"The Bus Children" by Becky Gould Gibson (Reprise)

6-minute Stories

This reprise of a story from “Twists and Turns” is not exactly a spirited Christmas story, but it is holiday-”adjacent” (to borrow a wonderful phrase from Nick Sipe in his story in “Foolhardy”). It is a story about good intentions and learning about the lives of others, which is the essence of empathy, we suppose, something we can all use more of and offer more often when we can. —Happy Holidays from “6-minute Stories” podcast and the Personal Story Publishing Project.

“The Bus Children”

– She looked like an angel.

We’d meant to make the children happy.

Becky Gould Gibson has published eight collections of poetry, notably, Aphrodite’s Daughter (Texas Review Press, 2007); Need-Fire (Bright Hill Press, 2007); Heading Home (Main Street Rag, 2014); The Xanthippe Fragments (Saint Andrews Review Press, 2016); and Indelible (The Broadkill River Press, 2018). Her current focus is creative nonfiction. Two short pieces have appeared in print, one in Canary, another in Snowy Egret. Becky Gibson taught English at Guilford College until her retirement in 2008. She lives in Wilmington, NC.