It was Halloween night, and the last bus was empty except for me and the driver. I sat at the back, watching the rain run down the windows. The bus stopped on a dark road, but nobody got on. The doors opened and closed with a heavy sound, and the bus moved on again.

At the next stop, an old woman got on. She wore a long grey coat and carried a small bag. She walked slowly down the bus and sat in front of me. The bus was quiet. I could only hear the rain and the engine.

Then the old woman turned around. “Excuse me,” she said. “Do you know what day it is today?”

“Of course,” I said. “It is Halloween.”

She smiled. “And do you believe in ghosts?”

I laughed. “No, I do not. I think ghosts are just stories.”

The old woman said nothing. She turned back and looked out of the window. A few minutes later, she stood up and rang the bell. The bus stopped, and she walked to the front. As she passed me, she looked down and said, “You should be careful tonight. Some stories are true.”

She got off the bus and disappeared into the rain.

I felt a little cold, so I moved to a seat nearer the front. The driver was an old man with grey hair. He did not speak. He just watched the road.

At the next stop, two young men got on. They were laughing and talking loudly. One of them had a bag of sweets. They sat behind me and ate the sweets, throwing the wrappers on the floor.

“Hey,” one of them said to me. “Are you going to the party in town?”

“No,” I said. “I am going home. I am tired.”

“That is a shame,” he said. “It is Halloween. You should have fun.”

I did not answer. I was not in the mood for talking.

The bus stopped again, and the two young men got off. They left their sweet wrappers on the seat. The bus was empty again.

I looked at my watch. It was nearly midnight. I was the only passenger left. The driver still did not speak. He just drove on through the dark streets.

Then I noticed something strange. The bus was not going the right way. I knew this area well. We were not on the road to my house. We were going somewhere else.

I stood up and walked to the front. “Excuse me,” I said. “Is this the right bus for Elm Street?”

The driver did not answer. He did not even turn his head.

“Excuse me,” I said again, louder this time. “I think you are going the wrong way.”

The driver slowly turned his head. His face was pale, and his eyes were dark and empty. He looked at me and smiled a cold smile. “There is no Elm Street on this bus tonight,” he said. “This bus goes to the cemetery.”

I felt my heart stop. I ran to the doors and pressed the button, but nothing happened. The doors were locked.

“Let me out!” I shouted. “Let me out now!”

The driver laughed. It was a terrible sound. “You should have listened to the old woman,” he said. “Some stories are true.”

The bus drove faster and faster. The rain was heavy now, and the windows were dark. I could not see anything outside. I banged on the doors and shouted, but nobody heard me.

Then the bus stopped. The doors opened.

I did not wait. I jumped out and ran. I ran down the dark road until I could not run any more. I looked back, but the bus was gone. There was only the rain and the empty road.

I walked home slowly. I was wet and cold and very frightened. When I opened my front door, I saw the time. It was exactly midnight.

The next morning, I read the news. There was a story about a bus driver who died many years ago on Halloween night. He was driving the last bus of the night when it crashed. He died at midnight. Every Halloween, people say, his ghost drives the last bus again.

I never take the last bus on Halloween now. And I always remember the old woman and her words: some stories are true.

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Vocabulary Notes

Passenger (noun)
Meaning: a person who travels in a bus, train, car, or plane but is not driving it.
Example: “The bus was empty except for me and the driver.” and “I was the only passenger left.”
Similar words: traveller, commuter, rider.
Note: “Passenger” is a very common word for transport. The driver is not a passenger.

Wrapper (noun)
Meaning: the paper or plastic that covers food, such as sweets, so you can throw it away before eating.
Example: “They sat behind me and ate the sweets, throwing the wrappers on the floor.” and “They left their sweet wrappers on the seat.”
Similar words: packaging, covering, packet.
Note: The verb form is “wrap” (to cover something). A “wrapper” is the thing you remove.

Cemetery (noun)
Meaning: a place where dead people are buried. It is similar to a graveyard.
Example: “This bus goes to the cemetery.”
Similar words: graveyard, burial ground, churchyard.
Note: “Cemetery” is a slightly formal word. “Graveyard” is more common in everyday speech. Be careful with the spelling: c-e-m-e-t-e-r-y.

Frightened (adjective)
Meaning: feeling afraid or scared.
Example: “I was wet and cold and very frightened.”
Similar words: scared, afraid, terrified, alarmed.
Note: “Frightened” describes how a person feels. The verb is “frighten” (to make someone afraid). “Terrified” is stronger than “frightened”.

Disappear (verb)
Meaning: to go away and not be seen again; to become impossible to see.
Example: “She got off the bus and disappeared into the rain.”
Similar words: vanish, fade away, go missing.
Note: The opposite is “appear”. The noun form is “disappearance”. “Disappear” is often used for people or things that cannot be found.

Story generated by Deepseek.

Image generated by 1min.ai

Video generated by MoneyPrinterTurbo AI.

CC Music: Drifting at 432 Hz – Unicorn Heads.

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