THE BLUE BUS TALES

The Blue Bus Depot in Slumbertown

a children's story
for 3 - 6 year olds
from

Rob Haywood


The Adventures of a Small Family of Buses
and the Daily Life of a Bus Depot

SLEEPY SNEEZY BUSES

Have you ever wondered where buses go to sleep ? I used to wonder that, and then, one day, I found out. They sleep in a big garage, which is called a depot, with lots of other buses.

All the buses have names. They are mostly friends with each other. But sometimes, they do squabble. Then they are a bit like Brothers and Sisters ! They always squabble, don't they.

When they go into the Garage to sleep, every bus is first given a good wash. Not all of them like it. They sometimes squabble to see who gets washed last of all, just like Brothers and Sisters at bath time.

The bus wash is like a giant shower bath. It has huge, round, very tall brushes that go round and round very fast. Lots and lots of soapy water is sprayed up, down, and sideways, all over and underneath every bus. The whirring, whooshing noise is very loud.

The Bus Wash

The big buses have an upstairs, and get soaking wet in the bus wash. But they don't mind. They like to look sparkling clean and spanking new.

Some of the little buses get too wet. AND the brushes are much too rough. AND the brushes tickle them, so that they laugh. Then, the water gets absolutely everywhere !

Eventually, all the buses have their wash. Then it's time to go to sleep. They all stand very close together in long rows. They all say goodnight to each other, upstairs and down; out go all the lights, and it is very quiet.

But, sometimes, if you listen very carefully, you will hear a bus that has caught a cold. You can tell it has a cold. Because it . . . . . . SNEEZES ! Very loud. Aaaah - shooo! And wakes all the other buses up.

"BE QUIET!" chorus the other buses. "Sorry-ee," chirrups the sneezy bus, "goodnight everyone, upstairs and down."

And so with a lot of umming and aarhrring and soft murmuring, the bus depot goes very quiet, as all the buses wait for morning and a new day's adventures.


IN THE BUS DEPOT

It is Sunday morning in the Bus Depot, and it is very quiet. Some of the buses are just waking up. They are getting ready for their new day's work.

Some buses don't do any work on Sundays. They just laze around all day, snoozing, or chatting to their friends parked all around them.

Can you think of some places that buses go to on Sundays ?

What about . . . . the park ? Or . . . . the seaside ?

Some buses take grandchildren to see their Grandmas and Grandads. And some buses take Grandmas and Grandads to see their Grandchildren !

We have a Grandad bus, that's very old and very wise, called Arthur, in some of our stories. He is the senior bus in the whole depot.

Some buses take people to football matches, and some buses take boys, big and little, fishing. Yes, I know, some girls go fishing too, and they usually catch more fish!

Now. Here are some questions that you might know the answers to:
Are Grandad buses . . . old ? Do football buses . . . bounce ?
And do fishing buses . . . . smell !? Perhaps you know.

Some buses take people on mystery trips on Sundays. Grandads and Grandmas, and some boys and girls too, go on a busride to . . . . well, they just don't know where -- it's all a mystery. No-one knows where these buses go to. The bus does not know where it is going. The passengers do not know where they are going. And the driver certainly does not know where he is going! It is all a mystery. Perhaps that is why they are called Mis-er-y Trips.

Here are some more questions for you.

If no-one knows where they are going, then how do they know where they have been ? And if they don't know where they have been, then how do they know when it is time to come back? Or even if they have got back? They might still be there, wherever there is. . . .

In our next story, Tammy, the friendly little bus with nothing upstairs, gets into all sorts of scrapes. We don't know how she manages it !


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© Robert Haywood 1996

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