Early Morning School Bus Stop Scare In Milton

It was December 2003 when my four kids had a scare at their school bus stop. We lived in a mobile home at the bottom of a hill. My kids had to walk up the hill/driveway to catch the bus. Right in front of our mobile home sit our new house we were building (since then we have moved in and the mobile home moved out).

The kids went out the door at 6:50 a.m. as usual. I always stood at the door and listened to the kids talking up the driveway, since I could not see them anymore, because of the new house being in the way. I would stand there until I could hear the bus stop and pick them up.

On this particular day though, I did not. Our new little one, Hannah wanted to eat, and you do not keep a 5-month-old waiting! Right at the moment, I was supposed to listen for the kids and bus, Hannah was screaming to be fed. So instead, I sat down to feed her.

As I was feeding her, I was watching the local news on TV. I was still trying to listen for the bus to come at the same time. As I was sitting there, I heard a faint “beep”, “beep”, “beep” sound. I was wondering what was wrong with the TV. I listened a little more, the beeping was getting a little louder and closer and faster. I was thinking, “oh great, our TV is shot, WHAT IS THAT BEEPING sound!”

Just then, I could hear the bus stop at the top of the hill and pick the kids up. The beeping was gone, and I did not think another thing about it, that is until the kids came home from school.

That afternoon, when the kids came in the door from getting off the bus, the first thing Jonathan said to me was, “do I have to go to school tomorrow?” I said, of course, unless he was sick. He then asked me, does he have to ride the bus. I said, of course. He then told me he did not want to catch the bus anymore in the mornings. I was thinking, “WHAT?”

Then the girls told me what had happened, since Jonathan was truly acting terrified. Here goes:

The kids went out the door as usual, except Mom was not standing in the doorway to listen. They walked up the sidewalk and were met by our flock of ducks. The ducks were quacking loudly, as they do every morning when they see the kids leave for school. In the field next to the driveway was Sam, our dog, sniffing around. Following the kids up the hill to the road was Puff, our old family mutt.

The kids get to the top of the driveway and see, parked across the road, their great uncle’s car. He had arrived earlier that morning to go hunting way back on the farm. The kids were waiting when they heard that faint “beep”, “beep”, “beep” sound. It was very foggy that morning, so the kids could not see anything in the sky where the beeping was coming from.

The second the beeping started, the ducks stopped quacking instantly. Sam started barking wildly in the field. Puff took off across the road to the uncle’s car, circling it, pawing at it trying to get in. (Puff absolutely HATES cars. You cannot get her near one when it is time for a vet visit). For Puff to try to get in it was NOT normal.

As the kids were standing there, hearing the slow beeping sound (think of the beep you would hear if you had a metal detector and were looking for metal). The beeping was getting louder and closer. As it did, it was getting faster.

All of the kids said they wanted to run back down the hill. Jonathan was crying, begging Sarah to go with him, but they all said it was as if they were glued to the ground. They could not move. It was as if something was holding them there.

The fast beep, beep, beep was right overhead, (it was as if it had detected them like a metal detector would do).

At that very moment, a car came around the corner, followed by the bus. The kids said the beeping stopped immediately. The kids then got on the bus.

I saw their bus driver a day later at the grocery store. I asked him if he saw anything unusual the previous morning when picking the kids up. He said no, except for seeing the dog running around and around the uncle’s car like mad trying to paw her way in.

For the next 5 months, my kids would not go and wait at the top of the hill for the bus. They stayed down at the bottom on the sidewalk, and would make a mad dash up the hill when they heard the bus coming.

Something was definitely there. I heard it too, but did not realize it was outside and after my kids.