MUNI Moments: An Occasional Series

During one of our class discussions about where to look for writing ideas, the topic of MUNI came up. MUNI is the bus system here in San Francisco. We rely on it for class field trips. Sometimes MUNI gets you where you want to go pretty fast, sometimes it doesn't. But either way, it's ripe with writing possibilities. Below is another "MUNI Moments" story by Stanley, age 9.





The Number Nine Bus
By Stanley

One time in San Francisco I saw a man eating a pie on the number nine bus. He had a purple backpack. The man had ripped pants and band-aids all over his eyes and he can see through the little holes in the band-aids. His backpack was a mess. It was covered in band-aids too. The man’s backpack was moving. Maybe a hamster was playing with paper inside of it. Here are ten things I think the man had in his backpack:

1. band-aids, because he might get hurt
2. a gun, so he can be safe
3. tape, to tape on the band-aids that fall off
4. glue
5. a notebook, to write about his hamster in
6. a pen, to write with
7. a pencil, to write with too
8. 2 water bottles with black water in them
9. a crinkling sound
10. a silver-black sharp thing

The man took a knife out of his backpack to cut the pie. When he finished, he got up to leave and put the knife on the seat then he got out of the bus. Everyone saw the knife, but no one sat on it or picked it up.

About the Author

My name is Stanley. I am eight years old. I live with my grandma, dad, mom and brother. I like to play legos. I am good at math. Someday I want to be good at sitting still. When I grow up I want to be a policeman because I love fighting. This year I want to learn to write better. It scares me when my teacher Robyn talks about diseases. I wonder if wild animals go on trips.