The unfinished farewell tour
On a retiring bus driver's final route, passengers submit extra request stops. Each detour is for someone who wants a last goodbye, including a person the driver has avoided for years.
01
Your protagonist
She wants to return the bus on time for its new driver's first shift and end her service without a delay report.
02
The obstacle
Passengers ask for stops the dispatcher can approve, but each detour uses the small gap before handover. One request names the person she has been avoiding.
03
The choice
She can decline that stop, take it and report the delay, or ask the new driver to join the remaining route. Each choice changes a relationship as well as the schedule.
Two ways to take it further
- Tell the story through the new driver, who keeps trying to correct the route.
- End at a stop where nobody comes; let the driver decide whether to wait.
CueShelf original writing starter. Work examples are identified separately; this premise is not a plot summary.