The Bus Stop

The Bus Stop is a story about a man who meets a woman at a bus stop and becomes close with her, but their relationship is strangely halted. The story appears in Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill your Bones.

According to Schwartz, the story is from a series of "vanishing hitchhiker" stories in which a ghost returns in human form. It usually is seen on a street corner late at night or during a storm and is offered a ride home in a car. But when the driver arrives at his destination, the passenger has disappeared.



The Story
Ed Cox was driving home from work in a rainstorm. While he waited for a traffic light to change, he saw a young woman standing alone at a bus stop. She had no umbrella and was soaking wet.

"Are you going toward Farmington?" he called. "Yes, I am," she said. "Would you like a ride home?" "I would," she said and she got in. "My name is Joanna Finney. Thank you for rescuing me."

"I'm Ed Cox," he said, "and you're welcome." On the way they talked and talked. She told him about her family and her job and where she had gone to school, and he told her about himself. By the time they got to her house, the rain had stopped.

"I'm glad it rained," Ed said. "Would you like to go out tomorrow after work?" "I'd love to," Joanna said. She asked him to meet her at the bus stop, since it was near her office. They had such a good time, they went out many times after that. Always they would meet at the bus stop, and off they would go. Ed liked her more each time he saw her.

But one night when they had a date to go out, Joanna did not appear. Ed waited at the bus stop for almost an hour. "Maybe something is wrong," he thought, and he drove to her house in Farmington. An older woman came to the door. "I'm Ed Cox," he said. "Maybe Joanna told you about me. I had a date with her tonight. We were supposed to meet at the bus stop near her office. But she didn't show up. Is she all right?"

The woman looked at him as if he had said something strange. "I am Joanna's mother," she said slowly. "Joanna isn't here now. But why don't you come in?" Ed pointed to a picture on the mantel. "That looks just like her," he said.

"It did, once," her mother replied. "But that picture was taken when she was your age - about twenty years ago. A few days later she was waiting in the rain at that bus stop. A car hit her, and she was killed."