An old route map is spread across John’s hospital bedside table. He taps a stop near the harbour. A passenger once boarded there carrying a fern so large that John could see only a pair of shoes beneath it. The fern travelled three stops and obeyed every instruction. Its owner argued about the fare. John recalls explaining that plants travelled free, provided they did not occupy a seat. The man laughed, the queue moved, and for weeks the regulars asked whether the fern had renewed its season ticket.