The Zimbabwean Goddess and the Magic Bus

She stepped onto my magic bus at the end of her working day, a beautiful, joyful woman from Zimbabwe, carrying a cake she had brought from our local grocery store. There was a radiance about her, a warmth in her smile that seemed to come from some ancient wellspring of African sunlight.

Her destination was home in the city, but for a little while, she was a passenger in the great mystery of the everyday.

As we travelled along, she turned to me with the most innocent curiosity and asked, “Do you have hippopotamuses in Canada?”

I couldn't help but smile at such a wonderfully unexpected question.

“No hippos here,” I told her, “but we have moose, and they're just as dangerous!”

Her eyes widened in absolute astonishment. She had been thinking of going camping in the Canadian forest, imagining the great outdoors as a place of peaceful trees, fresh air, and perhaps a little adventure. Now she was discovering that our wilderness had its own enormous, antlered guardians!

Her shock was so genuine and adorable that we both laughed.

And somewhere in that laughter, I felt the quiet magic of the encounter. Here was a woman who had travelled from Zimbabwe to make a life in Canada, carrying her sweetness, her curiosity, and her dreams of exploring a new land. She was learning that every country has its own mysteries, its own creatures to respect, and its own stories to tell.

Perhaps, in the esoteric language of the universe, the cake she carried was a symbol of abundance, while her question about the hippopotamus was a reminder that wonder belongs to those who are brave enough to ask.

As I drove her toward her home in the city, I imagined the forest waiting for her: towering cedars, moss-covered paths, and a magnificent moose standing like an ancient woodland spirit among the trees.

May she one day go camping beneath the Canadian stars, armed with knowledge, laughter, and a healthy respect for the wildlife.

And may she always remember that on one ordinary day, after finishing work at the grocery store, she boarded a magic bus, asked a most delightful question, and reminded us all that the world becomes enchanted whenever we meet the unknown with an open heart.

With Love

A Mc (Just Be)