Barney the School Bus
Monday morning, and the village children from, were
waiting as usual at the bus stop. It was past eight o’clock,
and Barney was late! That was most unusual, he may
have been rather an old and slow single-decker bus, but
Barney was ALWAYS on time. Not this morning.
‘Look!’ shouted one little boy. All the children stared.
Gliding down the road was a brand new, double - decker
bus.
‘Come along,’ said the driver, as the bus opened its
doors. ‘Look sharp or you will be late for school.’ No
one moved. ‘What’s the matter?’ asked the driver.
‘We’re waiting for Barney and Mr Gubbins,’ chorused the children.
‘Who?’ exclaimed the driver. ‘Do they go to school?’
The children laughed. ‘Of course not! ‘Barney is our
school bus and Mr. Gubbins is his driver,’ the children replied.
‘Well, I’m afraid you won’t be seeing anymore of them’ said the driver.
‘What!’ gasped the children.
‘Bus company can’t afford to run old buses like Barney
anymore,’ explained the driver. ‘He only makes one journey a
day, to the town, and back again. It is very difficult for other
passengers when there’s only one bus every day. Now me and
my new bus can make lots of journeys and take passengers
backwards and forwards all day long’.
Poor Barney and Mr Gubbins. They were out of a job. It
would not be the same going to school without them.
Next morning, when the bus pulled up at the bus stop, the
driver was most surprised to see what he saw. Or rather, at
what he did not see!
‘That’s funny’ he said to himself. ‘No children going to
school today? I wonder what has happened?’ And, when he
arrived at school with an empty bus, the Headteacher – Miss
Lambert – was also surprised.
‘What have you done with my children? She asked.
‘Weren’t at the bus stop this morning.’
‘Surely they can’t all be ill?’
‘No…. It is me and my new bus’, said the driver. ‘The
children do not like us. My bus is not like Barney. He is
special.’
‘Yes.’ Replied Miss Lambert. ‘I rather think he is’.
‘You see,’ said the driver, ‘me and my bus can make
many more journeys a day than Barney. He’s an old
bus and can’t be doing very much at all. If only….’
‘Yes.’ Said Miss Lambert impatiently.
‘Well, if you bought Barney from the bus company,
you could run your own bus service’.
‘What a good idea! I will telephone the bus company
right away.’
And that’s exactly what Miss Lambert did. The man at the
bus company was very pleased.
‘Yes,’ Miss Lambert. ‘That is a splendid idea. Of course,
you can buy Barney’
The next morning the children were at the bus stop as
usual. They couldn’t stay away from school just because they
didn’t like the new bus and his driver. It was exactly eight
o’clock.
‘Look!’ shouted one little girl. All the children stared.
Chugging and sputtering down the road was Barney.
On the way to school, Barney and Mr Gubbins, excitedly
explained to the children how Miss Lambert had bought
Barney and was running her own bus service. The children
were absolutely delighted! They had got Barney and Mr
Gubbins back. The other passengers were happy too. They
had a brand-new double decker bus and a regular bus service.
And, of course, Barney and Mr. Gubbins were also happy
because they were working again.
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