Stranger Danger Confusion

DW and Arthur were riding the bus to Grandma Thora's house when another person moved to the seat next to them. DW wanted to talk to them and tell them about their trip, their first trip alone out of the city by bus. Arthur noticed and tried to stop her by playing a game, but DW wouldn't have it. She wanted to talk to the stranger.

"Hey, hey you," DW smiled. When the person turned to her, she waved, "Hi, I'm DW. What's your name?"

The man groaned before looking around the bus and spotting an empty seat near the bathroom. He got up and moved without saying a word, leaving DW's hand hovering midair.

"Arthur, why did he do that? Why didn't he wave back? Why didn't he tell me his name?" DW begged, pulling on Arthur's sleeve.

"You don't really talk to strangers on a bus, DW, at least not until you're older. We're kids. People don't want to say the wrong thing."

"What kind of wrong thing? I know what to say. Hey, hey lady!" DW said, sitting on her knees in her seat and turning to the woman behind her, who was looking at a magazine. "Hey, do you ever talk to strangers on a bus?"

"Sometimes, but you shouldn't. You're too young," she said, looking back down to her magazine and trying to ignore DW when she asked why.

"Arthur, I don't understand. Why is everything so different for adults?" DW asked. Arthur shrugged, trying to get her to play a game again. When she wouldn't, he made her switch seats with him and look out the window. DW didn't understand; Arthur won the coin toss at the bus depot with their dad so he should've sat by the window all the way to the bus depot in Grandma Thora's hometown.

But she didn't argue. She watched the trees go by until she drifted to sleep. When she woke up, Arthur was shaking her and trying to pull her into the aisle. Sleepily, she let Arthur pull her out of the bus. The driver unlocked the compartments under the bus so they could get their duffle bag of clothes.

"Hi, kids!" Grandma Thora waved, walking up with a strange woman. She greeted another passenger in a foreign language before disappearing into the depot.

"Hi, Grandma Thora!" DW cheered, taking her hand and walking with her inside. "Who was that lady? Was she a stranger?"

"She used to be," Grandma Thora nodded. "We figured out we were waiting for the same bus, so we started talking. You get that all the time when you're traveling or waiting for someone. Isn't it fun?"

"Arthur wouldn't let me talk to strangers, and this lady on the bus said the same thing. Why can't kids talk to strangers? I want to meet cool people too," DW pouted, stomping her feet as they waited to get out the front entrance of the depot.

"Well, I agree with that idea. You're a little young to be meeting new people because you don't know if they're bad or not. Most people are good, but if they're bad, you're too little to defend yourself. That's why we tell you not to talk to strangers," Grandma Thora smiled, helping her into the backseat of her car in the parking lot and strapping her into a child safety seat.

"Arthur can talk to strangers!" DW argued.

"But I know who's good and who's bad. And sometimes you get tricked. We had a crossing guard at school like that. I thought he was mean, but he was really a nice guy. We're both too young to decide, so it's best to be quiet. People like it when kids are quiet on buses anyhow," Arthur said, putting on his seatbelt in the front seat.

"I still don't get it!" DW cried, kicking at her car seat.

"You will one day," Grandma Thora said, quickly changing the subject to what they were going to do during the week the kids were staying there.

DW still didn't understand what they meant, but on the bus ride back to Elwood City, she stayed quiet until they reached Elwood City, and even then she didn't say anything to strangers. She wanted to ask one older lady about her hat and another man about his cane, but she stayed quiet. And that made Arthur happy, even if his sister was still confused.

-End

Theme 003: Don't Talk to Strangers

A/N: This theme came from a one-shot theme list I'm doing with TheUltimateCombo. For more information, see our profiles or my latest journal entry on deviantArt, penname SS-Chrys.

I feel like this piece was a little repetitive and didn't end smoothly, but I got my point across I think. DW shouldn't talk to strangers because she's a little, what's the word...?...annoying, that's it. But there is some danger involved, and hopefully she'll avoid it in the future^^

I do not plan on doing a sequel to this one-shot.