Fifteen Minutes or So
Mr. Hardy drove a bus in West Smithville. Each day he started at the big bus garage. He drove people down Main Street and up Green Street and over the Hill Street Bridge. He drove all the way to the end of the line. At the end of the line, he waited for fifteen minutes or so. Then it was time to drive back to the big bus garage.
Mr. Hardy liked to drive the bus. He liked to drive people down Main Street and up Green Street and over the Hill Street Bridge. But he didn’t like to wait at the end of the line for fifteen minutes or so. Not at all!
“There’s nothing to see at the end of the line,” he said. “Nothing but trash and dirt and weeds.”
One day, Mr. Hardy cleaned up some of the trash at the end of the line. He cleaned and cleaned for fifteen minutes or so. He cleaned up the trash the next day, too. And the next. And the next.
Then Mr. Hardy pulled up weeds at the end of the line. He pulled and pulled for fifteen minutes or so. He pulled up weeds the next day, too. And the next. And the next.
Then Mr. Hardy planted flowers at the end of the line. He planted and planted for fifteen minutes or so. He planted flowers the next day, too. And the next. And the next.
Soon the end of the line looked like a brand-new place, neat and clean, with no trash anywhere. Flowers bloomed—red and yellow and blue. What a difference Mr. Hardy had made in fifteen minutes or so!
Mr. Hardy still likes to drive the bus in West Smithville. He likes to drive people down Main Street and up Green Street and over the Hill Street Bridge.
But best of all, Mr. Hardy likes to wait at the end of the line. Sometimes he cleans up trash. Sometimes he pulls up weeds.
And sometimes he just looks at the flowers for fifteen minutes or so.
