Whereupon Our Heroine Should Have Taken a Bike To Work

A coup! An empty bus, which she gratefully entered. She never got a seat in the morning. Ever.

To sit, perchance to read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix without having to turn the pages with her elbow.

She sat.

The bus stopped. The lights went out. The bus restarted. 15 feet later, Stopped. Started. Another 15 feet. Stopped. Started. 10 Feet. Stopped. Started. 5 feet. Stopped. She decided to get off.

The bus driver couldn't get the doors open. The passengers (there were 7) were irate.

"Let us off. We'll take another bus!" one screamed.

"The doors won't open with the power off," the bus driver yelled back.

Our heroine couldn't believe her misfortune. Only 3 minutes earlier, she couldn't believe her good fortune.

She felt cheated.

She sat for 10 minutes. Finally, the doors opened. She ran off, to catch another bus.

The bus came. It smirked at her, in the way only buses can -- and our heroine jumped on, wedged herself in the aisle, and started reading Harry Potter -- now also wedged, in the crook of her elbow.