I do not own The Magic School Bus. All copyrights and trademarks belong to Scholastic, Inc., as well as any other respective owners I might have forgotten to mention.

A Normal Field Trip? I Think Not!

Although my third-grade teacher was very eccentric and a bit mysterious, Ms. Frizzle was the most intelligent, optimistic, caring, resourceful, happy-go-lucky, passionate, friendly, funny, and supportive teacher that I have ever had in the entirety of my education. I don't recall ever seeing her in a negative mood, or even show any signs of fear for that matter, especially in the face of danger. I remember the time when a deinopis spider ensnared her in its trap during a previous field trip into its web and how she had smiled and laughed as the creature was about to harm her. Although she was fortunate enough to break free before the spider had its merry way, there was no convincing me otherwise that Ms. Frizzle had a bit of a crazy streak based on her reaction. As far as I'm concerned, it would be highly unusual for a teacher of her magnitude of eccentricity to not have said crazy streak.

The Friz's level of intelligence was also something to commemorate. No question was ever left unanswered, and no answer was ever too generic. As a result, I had the impression in my then eight-year-old mind that she knew everything there was to know. In addition to being able to answer questions with ease, the fact that the Friz always seemed to know what us students were up to, even when some of us thought we were keeping her in the dark, seemed to justify my claim. Even as I watched her enter the classroom, I could tell that she was somehow already aware that my cousin was giving her introduction to my classmates.

"Oh, good morning class!" Ms. Frizzle said as she welcomed and entered the classroom with her signature smile and uplifting enthusiasm. "Have you all met Arnold's cousin, Janet?"

The unanimous annoyed response from everyone in the room could not have been more appropriate.

"Yes, Ms. Frizzle…"

To be honest, I could not decide whether to pay attention more to Janet's dumbfounded expression, or to the Friz's choice of apparel, which was responsible for the look on my cousin's face. My teacher's frizzy red hair was tied into its usual bun style, and she wore the same style of dress she usually wore. But it was the intricate patterns on her dress that made me ponder the rest of the events that day.

Experience had taught me that the designs on Ms. Frizzle's clothing (whether they magically moved or glowed) often foreshadowed what our class would be learning about during our next field trip. If her dress had saltwater fish on it, we knew we would end up exploring the ocean. If we saw lightbulbs and batteries adorning Ms. Frizzle's outfit like the lights and ornaments of a Christmas Tree, it came as no shock that we would end up moving inside an electric current. And, if she sported a jumpsuit reminiscent of the costumes used in the movie Tron, there was no question that our class would end up exploring the internal workings of our school computer. There was a costume for every science topic we covered in (and out of) class, no matter how mundane or extraordinary the subject may have been.

Today was no exception.

Ms. Frizzle sported a cobalt-blue dress with a purple collar that depicted complex designs of suns, crescent moons, stars, and planets, with matching cobalt-blue high heels that had tiny rocket-shaped pom decorations in place of the usual flower-shaped poms found on most high heel shoes. She also wore two large bejeweled earrings, one on each ear, both in the shape of the planet Saturn. But the most striking thing that the Friz sported was her headband, on which sported an entire planetarium featuring all the planets of the Solar System. Each planet dangled about half a foot from Ms. Frizzle's head on string that was suspended by tiny wooden supports. Each support was attached to her headband and reached outwards like the tentacles of an octopus, so as not to let the planets dangle right in front of her face. All of it conspired to make me think that another field trip was imminent.

Janet looked from Ms. Frizzle to me, then back to Ms. Frizzle, and then back to me before whispering something in my ear.

"My teacher doesn't dress like that." she said.

"Oh, that's nothing." I whispered back. "Sometimes the Friz looks totally outrageous."

"You don't say…"

I could tell Janet was being sarcastic. Even so, her expression told me that she was still taken aback by Ms. Frizzle's dramatic entrance, obviously different than what she was accustomed to in her class. Even so, I made no further comment as the Friz walked towards her all-too-normal looking desk in the corner. She took the Solar System off her head, placing it on top of the small stack of books she had been carrying in her arms just a moment ago and glanced back at us students with her large smile.

