Bus Stop

Bus Stop

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Synopsis: A crossover ficlet with an ironic “uh-oh.”

Author’s Notes: This was written as an entry in Erin M.’s February 2003 Iron Chef contest to write a brief crossover ficlet for Daria that “shouldn’t be done.” It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the major characters of the Daria show, so explanations of who is who are not needed.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Erin M. for the contest that spawned this.

“We could walk to Oakwood, you know,” said Daria, standing by the bus stop sign. “It’s only fifty-eight miles.”

“And miss out on a bus ride, sharing space with Earth’s teeming unwashed millions?” Jane sighed. “We’ll fit right in. Eh, but maybe you’ve got a point, but maybe I’ll see someone interesting to sketch, too.”

“And I’ll sit next to someone who throws up in my lap.”

“Boy, that takes me back. You almost threw up in my lap on a bus once. Remember when we were—”

“Yes, thanks, stop. There’s the bus. You owe me for this.”

“Hey, you wanted to go to Oakwood’s new art museum, too. Or did you want to go pick up guys at the laundromat?”

“Sure, right after I drink a can of drain cleaner.”

The bus pulled up to the stop in a cloud of exhaust fumes and the whining of old brakes. The doors folded open. Daria and Jane took one step forward and looked up—and froze.

Descending the steps was a teenage girl in a short red dress, carrying a black octagonal suitcase. Her black bangs framed a pair of narrow glasses on a round face. She took one step down to get off the bus, looked down at Daria and Jane—and froze.

For two seconds, no one moved or said a thing.

“Shit,” said Enid in defeat. She turned and went back up the steps. “Oakwood,” she told the driver.

Daria and Jane took a step back from the bus.

The doors closed. The bus left. Daria and Jane watched it go.

“That was close,” Jane said in relief.

“We really need to talk to the writers about our scripts,” Daria muttered. “Let’s pick up some drain cleaner and go to the laundromat.”

“We’re gone, girl,” said Jane, and, moments later, they were.

Author’s Notes II: The characters in the 2001 teen movie Ghost World, from which Enid hails, are widely supposed to have been derived in part from Daria Morgendorffer and Jane Lane. However, Daniel Clowes’s graphic novel Ghost World (on which the movie is based) appeared in 1997 after being serialized in another comic book. In short, no connection between Ghost World and Daria—but the connections between Daria and Jane, and Enid and Rebecca, are eerie. Enid in particular seems to be a combination of Daria and Jane in one body. Read the comic, watch the movie, and decide.

Original: 2/19/03, modified 06/17/06, 09/22/06, 10/23/08, 11/05/08

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