Emma Buday 1
Charlevoix Elementary School
5th Grade
Mrs. Maki
The Ride
Unfortunately, we had to ride the bus. Fortunately, we were going
on a field trip. But, the field trip was like 1000 hours away. Okay so
maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. It was a 1,000,000,000 hours away. No it
was actually 2. But it feels like a million when your on the bus.
Unfortunately we had to ride the old hag’s bus. It’s this creepy old lady
who has gray hair, a few warts, has a well, a tooth, and hunches over
the wheel like she’s going to bite it! Oh! I almost forgot! (Even though
it’s hard to forget!) She yells constantly either “Get on the bus and find
a seat ya slow poke!!!” Or “Sit down or I’ll bite you head off!!” Ya that’s
why I didn’t want to go on that bus. But I really didn’t want to go on a
bus at all! The stuffy air, the squeaky leather seats, the garbage coated
floor, it's just not my kind of environment. That's why someone picks
me up from school. So I don't have to ride the bus. “Class! Everybody
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line up in single file to go out to the bus!” My teacher blurted out. Only
one problem for her part, my class can NOT get in single file. But it gets
worse. “Class we will also have to line up in alphabetical order!” We all
shuffled into line. But it sucks for me when we get in alphabetical order.
Ian Jacobs sits next to me. The grossest, smelliest, weirdest boy in
school. Unfortunately, my mother had to change her last name to
Klutzieg. Ya I know, everybody tells me that I have weird last name. I've
gotten used to it. A little. My dad came from Germany. That should
explain it to you. But now you know why I have to sit next to Ian. Don't
think anybody is a girl behind me. That is Kyle Leonardo. He's the
sportiest boy in school. But he's a jerk. He calls people names and stuff.
So I don't like sit next to him either. “Kim! Come on honey your holding
up the line!” Oops I was daydreaming about the torture of the bus. Jerk
face Leon (people call him Leon) snickered to his friend behind him. He
thought I would start walking and he was looking at his friend so, I took
the chance to trip him. It was quite easy, all I did was step to the side
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and stick my foot out. I had an older brother who trips me like that so I
know all the tricks. I turned behind me where Leon was falling and
whispered, “Nobody messes with Kim.” He turned behind him and said
“Oh I'm sooo scared!” I heeled him in the foot. Then I started walking
with a smirk plain on my face.
The cold wind brushed against my face as I walked through the
double doors. It was a really windy day in northern Michigan. Then I
thought something that made me almost stop in my tracks. We were
going up to the U.P. We had to cross the bridge. “Oh god.” I muttered
under my breath. This wasn't just any bridge, it was the 5 mile
Mackinaw bridge. I have a serious problem with bridges. It might not
seem like much to you but when I was 3, I had a play bridge that was
like a foot off the ground, but I was small and I was playing barbies and I
fell. That's not all though, I still have a small scar from a barbie shoe I
landed on. So now I have this huge fear of bridges.
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The bus was 2 feet away and getting closer. The Old Hag opened
the doors of the bus and started yelling her usual, “ Find a seat ya old
slow poke!” I slid in a seat next to Ian, who was investigating some mold
on the window. The bus REEKED! I heard Leon behind me say, “I bet it's
the old hag's perfume!” That got everybody laughing, including me. A
little bit. The grumble of the engine started and I got my 1,000 year old,
1st generation i-pod out.
Before I knew it, we were almost to Mackinaw city. “Alright!
Children With a raise of hands, who has to go to the bathroom?” No
one raised their hand. “Ok, Mary let's just go straight to the bridge.”
Mary was the Old Hag's name. I was tempted to raise my hand and say,
“I have to go!” But jerk face Leon would have made lots of “funny”
jokes. So I decided to just get on with it. But maybe they would have
seen how windy it was when I got off and maybe we wouldn't have had
that disaster.
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I was taking deep breaths as we started going on the highway that
leads up to the bridge. You could hear the wind howling against the
windows. It was really loud, I couldn't even hear my own thoughts.
Then, it happened. The whole bus shook as the biggest gust of wind hit
it. “Hold on to anything you can!!!” screamed the teacher over the
noise. The bus skidded to the farthest lane. Another huge gust of wind
came from nowhere and the wheels of the bus gave in the bus was
falling off the side of the Mackinaw bridge. The bus turned over and the
world went blank.
You're probably thinking great time to faint right? Well that's what
I thought when I was up on the freezing, windy beach in front of fort
Mackinaw. I was soaking wet, and choking with Leon next to me.
“Where's the rest of the class?” I choked. “Inside. I stayed here with
you. They picked me.” “Ahhh. That explains it.” “Come on inside it's
freezing out here!” “Ok.” I said.