"Well, since we're lucky enough to have a guest today," the Friz said, "I say it's a perfect time for a field trip!"

I was right.

Predictably, the entire class erupted in cheers and fanfare. I couldn't help but manage a smile, knowing that my previous statements about Ms. Frizzle's wardrobe and their connection to our class field trips had once again been vindicated. However, my smile quickly evaporated as I turned around and saw Janet giving me a challenging smile, remembering the very reason why she was visiting my class in the first place. Obviously, she wasn't there to make any new friends.

"Hey cous, now's your chance to prove it…" she said, walking towards the Friz and the others as they made their way single-file out the door and down the hall. I gulped, swallowing my saliva as I began to contemplate what would happen in the next few minutes. Where would the Friz take us this time? Surely not into a rotten log or hundreds of feet below the ocean… We've already been to and done crazy things in those places. Then, I remembered our current topic of discussion and the designs on my teacher's dress. The gears of my mind began to turn.

"We're going to the planetarium? Hardly unusual, Arnold…" Janet pouted in the seat next to me as the bus made its way down Main Street. The Friz taking us on a normal field trip? Now that was unusual…

From the corner of my left eye, I thought I caught a glimpse of Ms. Frizzle and Liz exchanging a wink. I didn't think much of it at the time, but instead focused on the scenery outside as the bus continued down the road at a steady twenty-five miles per hour. Me and Janet were situated on the back row of the magic bus, which, contrary to popular belief, is a short bus and not a standard-sized one used for picking up and dropping off children. As small as it was, the bus was more than enough to accommodate our small class, let alone contain countless hidden switches and buttons for operations that only the Friz herself would have understood. I wonder how much weight all those controls added to the vehicle? At any amount, the controls must have been ridiculously compact for them to be out of sight.

Looking around, I got the feeling that I was not the only person on the bus that was confused. Ralphie, who was situated in the left middle seat next to Keesha, looked back towards me and we exchanged similar confused looks.

"Is it just me or is it unusual that nothing out of the ordinary has happened yet?" he asked in a sort of hushed voice.

"Yeah…" I said. "Very weird…"

For the record, Ralphie and I had always gotten along very well in Ms. Frizzle's class. In fact, him and I have remained best friends in the years following our initial meeting in the Friz's class, even to this day. For most of elementary school, him and I would often hang out at each other's houses or meet up with Tim and Carlos at the park. When we weren't playing outside, we were usually found in the basement of Ralphie's house playing pool, cards, board games or Super Nintendo on an old 1980s projection screen television (Super Mario All-Stars was usually the game of choice). It wouldn't be until middle school until Carlos and Tim joined our small "gamer club", but we still had get-togethers every so often for the remainder of our elementary years at their houses as well.

I looked around the interior of the bus to see what my other friends were doing. Wanda was to my left in the seat next to me and Janet and was staring out the window just as I had been a few moments earlier. In front of me were Carlos and D.A., with D.A. already buried in one of the books she had been carrying around in her pink book bag. The title of the book was The Grand Tour: A Traveler's Guide to the Solar System, 2nd Edition by William K. Hartmann and Ron Miller, something way above the reading level of a normal third had, undoubtedly, been reading up on the Solar System prior to today, familiarizing herself with each planet and moon. I'm still surprised she never took a job at the Walkerville Library to be the chief librarian. But even as I watched her turn to the next page, I could somehow tell through her subtle body language that she was just as puzzled as I was. Even Carlos, who usually told jokes and laughed at his own puns, was unusually quiet. Phoebe, who was situated in the very front of the bus in the right-hand seat, was also unusually still given her overall introverted personality.

The only one who seemed to not react to the bizarre level of normality was Tim, who also sat in the front row, but on the left-hand seat. Any signs of confusion he may have had were masked by the distraction of his trusty sketchbook and his assortment of pens and pencils. I could only get subtle glimpses of his sketchpad, but it looked as though he was drawing a scene with strange-looking aliens that looked as though they came straight out of Doom. Perhaps he got inspiration from it?

