We were a very motley crowd of people who took the bus every day that summer 33 years ago. During the early morning ride from the suburb， we sat drowsily with our collars up to our ears， a cheerless and taciturn bunch.

One of the passengers was a small grey man who took the bus to the centre for senior citizens every morning. He walked with a stoop and a sad look on his face when he， with some difficulty， boarded the bus and sat down alone behind the driver. No one ever paid very much attention to him.

Then one July morning he said good morning to the driver and smiled short-sightedly down through the bus before he sat down. The driver nodded guardedly. The rest of us were silent.

The next day， the old man boarded the bus energetically， smiled and said in a loud voice，“And a very good morning to you all！” Some of us looked up， amazed， and murmured “Good morning” in reply.

The following weeks we were more alert. Our friend was now dressed in a nice old suit and a wide out-of-date tie. The thin hair had been carefully combed. He said good morning to us every day and we gradually began to nod and talk to each other.

One morning he had a bunch of wild flowers in his hand. The driver turned around smilingly and asked： “Have you got yourself a girlfriend， Charlie？”We never got to know if his name really was “Charlie”， but he nodded shyly and said yes.

The other passengers whistled and clapped at him. Charlie bowed and waved the flowers before he sat down on his seat.

Every morning after that Charlie always brought a flower. Some of the regular passengers began bringing him flowers for his bouquet， gently nudged him and said shyly： “Here.” Everyone smiled. The men started to jest about it， talk to each other， and share the newspaper.

The summer went by， and autumn was closing in， when one morning Charlie wasnt waiting at his usual stop. When he wasnt there the next day and the day after that， we started wondering if he was sick or — hopefully — on holiday somewhere.

When we came nearer to the centre for senior citizens， one of the passengers asked the driver to wait. We all held our breaths when she went to the door.

Yes， the staff said， they knew who we were talking about. The elderly gentleman was fine， but he hadnt been coming to the centre that week. One of his very close friends had died at the weekend. They expected him back on Monday. How silent we were the rest of the way to work.

The next Monday Charlie was waiting at the stop， stooping a bit more， a little bit more grey， and without a tie. He seemed to have shrinked again. Inside the bus was a silence akin to that in a church. Even though no one had talked about it， all those of us， who he had made such an impression on that summer， sat with our eyes filled with tears and a bunch of wild flowers in our hands.

33年前的那個夏季，每天我們混跡在各色人中等待公車的到來。一大清早我們就從郊區(qū)開始坐車，我們把衣領(lǐng)高豎到耳朵上，懶洋洋地坐在那，一群沉悶的、沒有言語的人。

其中的一個乘客是個無名小卒，他每天乘車前往老年中心。他行走的時候駝著背，表情悲傷。當(dāng)他艱難地上了公車，獨自坐到駕駛員身后的座位上時，很少有人過多地注意到他。

然而七月的一個早晨，他向駕駛員問好并且在他坐下來之前微笑著環(huán)視了一下公車里的乘客。司機謹慎地點點頭，我們依然沉默地坐著，沒有反應(yīng)。

第二天，那個老人精力充沛地上了公車，微笑著大聲說：“各位早上好啊！”一些人慢慢地抬起頭覺得很奇怪，有些人嘀咕著小聲回應(yīng)著：“早上好！”

接下來的幾周我們更震驚了。我們的朋友現(xiàn)在穿著一件體面的舊外套，打著一個過時的寬領(lǐng)帶。稀疏的頭發(fā)也是精心梳理過的。他每天向我們問好，我們也逐漸地互相點頭致意并交談起來了。

一天早晨他手里拿著一束野花。司機轉(zhuǎn)過頭來笑著問道：“查理，你有女朋友了嗎？”我們從來都不知道他的真名是不是叫查理，但是他害羞地點點頭說：“是的?！?/p>

其他的乘客都興奮地吹著口哨，拍打著他。查理鞠躬以示感謝，他揮舞著鮮花坐到了他的位子上。

從那天早晨以后，查理總是帶著一束花。常乘這趟車的一些人也開始帶些花給這位老人，讓他的花束更艷麗，他們紳士地推著老人，羞澀地說：“給你?！泵總€人都面帶笑容。人們開始拿這事開玩笑，互相嘮叨著并分享自己的報紙。

夏去秋來，當(dāng)有一天清晨查理沒有在他通常的站點等候。當(dāng)?shù)诙旌鸵院蟮娜兆永锊槔矶紱]有出現(xiàn)的時候，我們禁不住去想：他是不是病了或者我們更希望他在某個地方度假呢。

當(dāng)我們來到老年中心附近的時候，一個乘客讓司機停下來等一下。當(dāng)她走向門口的時候我們都摒住了呼吸。

老年中心的職員告訴我們說知道我們說的人是誰。那個老紳士身體還好，但那周他一直沒有來過。他的一個很親密的朋友在周末的時候去世了。他們期待著他周一會來。接下來的路上我們都非常的安靜。

下周一的時候，查理等候在站點上，背看上去更加駝了，臉色灰暗，也沒有戴領(lǐng)帶。他看上去一下子又縮小回去了。公車上一下子跟教堂似的靜悄悄的。我們盡管沒有人談?wù)撍?，那個夏天他給我們的記憶卻揮之不去。我們手拿鮮花，眼含淚水坐在公車上。

（龔向陽 供稿）