Fiction Friday - The Bunny Bus

Mr. Stetson was every bunny's favorite bus driver. He was funny and cheerful, and had a knack for turning every bus trip into an adventure.

On their way to the Rabbit Natural History Museum, Mr. Stetson quizzed the bunnies over his shoulder about what they remembered. He'd look into the rear-view mirror and loudly ask, "Who was our founding father?" and one of the funny bunnies would jump up and say, "Me!" Everyone would laugh and then a know-it-all bunny (or the teacher) would say the correct answer.

More often, he related snippets of their history inaccurately, and waited for the youngsters to correct him, amid howls of laughter. The teachers loved it, too. It was like having a teacher's aide on the field trip.

"See that rock to our left? That's where Rabbitham Lincoln rested during his historic race with Yertle the Turtle," Mr. Stetson might say.

"No!" all the bunnies would shout, and then there would be a discussion of whether the race ever took place and if so who was in the race, and who knew if that particular rock had any significance at all!

Today was different, though. Mr. Stetson was driving very carefully because the gauges in the bus were lighting up and flashing. "Is everything okay, Mr. Stetson?" asked Ms. Linwood, the teacher leading this trip. She'd noticed he stopped playing his games a while back.

"Not sure, Shelly," he answered. "We may be due for an unscheduled stop." No sooner had he said those words than bus shuddered to a stop and smoke started steaming out around the hood. "Everyone to the back!" He called, and Ms. Linwood organized the students to go, as calmly as possible, out the rear exit. 

Mr. Stetson popped the hood to let the engine cool faster, but that was a mistake. As soon as he did that, he could see flames were climbing up from the engine block so he joined the parade out the back door.

Once outside, a little bunny started thumping his hind leg nervously, crouched on the ground as he was. Then another started doing the same. Another and another. Thump-thump-thump-thump-thump... Ms. Linwood looked at all of her students in confusion, but soon saw grown up rabbits hopping toward the bus from all sides. They'd felt the thumping and came to see what was the matter!

They worked together to put out the fire and calm the young bunnies. Some of the grown-ups had brought their lunches, thinking the thumping might be a gathering, so the students had a distraction of snacks until it was clear for them to head home.

"Well students, I guess we won't get to the museum today. We have a long hop home. Everyone ready?"

It took the rest of the school day to get back, because they took rest breaks often, but in the end, everyone was just happy to be home.

It's FICTION FRIDAY!

Every Friday I write a new flash fiction piece. If you have a writing prompt you'd like to see turned into a story, just leave it in a comment.

This story was inspired by a Chinese student of mine who drew flames from the front of the bus as we read about a naughty bunny during one of our classes.