The Bus on the Island

“We came here because Naomi is clearly not doing well and we need to do something about it,” Trevor, Naomi’s oldest brother, said to the therapist who had been working with Naomi for a year.

It had been a rough year for Naomi. She was in and out of therapists and the psych ward for the past few months. The decline in her mental status was significant and speeding up as time went on. This began around the time that Naomi’s mom had gone on a vacation with her friend, Drifter, as he was called. All the siblings were trying to figure out what was going on. Initially, they thought Naomi just couldn’t handle life or motherhood without their mom around, since she essentially has lived with their mom for the past 26 years of her life.

Ryan, Naomi’s second oldest brother, had received a call from Kelly, telling him that she couldn’t handle Naomi anymore. She had essentially gone mad and all she was saying was, “The bus on the island, the bus… How?!” Eventually, everyone in the family knew something had happened to Naomi and they did not understand when or how. That’s when the therapy started and even then, the therapist had no idea what to do because Naomi wouldn’t say anything other than, “the bus on the island.”

They started chalking it up to something happening to Naomi before their mom went on a trip, especially since their mom wasn’t answering her phone and anyone who had the means to get a hold of Drifter couldn’t. It started with four siblings trying to get help, then it moved to five, then six, until it reached all eleven of the siblings. All of them were extremely concerned for Naomi, especially since she seemed like she had been doing better in getting her life straight. She had just gotten her bachelor’s degree in English that February.

“Where do you want to begin?” asked the therapist, the one who had initially called this intervention.

“Well, what are we supposed to do?” Ryan inquired. He was particularly fond of Naomi, ever since they had started bonding more through video games over the past few years.

“Here’s the deal, Naomi has shown no improvement, and I’ve had to significantly increase her medication because she is beginning to develop violent tendencies. It’s not looking good for her, and she may have to be permanently institutionalized,” the therapist countered.

“That’s ridiculous! Your job is to figure out what is going on with her, not dope her up until she completely loses touch with reality!” Eric, the more aggressive of the brothers, shouted. Naomi was the youngest sister, who he also had been bonding with significantly since he moved to Maine. He loved her dearly and knew she needed more than pills and to be locked up. He had a feeling that if they could find out where their mom had gone, she would be able to help clear up this derangement.

The room that was supposed to be comforting was filled with tension. The therapist had no idea what to do, especially after consulting with psychologists galore. The family had even requested the renowned John Peterson to investigate Naomi’s case, but due to Naomi’s stubborn inability to communicate anything other than “the bus on the island” and the absence of the only family member who could shed light on the subject, he got nowhere. Of course, he did not entirely agree with institutionalizing Naomi but rather stressed the fact that their mom needed to be brought back so that she could shed light on the situation.

“Look, at this stage, we can’t get ahold of your mom and Naomi is greatly deteriorating. Like I said earlier, she is becoming violent, and it is getting difficult to handle or even take care of her. Either we put her in an institute or one of you must take her in and ensure that she won’t be a danger to anyone,” the therapist sighed. It was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with the family, as they all were very headstrong individuals.

“Clearly mom did something to her favorite, like sold her or something,” Karen rolled her eyes, trying to push a point she has been spouting off for so long, no one really remembered when it started.

“Oh, shut up, Karen!” Ryan went off, “No one is buying into that delusion and if they are, they need to get their heads out of their ass.”

“Guys…” John finally breaking his determined silence, “mom just texted me... She’s on her way and will be here in about five minutes.”

The relief that filled the room was extremely noticeable. Well, that is for everyone who wasn’t carrying Karen’s delusions, where the tension radiating from them was palpable. Cory, the youngest of the family, began eyeing Karen, readying himself to spring into action if she put her foot out of line when their mom arrived.

“She must have forgotten to let us know when she got back stateside, or whatever. You know how she gets with that new old lady brain,” John mused, everyone (except Karen) chuckling lightly at the humor. Their mom’s mind was in great condition, which would make the joke funnier if it wasn’t for the dire situation.

The group started to pair off with each other, speaking quietly between each other, catching up with the members they haven’t seen in a long time or barely knew due to distance and age difference. This was far from the family reunion they were looking for, but it helped ease the remaining tension, though Cory was still vigilant in his protective mindset. In fact, nearly everyone was, but without Naomi, Cory was the only who knew Karen’s habits when it came to mom. They had nearly entirely forgotten about the therapist until she cleared her throat.

“We never really finished…” she started but ended up being interrupted.

“Our mom will be here any minute, it doesn’t matter what the plans were. Everything will be sorted soon and if you can tell someone to bring Naomi actually in here for this, that would be great,” John was stern. He had no patience for what was happening in the slightest. Naomi was his favorite little sister, since they had bonded significantly in the absence of their mom when she had initially moved to Maine before Naomi followed.

