Bus Ride to the zoo Tod the squishy boy chapter 5 by orangewithlegs

"I am not riding this bike there, screw it"

Tod bikes to the local zoo's bus stop, parks his bike, chains it up, and sits down to wait for the bus. At said bus stop, he sees a mother and a young daughter, who is probably about 5.

"Look, Mommy, can I go play with that weird kid?" It seems the kid mistook Tod for a kid, even though she could notice the weird aspects of him, like his dimensions, which make it obvious to adults you're not a small child (most of the time, anyway). 

"No, sweetie, that's a tiny." Tod thinks she could have just said he was a squishy, but at the same time, the 2 terms are so varying it doesn't matter, "Sorry about this, you know how kids can be." Her apology is nice too.

"It's okay, I understand, kids will just say the darndest things." Tod really doesn't care as long as the kid doesn't try anything, then he overhears them.

"Aren't tiny supposed to be super tiny, like a bee? He is way bigger"

"Tiny can be all sorts of sizes, heck, some can be as big as you and me, we call them squishies." Tod knows thats not as close to the actual condition, but whatever, at least she ain't calling him a it.

"So I can squeeze him like cousin Sam." well its both weird that she used cousin for his name, and also concerning that she said squeeze. "Well, remember what happened when you played with him"

"I ate him, and he got stuck in my tummy for a week." WAIT WHAT DID SHE SAY!!!

"Ok, honey, don't say that aloud, but yes, and remember that is was a bad thing to do to anybody"

"Yeah, mommy"

"Just leave squisheis along, okay, it's rude"

"okay"

Well, that was concerning. Tod gets nervous; it doesn't help that the mom seems to brush it off, she seemed mad, but in the same way a mom would get mad if the kid hurt her cousin.

Before he can hear more, Tod sees the bus get here, he and the mother/daughter duo get on the bus. Tod looks and sees, weirdly, basically no one, it is off season, but still it's quite popular. Anyway, the people on the bus is a trio on young adults slightly older than Tod, and an older woman, who looks to be in her 50s. 

Tod sits down in the back, and sees the mother and daughter sit in a seat in front of him. he checks for his phone, and realizes, he forgot it at home, which puts him at risk, and means he is bored. Tod knows sleeping will be a mistake, but he is bored and tired, and a 40-minute bus ride feels grueling to sit out (its faster on bikes due to shortcuts).

"Can't fall asle..."

Then Tod falls asleep, and will hopefully wake up on time, and not get messed with.