"the bus is at orth's"

school mornings were a bit frantic when i was a kid. we lived in the country, five miles outside of conway springs, and the school bus came to get us each day. i have three siblings, so the bathroom was full from at least 6:30am onward, and we fought each other for time standing over the heat vents on cold winter mornings. no matter what time we got up, we inevitably ran late.

rather than waste precious moments waiting at the end of the driveway, we took turns standing by the kitchen window, watching for the school bus. we even moved our toothbrushes and toothpaste down from the upstairs bathroom so we could brush at the kitchen sink while keeping watch. when the person on duty could see the bus through the trees, a quarter mile away at our neighbour's house, he or she yelled out to the others. it was always the same alert, screamed at top volume so the rest could hear it no matter where we were in the house: "the bus is at orth's!" this alert would trigger a response of bookbag grabbing, last-minute search for hats and mittens, and a race to the end of the drive. we had the timing down so that we usually just made it just before the bus rounded the bend.