At that moment, their mom walked in. Immediately there was a commotion of excitement to see her, with the addition of relief in finally being able to put this ridiculous situation to rest. Cory, ever vigilant, shimmied his way between the siblings since he was tall, but quite slim, reaching their mom before Karen could start with her accusations. He was right to do so, since Karen had nearly reached her before she started screeching.

“What did you do to Naomi?! Did you sell her to those awful people? What did you DO?!”

Their mom was calm in her response, more surprised than anything, “Karen, what are you even talking about? I just got here and all I know is that there’s something wrong with Naomi, I have no idea.”

“She’s gone psycho, mom, right after you left!” Karen continued, as the other siblings started to join Cory is his barrier, Trevor particularly making his way toward Karen. He was stern and scared her, mostly because she was much smaller than him and she knew he wasn’t afraid to intervene if she got physical. None of the sons were, honestly, but Trevor, Ryan, and Cory were the best ones to handle her, due to their patient and stern demeanors.

This was unfortunate as all the others wanted the best for Karen, and most of them truly did not understand why she was so upset with their mom all of the time. The brothers put themselves in the middle of the situation and got a handle on Karen with a few, “back off’s” and “go sit down, she just got here’s.” The best one out of the bunch was, “If you can’t be civil, you can leave and then Kelly has fair game.” The reason being, Karen hated Kelly, but Kelly had been waiting since childhood to deal with her. Kelly was terrifying and far closer to being a brother than a sister, outside of gender and rediscovering her more feminine side. That comment immediately got Karen quiet and sitting in a corner.

“Robin, it’s so nice to meet you finally. Your kids have told me a lot about you,” the therapist greeted their mom, outstretching her hand for a shake, “I’m Dr. Vallory Fairfax, Naomi’s therapist. I would love to talk more, but we need to understand what is wrong with Naomi and all of your kids say you’re the best person to ask.”

Their mom shook the therapist’s hand in kind, “Tell me what’s wrong and why I’m the best person to ask.”

“Well, since Naomi has been seeing me over the past year, she’s deteriorated, and I haven’t been able to get her to communicate with me. All she says is, ‘the bus on the island,’” the therapist said with distress and enthusiasm. Robin’s response surprised everyone in the room. She burst out laughing. Laughing so hard, in fact, she was nearly doubled over, and everyone could see her face flush and tears forming in her eyes from the mirth.

It took some time to compose herself before she said, “Are you talking about the group discussion post she had in one of her classes, where her classmates missed something?”

Everyone paused, extremely shocked at the response. At this point Naomi was wheeled into the room, seemingly entirely out of it. Her mom immediately approached her, seriousness and a hint of anger overcoming her entirety. Naomi was mentally checked out, presumably due to the mild sedative she was given because of an outburst she had had earlier. Their mom looked closely at Naomi, her jaw tensing, heartbreak filling her eyes, as she kneeled and grabbed Naomi’s hand tightly. Robin searched her face for any signs her little girl was in there, still trying to figure out what was going on.

“Let me explain in detail. A few months ago, around the end of October, Naomi had a discussion post in one of her classes. Her professor set it up as a group post, where they told a short story together, using things they had learned about the English language from the class. The first student who had continued the professor’s story prompt, mentioned the group of Marines in the story getting on a bus to ride to a dock to get on a boat. This boat was supposed to take them to an island that had magically appeared after a hurricane, which is why Marines were heading out to secure the island and make contact with possible natives… Well...” she paused, composing her thoughts as she studied Naomi with distress, “one of the students who carried on the story, entirely missed the arrival at the dock and the boat ride. Naomi did what she was supposed to, continued the story on where it was left off a few students later, but she did not leave a comment about the bus spontaneously being on the island somehow. It bothered her that the boat ride to the island was entirely missed and somehow the bus ended up on this mysterious island with no connection.”

Just then, Naomi began to flicker back to life behind her dormant eyes. She smiled slightly at first, then it turned into a huge smile for her mom.

“Thanks, mom,” Naomi mumbled, then turning to the therapist, “The Marines landed in New Zealand. How did the bus get on the island without a boat?”

Now that Naomi was finally broken of her loop, everyone slowly turned and stared at Karen.

The End

Note from the author:

This story was created based on a true event, the discussion post. The rest of the story is fiction, but I thought I would write about it, as it is something funny I had joked about with my mom. The lack of mentioning the bus spontaneously on the island is going to be something that will haunt me forever, as I did not, in fact, point out this discrepancy. As ridiculous as it sounds, it is something I will not logically rationalize, despite the fact I can come up with a way this could have been addressed in my mind. But the fact remains that this post did not contain the small detail of a boat ride that was supposed to occur is what will drive me crazy at spontaneous moments in life, even if I have a mental solution already made for it. I hope you enjoyed my story!