An Omnibus Adventure

(354 words)
The doors were about to close when a young man, probably in his late teens, rushed breathlessly onto the bus waving a gun at the driver.

“Go! Now!” he ordered as silence quickly descended on the bus - not that there were many people talking to each other, but within seconds there were thirty tweets about what was happening.

The young woman I’d noticed with the little bundle of furry fun in her handbag got up from her seat, which happened to be close to the door, and made a move towards the exit. It was doomed to failure since her path took her straight past the thug. In an instant the gun swung round and pointed at her forehead. The driver took the moment of relief to get the bus moving, but cleverly left the door open.

“Get back,” Mr Thug growled at her.

Her response was somewhat different from what was expected. Little Miss Red Sweater gently lowered her bag to the floor and just as slowly and carefully, lifted Mr Funbag with his cute red bow out. Suddenly, the dog yelped. The girl thrust the dog forward and snatched her hands back, leaving the dog in-situ, teeth clamped to Mr Thug’s nether region, all four legs dangling in the air.

“Shoot and you’ll scare him into making you a eunuch,” she said loudly and quickly at his horrified face. “Now give me the gun or I’ll tell him to start chewing.”

Eyes wide in fear and pain, fighting back tears of agony, Mr Thug obeyed.

I rushed forward from my seat halfway down the bus and took control of the gun.

“Police,” I said by way of explanation and introduction. “You can tell him to let go now, you’re going to be a good boy, aren’t you?” The boy nodded, fear and pain writ large in his still bulging eyes. “How did you train him to do that?”

“I didn’t,” she told me, wiping a dirty index finger on the boy’s shirt. “And I have no idea how to make him let go.”

I was still laughing when the uniforms arrived.