Bus 22: The Search for Me

By J. Wayne Stillwell

People often judge the worth and success of a person by what they do for a living, their education level and/or how much money they earn. Some never achieve success in these terms due to lack of opportunity, ability or circumstance. A few sacrifice themselves for others and then become lost in the fog of life. It can be the loneliest of places.
This book is a short story about an ordinary man who sacrificed himself for the people he loved. He faced serious esteem issues with extraordinary humanity and profoundly affected the people around him.
His name is Elliot Mitchell. Upon realizing he had been given possibly the most challenging school bus route in the county, he considered quitting, but chose to not give up. Maybe because he saw himself in some of the children or could empathize with their isolation from the main stream school population.
Elliots Mitchells nick name on Bus 22 was Mr. T, but he is a man that cannot be defined just by his masculinity, physical strength or size. At six feet, five and one half inches tall and two-hundred and seventy pounds, his imposing stature is often what people first notice and remember. He is not however, someone you can know only with your eyes.
With the support of a few very good people, he became a hero to some of the children and more importantly, began to find himself. Bus 22 was the start of a transition that changed his life forever. Possibly you will see yourself in this story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781491845646

J. Wayne Stillwell

J. Wayne Stillwell is a native of Greensburg, Pennsyvania. After serving 34 years as a Naval Officer he completed a second career as Corporate Vice President Vice for an R&D company. He is currently an independent consultant and fiction writer. He received his B.S. in Electrical Emgineering from Purdue University, Master's degree in Physics from the Naval Post-Graduate School and completed the Executive Development Program at Carnegie Mellon University. He is a life long fan of science fiction and considers himself a 'Trekie'. He has published articles in Navy journals and authored his first science fiction book in 2003. He enjoys golf, writing and science fiction. He and his spouse of 46 years have two sons, John and Matthew, and four grandchildren.

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© 2013 J. Wayne Stillwell. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/07/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-4565-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-4563-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-4564-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013923182

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

Dedication

Disclaimer

Chapter 1.  Author’s Preface

Chapter 2.  Alone In A Crowd

Chapter 3.  The Mechanic

Chapter 4.  The Abyss

Chapter 5.  Bus 22

Chapter 6.  Transitions

Chapter 7.  Epiphanies

Chapter 8.  The Song In My Head

Epilogue

About The Author

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to the memories we all have about our emotional lives, triumphs, failures and special relationships. Whether painful or wonderful, these experiences make us who we are.

I also must acknowledge the significant contributions made by Matthew and Bernadette.

DISCLAIMER

This book is a fiction inspired by the life experiences of real people. Events and characters have been contrived for the purpose of creating a complete story line and to avoid direct attribution to anyone living or dead.

In order to provide a sensible backdrop and context for the story described in the narrative, certain places and events used in the book are real.

AUTHOR’S PREFACE

All of the books and short stories I have written or will ever write focus on the human condition. The proposition in my first book, "Xetonian Trades, The Seeding", for example, is that all intelligent life, human or alien, would have the ability to reason, the need to love and be loved and have an awareness of their own mortality. Moreover, the phrase "sticks and stones will break your bones but words can never hurt you", would be just as false on an alien planet as it is on Earth.

Those of us who have been bullied, have low self-esteem, have suffered rejection or are codependent understand that words can hurt more than stones and the resulting wounds never completely heal.

Talking about life’s experiences is different than writing about them. Around a camp fire, on the back porch, or at a high school reunion the words spew out of our mouths in real time and are rarely challenged.

We often tailor our stories, softening the bad and enhancing the good.

Writing however, requires some measure of truth because the words will be there forever and will be analyzed by many people. Moreover, we don’t want to anger, insult or appear to be blaming others for our misfortunes. Especially our friends and loved ones. Writing, as opposed to conversing therefore, requires careful consideration and sensitivity to the feelings of others.

People often judge the worth and success of a person by what they do for a living, their education level and/or how much money they earn. Some never achieve success in these terms due to lack of opportunity, ability or circumstance. A few sacrifice themselves for others and then become lost in the fog of life. It can be the loneliest of journeys.

This book is a short story about ordinary people. Some faced with serious challenges in life and others with extraordinary humanity who profoundly affected the people around them. One man in particular, Elliot Mitchell, upon realizing he had been given possibly the most challenging school bus route in the county, considered quitting, but he chose to not give up. Maybe because he saw himself in some of the children or could empathize with their isolation from the main stream school population.

Elliot Mitchell’s nick name on Bus 22 was Mr. T, but he is a man that cannot be defined just by his masculinity, physical strength or size. At six feet, five and one half inches tall and two-hundred and seventy pounds, his imposing stature is often what people first notice and remember. He is not however, someone you can know only with your eyes.

He has most of the strengths and weaknesses everyone has to one degree or another, but when it comes to emotional intelligence, he has no peers. He worried about his family and others to a fault. By focusing so hard on trying to satisfy their emotional needs and material wants he sacrificed his own emotional self.

None of the children on Bus 22 had ever been selected first for anybody’s recess pickup team. With the support of a few very good people, he became a hero to some of the children and more importantly, began to find himself. Bus 22 was the start of a transition that changed his life forever. Possibly you will see yourself in this story.

Chapter One

ALONE IN A CROWD

People who routinely get their feelings hurt by others become good actors and go through life faking happiness

What does it feel like to always be the last one selected by the popular boys at recess to play in a pickup basketball game? What does it feel like to have the prettiest girl or handsomest boy at the sixth grade dance look right through you as if to disavow your right to even exist? What does it feel like to stand in shame as the class bully flicks your ears