'The Vision'

"What a dream that had been," Jack thought while driving to the bus station. Jack just had a crazy dream –or nightmare- fifteen minutes ago. He woke up from the nightmare dripping sweat and having the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach that something bad was going to happen.

Jack was worried and knew that he had to stop his dream from really happening. He had premonitions before, and they usually always came true. But this dream couldn't possibly happen?

He pulled into the bus stations main entrance and parked his car right in front of the building. He knew the matter at hand was urgent so he ran in the station without even checking if his car was parked crooked or not. Since Jack had worked at the bus station for five years, he knew exactly where to find his boss's office. He looked at the name on the office door window, which read: Jim Adams.

He charged through the door without knocking. Jim jumped in surprise and spilled some hot coffee onto his professional looking shirt. Jim frowned at Jake. "Look what you made me do."

"Sorry about that-"

"And what the heck do you need to say to me so badly that you couldn't wait?"

Jake replied hastily, "Bus #29, Jim."

Jim looked puzzled. "Bus #29? What about it?"

Jake began, "It's kind of hard to explain, but it's just that I had a dream where Bus #29 goes on its route over the bridge and…"

Jake stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. "Well, come on boy, finish."

"The bridge that Bus #29 is supposed to go over collapses and the bus falls down killing all the passengers."

Jim looked at him seriously for a few seconds before bursting out with laughter. "So let me get this straight. You had a dream where the bus falls and kills everyone. Now what did you think would make me believe that?"

"It has to be a premonition, Jim."

Jim responded, "The bus leaves in two minutes and there's not a missing seat because Christmas is in two days. I couldn't possibly make everybody get-"

Jake interrupted quickly and said, "Did you just say two minutes?"

"Yes, I did." Jake didn't here him though because he was already out the door and running for the parking road where the buses exit. "Hey, wait!"

Jim ran after Jake and caught up to him just as Bus #29 came out of its loading station. Jake darted across the snow the front of the bus and waved his arms up and down frantically. The bus came to a halt and Ian, the bus driver, got out to see what the problem was.

Ian inquired Jake, "Why'd you run in front of my bus?"

"You can't take this bus on its route," Jake told him. "I had this dream where the bridge collapses and kills everybody on the bus."

Ian's face showed a glimmer of bewilderment, but the look left just as fast as it had came. Jim looked at Ian critically and said, "You know we can't stop this bus. There are too many people that would be disappointed. Don't believe him, it's just a silly dream."

Ian took a couple seconds to think and then decided what he would do. "Jim, I can't drive this bus."

Jim scowled. "Why not."

"I think," said Ian, "that Jake is right."

Jim gazed at Ian angrily until a bus driver named Lara came out of the building. "Jim, you might want to come hear this."

"Okay," Jim yelled back. "You guys don't move. I'll be back in a minute to handle this whole situation out."

Jim walked briskly back inside the building to hear whatever it was that they wanted him to hear. Ian stepped back on the bus to talk to the passengers, leaving Jake to ponder about what had just happened.

If this bridge doesn't really collapse, I'll probably lose my job. Then Jake considered that maybe he shouldn't have done anything at all. But what if it really does collapse and I saved them all.

Jake stopped putting himself down and hoped that he was doing the right thing. It had been three minutes already and Jim still wasn't back outside. Soon enough though, Jim came walking back outside the front door and glanced at Jake with a mixed appearance of astonishment and fear.

Jim called for Ian to get outside. Jake and Ian waited anxiously for Jim to say something. Jim said, "I don't know how to put this but… the bridge on Tree Street just collapsed a minute ago." "It's the same bridge that this bus," he pointed to Bus #29, "was scheduled to cross over that same minute ago when the bridge fell."

"So, I was-"

"Yes, Jake, you were right. All these people were saved thanks to you," Jim said sternly.

Ian said, "Well, I'll tell all the people on the bus what just occurred. "I'm sure some of them will want to get off the bus and use some other sort of transportation."

Jim told Jake, "I guess I will have to start believing everything you say," and walked back inside. Jake went to a nearby bench and sat down. Ian was right; some passengers did get off the bus.

Jake caught what one old lady was saying angrily in mid-sentence, "-this bus almost got me killed! Where's the nearest airport, I'm taking an airplane!" She went inside and called for a taxi to come pick her up. When the taxi driver got there, she told him not to bother to drive on Tree Street because of the bridge.

Ian got the lady settled down before she went in the taxi, went to answer some questions the passengers had, and turned the bus off. I'm glad I had that premonition, if not, all of the people on the bus would've died.

Jake walked over and asked Ian something that had been on his mind. "You had no possible way to tell if I was telling the truth or not. So why did you believe me?"

"I was feeling bad about leaving too."

"Why?"

"You probably won't believe me but…"

Jake was sure that he would believe him, but didn't know what Ian thought he would believe. He was amazed by what Ian told him.

"I believed you because I had that exact same dream."

Is this story True or False. Fact or Fiction. You decide. Go to the chapter titled: Fact or Fiction Answers to find out, which stories are fact, and which are fiction.