One More Time

I don't own the Friz, the kids or the Bus. Believe me , I wish I did.

The night before Walkerville High School's senior graduation ceremony, a figure stood in the car park of the elementary school. In the semi darkness, one could see that she had astoundingly frizzy hair, and wore bizarre earrings. There was a lizard draped around her neck like some sort of bizarre scarf and the old bus which she was standing in front of sounded, for some bizarre reason, as though it was sleeping.

"It won't be long now, Liz," Ms Frizzle whispered to the lizard. "They'll be here."

Two days before she had sent a short letter to each of the eight students who had made up what turned out to be her very favourite class after all her years of teaching. It had asked them to meet her in the car park tonight, technically their last official night as kids. The night before they graduated from high school and went out into the world that seemed ten light years away from where they were now.

Almost as soon as she had spoken, a group of teenagers appeared at the entrance to the car park. On every face was a look of surprise and delight at the sight of the teacher, and of the bus, as they ran over to see it.

She knew they wouldn't let her down. They never had done before and she could see no reason why that would have changed.

The eight of them had grown up so much from the class of eight and nine year olds she remembered – for one thing, the boys were all now several inches taller than she was.

"Why did you want us to come here, Ms Frizzle?" Dorothy Ann asked, after the round of greetings had been exchanged.

"Well, as I always say, there's nothing like a blast from the past," the teacher beamed, her earrings as bright as her smile. As if reading her thoughts, the bus suddenly jerked awake and the doors opened.

The kids had cottoned on now and all of them climbed aboard the bus and into their own preferred seats from nearly ten years ago, ready to ride just one more time.

As Ms Frizzle stood at the front of the bus, she found she was slightly misty eyed at the sight of them all grown up, and that this might be their very last time on the bus. But she could see that Walkerville's loss would most definitely be the world's gain. She could see that her young charges had matured into fine young men and women and she felt slightly proud to have helped them along the way.

Sliding into the seat at the front, she yelled "Seatbelts, everyone!", more out of habit than anything else, before hitting the accelerator.

With a whoosh of the doors closing and a loud "WAHOO!" from within, the Magic School Bus zoomed off into the darkness.

I know it's not that good but R&R anyway? ;)