“Let’s see. Do you have enough change for the bus? The fare is 30 cents, you know,” he mumbled while sorting out the coins on his left hand with his right index finger. The earlier incident at the grocery store where he had to return an item for lack of money still fresh in his mind.

Having found the right combination, he tightly held the coins. He looked up to notice that no other rider joined him at the bus stop. He was on his own.

He rechecked the coins as a bus slowed down to a complete stop.

“Here we go!” he exclaimed. “My first bus ride in the new country!

As he took his first step up the bus, he quickly reminded himself to make a wish on his third step. He did that whenever he entered a new place. He couldn’t remember how the practice started, but he thought that by doing so, his wish would come true.

He smiled at the driver as he paid his fare and walked all the way to the rear of the bus. He sat with his grocery bag in the middle of the long empty stretch of seat.

His heart raced as the doors closed. A slight whiff of air through a half-opened nearby window cooled down his flushed face as the bus slowly took off.

“It’s going to be an exciting bus ride!” he tried to muffle his exhilaration.

As the bus drove by nice homes with driveways, garages and wide, neat lawns, he thought of how different it was in his home town. Suddenly, he felt homesick. Visions of family, friends, and places he left behind came to mind like spliced scenes in a movie.

A slight bump made him look up. The driver was eyeing him suspiciously on his rear view mirror. The passengers who were there when he boarded were now replaced with new ones.

“I think the bus is on its return trip. Did I take the wrong bus?” he exclaimed.

With his face now turning white, he decided to get off as soon as possible, but he wasn’t sure at what street. He leaned closer to the window to start checking the passing street signs for one that looked familiar.

One caught his eye! He immediately pulled the stop request cord!

He got off hurriedly! As he looked around to get his bearings, he noticed that the hospital was just a block away!

“Oh, no! What am I going to do now? I only have a nickel and few pennies left,” he moaned.

Downhearted, he walked, swinging his grocery bag in unison with his measured steps.

“Didn’t you say earlier that you’d only allow yourself one screw-up a day? he asked pointedly. “Well, this is the second one now,” he slowly conceded.

2.6 miles later, the sight of his landlady’s apartment across the street quickened his pace.

As soon as he opened the front door, he stopped.

“Darn it! I forgot to make a wish on my third step inside the bus!”