1Ray had driven the night bus for eleven years, and he knew most of his regular passengers by sight.
2One autumn, an old man began riding the whole route, from the depot to the seafront and back again.
3He always sat in the same seat, holding a folded newspaper that he never seemed to read.
4When the bus reached the final stop, the old man simply stayed in his seat and waited.
5Ray wondered about him, but the man never spoke except to say good evening and thank you.
6One freezing night in December, the bus was empty except for the two of them.
7Ray stopped at the seafront, turned off the engine, and asked the old man why he rode every night.
8The man said his wife had died in the spring, and the house was too quiet to sleep in.
9The bus was warm, he explained, and the sound of people reminded him that life was still moving.
10Ray listened, then wrote his phone number on a ticket and pressed it into the man's hand.
11He told him to call whenever the nights felt too long, and the old man nodded slowly.
12The following week, the old man got off at the seafront, because Ray's wife was expecting them both for dinner.