A teenage boy no older than fourteen years old sat on the bus with his backpack in the seat beside him. He stared out the window at the city buildings that passed by. His staring was cut short, his eyes darting to the front as the bus came to a gradual stop. He watched as an elderly woman boarded the bus carrying shopping bags that burdened her. She moved to an open seat where a girl sat texting on her phone, her eyes flicked up to see the old woman before she moved her purse onto the seat beside her. The old woman sighed before walking further down the aisle to find another open seat by a man wearing a black suit with a red tie. The second he saw her, he narrowed his eyes and moved his right leg to where it rest on the other seat. The old woman's face gained a sad look. While all this was going on the boy looked at these people's actions with a frown on his face. He examined the old woman. She was probably in her late seventies, carrying two heavy bags that occupied both her arms, and if that wasn't enough her purse hung from her right arm taking more of her strength. The boy looked around and saw that there was only one seat left on the bus and that was in the very back. He looked straight as she began walking down the aisle and thought about it. He grabbed his bag and put it down with his legs before giving a small wave to gain her attention before pointing down at the seat. This small gesture brought a smile to the old woman's face as she walked to the boy's seat and sat down. The boy noticed that she was holding both bags not giving herself much room. He gained her attention once more and pointed at one of the bags then motioned for her to hand it to him.
"No dear, you don't have to." she said.
The boy gave her a kind smile and the woman sighed before handing him a bag.
"Thank you young man. May I ask what your name is?"
The boy processed her question, thinking how to answer. An idea popped into his mind as he put the grocery bag to his side making sure it wouldn't fall before grabbing his bag and pulling out a small notepad and pencil. He wrote something down, leaving the woman confused before showing it to her.
'My name is Abel. What's yours?'
The woman looked at him before replying, "Madeline." The woman stared at Abel before asking him, "I'm guessing you're mute?"
Abel's eyes widened before he looked down with half-lidded eyes. He nodded his head before looking at the woman to see her smiling. "Well it just so happens that I have a deaf grandson and I'm fluent in sign language."
Abel's eyes widened before a smile spread across his face. He then signed, 'That's awesome.'
Madeline smiled at him before telling him about her grandson whose name was Cameron. She told him that Cameron had a hard time making friends in school and had an even harder time communicating with his family so to make him feel less alone they all learned sign language to make him feel at home. Abel listened intently and enjoyed the company. This continued until the bus reached Madeline's stop. She got up and collected her things from Abel and bid him goodbye while he waved to her. He watched as she walked to a house where a few people stood in the front yard. One person whom Abel guessed was Cameron based off Madeline's description walked up to Madeline and gave her a warm hug. Madeline said something Cameron and they turned to the bus where Abel was seating then they waved to him, he smiled and waved back. They waved to each other as the bus drove off and Madeline's house was out of view. It soon reached Abel's stop and he got up, grabbing his bag and walking to the door that was beside the bus driver's station. Before Abel got off, the bus driver stopped him drawing his attention.
"That was a real nice thing you did back there kid, not many people would have done that, so I'm glad you did." said the bus driver. Abel stared at the driver seeing he was most likely in his early twenties before nodding his head humbly. The driver smiled as Abel got off the bus staying a little while longer to see Abel walking up a hill. The driver's eyes scanned the area to see a house that was at the top of the hill. The hill itself was large enough to be considered a mountain. He waited until Abel was out of sight before closing the doors and driving off.
