started to pull away, allowing me to shout, "Asshole."
In the denouement, I was shaking with adrenaline. I loaded up the boy and made it most of the way to work rehashing the incident wondering how it had so naturally escalated so quickly. Then I looked back at my son looking up at me with an expression not unlike
this, which is when I remembered that I should take him to daycare, in a totally different direction and not to work.