Look at the sunset.

Driving kids to school is my job. Indeed, it's quite a simple job and I do enjoy it very much.

As a school bus driver, I am very aware of the responsibility and the precautions I have to take in order to bring those children safely back to their homes. I've been doing this job for almost thirty years. Some of the students that rode with my bus has become parents themselves and now I also fetch their children.

It's a long story but my wife and I never had a child. Despite of that, I never felt lonely or incomplete since those children that I drop off to school have filled that gap and they became my happiness. I've had some favorites but I was like a parent to each one of them. It brings me joy whenever I see them become successful or perform great in school. Of course, there were some silly children as well but I always made sure to lead them to the right path to become a good person someday.

Being the school bus driver of the only school in our community, most people knew me. If you even ask my name around, most will say I'm everyone's grandpa. I am liked by everyone, simply because I am good with kids and I can pretty much befriend anybody. It is why most parents have no problem seeing me spending time with their children.

You see, every Friday, the after school hour is early by an hour, and so, I had the time to spend with the kids in my bus. We use this time to play together but as a rule, no one should ever leave the bus. This is to ensure that I can pay attention to everyone and also to make sure that no one gets lost. I would bring board games, playing cards, and such, to keep the kids entertained. I'd drive up to this hill for the view where the grass is blanketed by dandelions and pine trees are towering the surroundings. It would take ten minutes to go there and another ten to go back so we always only had forty minutes for playing. The kids always wanted to stay longer but I made it clear to them that if I failed to take them back home in time, their parents might not allow us to play again together.

One day, I decided to go somewhere new. There was this abandoned playground that I found in the middle of nowhere. I found the place when I was venturing the forest to find some wild Black-eyed Susan that I use for making a medicinal tea. It was strange because I was born to this town and I've explored most of the forest in the area. There was no way I could've missed that playground. The slides and monkey bars were covered with rust and the whole place was concealed by shrubs. What's also unusual is that the playground is far from civilization. It would take a fifteen minute drive and another five minutes on foot to get there so I can't think of any logical reason of why would there be a playground on such an isolated place. Despite of that, I was really excited to show the playground to the kids.

The next morning, I loaded a few pails of paint, planks of wood, and some tools on my truck to restore the playground. It took me almost a month to fix and decorate everything. I also made a new path that leads directly to the roadway and a parking space for the bus. After a few touch up, I was finally ready to show the playground to the kids.

Friday afternoon has come and I was so excited to bring the children to our new playground. The kids were unsuspecting that we weren't driving up to the hill that we always used to play until a kid that sat in the front asked me.

"Mr. Fredric, why are we not going up to the hill? Are we not going to play again today?", Anna asked.

"Uhh no Anna, we're going to play somewhere new", I replied.

Her eyes were glittering as I said there's a new place for us to play. After roughly fifteen minutes, I parked the bus and told everybody that we're gonna play outside.

"Okay everybody listen. I am letting you guys play in this new place that I found but promise me to never get out of my sight or else we're back to playing inside the bus."

"We promise Mr. Fredric.", the children replied in unison.

The kids were thrilled since we have never played outside the bus. I tasked Joey, the biggest kid on the bus to be on the back so that he can make sure that everyone is not leaving the line. I was on the front leading the children to the playground when I noticed that the path was getting narrower.

"Are we lost Mr. Fredric?", Tim asked.

"I hope not. Don't worry Tim we're almost there.", I replied.

After roughly five minutes, we reached the playground and I was just as excited as everybody else. I ran like a child chasing an ice cream truck. Hell, it was the fastest I've seen myself run in twenty years.

Although we do have a playground in the park, the kids loved our playground more than anything else. The sight of the kids being so happy also brought indescribable joy to me. Everyone was enjoying the playground until I told them it's time to go home.

"I'm so sorry to tell you guys but we have to go home now. Don't worry there are no classes tomorrow so we can just come back here. Our meeting place will be on the central park at 10 a.m"

"Please just five more minutes Mr. Fredric." , the children begged.

I let the kids played for a few more minutes since it was their first time to play in the playground. We were already 10 minutes late on schedule so I hurried up on our way home. I drove faster than usual so that we would all be home in time and their parents wouldn't be worried.

"Look at the sunset Mr. Fredric. It's so beautiful." , Anna exclaimed.

I turned my neck to the right and witnessed the sunset. Indeed, it was stunning. Shades of pink and magenta were complimented by the warm colors of red and orange from the setting sun.

After that, I had no recollection of what happened later that day.

The next morning, I quickly went downstairs for breakfast so I could get the bus from school and fetch the kids from our meeting place.

"Why are you in such a hurry?", my wife asked.

"I promised the kids we'll go play today in the new playground I that found."

"Oh is that so?", she replied in a worried tone.

"Uhhm yeah. I haven't asked their parents' permission yet but I'm sure it'll be fine for them."

I was about to get the bus keys only to find out it was missing from the bowl I've always put it in. It was strange since I've never misplaced the keys. I didn't have enough time to look for it so I just used the spare keys and quickly headed to the school.

I drove to the park and had all the kids aboard the bus. Everyone was so excited to go back to the playground. As soon as we reached there, the kids ran so carelessly just to play already. We played for hours and hours until it was about sunset again.

I was sitting on the bench and Anna sat beside me.

"Look at the sunset Mr. Fredric, it's so beautiful."

Upon hearing what she said, everything went silent.

The laughter of the children slowly faded. I turned my head again to Anna but she wasn't there anymore. All the kids were completely missing. I was looking everywhere but I couldn't find them. It was as if they just vanished into thin air. At that point.I was already crying, panicking.

"The crash wasn't your fault honey."

I instantly turned behind me and saw my crying wife.

"What? What crash? What do you mean?"

"According to the investigation, you were distracted which caused the school bus to rush into the cliff and roll down. All the kids died but somehow, you survived."

"The school fired you and confiscated the bus keys which is why you couldn't find them. The parents were so furious that they wanted you to be jailed. However, they soon realized that it was purely an accident."

At this point, I felt the guilt and grief rushing through myself. I couldn't process the whole ordeal.

"B-but how come I can't remember anything?", I asked.

"You've suffered from brain damage which caused your anterograde amnesia. Your brain cannot create new memories and now you're stuck in the past. Every time I tell you the truth, you'll always try to kill yourself out of guilt. It is why I refrained from telling you about the accident."

"Every single day, you come back to this playground to play with the children but they were just a figment of your imagination. Perhaps it was because of extreme guilt and frustration that your mind created a positive imagination for you."

"But the bus seemed fine. There wasn't even a single scratch.", I asked.

"In order to keep you from killing yourself, I had to make you believe that everything seemed fine. I used our life savings to buy a bus so that I could recreate the exact same moment every day."

"Why are you telling me all of this right now?"

"This is the 857th time you've visited this playground. I follow you here every single time to make sure you'll go home safely but I couldn't resist to see you in pain anymore."

"It wasn't your fault John."

I hugged my wife and we both sat on the bench.

"I'm fine now Linda. Let's go home."

We headed back to the bus and drove home. Few minutes later, I saw the cliff where the bus probably crashed.

"Look at the sunset hun, it's so beautiful."

I looked directly onto the horizon to admire the beauty of the sunset. Indeed, it was purely magnificent. Shades of pink and magenta were complimented by the warm colors of red and orange.