"You know, Arnold. You and your friend Ralphie aren't fooling me with your little conversation." Janet said out of the blue in her usual mocking tone. "You might as well give up and admit that this field trip isn't very unusual."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "I'm not trying to fool anyone."

"Oh, yeah? Well then where's all of that weird stuff that you told me about?"

"Just be patient, Janet." I said firmly. "We'll get there when we get there."

"Yeah, Janet. Besides, your cousin Arnold here isn't one for fooling around." Carlos said, turning his head around to face me and my cousin. "That's my job."

"Way to state the obvious, Carlos." D.A. said with a chuckle.

Suddenly, the bus came to a somewhat sudden stop as we pulled up in front of the looming building that was the Walkerville planetarium. Looking out the window from my vantage point, the building appeared to be unusually vacant. There were no cars in the parking lot, and the gate leading up the front entrance appeared to be locked tight with padlocks and chains. Surely, the planetarium wouldn't be closed on a Monday. Would it?

"Hm, Hm, Hmm… How odd…" Ms. Frizzle said as she saw the locked gate. "Closed today…"

Closed? On a Monday? No, that couldn't be right. Surely there had to be a mistake!

"Well, looks like we'll just have to go back to school…"

The whole class groaned in a collective Oh no! reaction. No weird sights or crazy stunts? No planetarium? No field trip? Why was Ms. Frizzle, the same teacher that took me and my class to the Arctic and the Amazon, giving up so easily? This was not the Ms. Frizzle I had since come to know. Granted, it usually scared me (at least for a little while) whenever the Friz took us to some exotic locations, but somehow it didn't nearly bother me as much as the prospect of having to go back to school and learn things the old-fashioned way. My idea of hell is to be strapped into a chair and to be forced to sit still for the rest of my life.

Well, in theory at least.

I turned to my right and saw Janet give me that signature sneer of hers. I groaned, realizing that proving myself to her was becoming a lost cause as the bus slowly started making its way back down the road.

"Wow, some field trip, Arnold…" she said mockingly. "This sort of thing would have never happened with my teacher around."

Let me take my previous comments back.

Being trapped next to my loudmouth egocentric cousin for the rest of my life and getting strapped tight to a chair is my idea of hell. Janet's bragging words, once as easily dismissible as gibberish, were now beginning to sound more corrosive and earsplitting than the sound of a manicure addict at a mathematician's convention. New feelings started bubbling in my veins. Among these, feelings of regret for opening my mouth in front of Janet about my field trips, as well as annoyance from the fact that she was now joining my class for the day were becoming all-too obvious.

And then there was anger. Most potent of all.

Sunlight glinted from my glasses as if to express the fact that she had just struck an important nerve. Was she insinuating that Ms. Frizzle was a bad teacher? I'd like to see her teacher make science as fun and exciting as Ms. Frizzle does! I would've bet lunch money over it if I could. In any case, she had no idea what she was getting herself into.

I was nearing my boiling point, to the point where I just wanted to scream in Janet's face and shut her up for the next month, though I doubted even that would have been enough to calm my nerves. Everyone else seemed to be watching me as my face started to contort into an expression of utter disgust that, to my realization, had not been seen in Ms. Frizzle's class before, at least not at this level.

"You know what? My teacher would've called ahead, because my teacher plans ahead…" Janet continued, unrelenting. "My teacher never makes mistakes. That's because my teacher is good at what she does. My teacher doesn't wear weird clothes or carry around a pet lizard. My teacher is a gazillion times better than…"

"ENOUGH!"

I had enough. Everyone in the bus, except for the Friz, gasped at my sudden outburst of rage, but at that point I just didn't care. Liz, who was now on the back of the seat, must have felt the same way and gave Janet an angry look, presumably from the lizard comment. I turned my head towards my cousin, pointing my finger at her face and cut her off from any further dialogue as I started making my verbal rounds with her. How dare she insult my favorite teacher like that!

"Nobody is better than Ms. Frizzle!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it!"

It was either now or never. Out of desperation, I searched my brain for a possible solution to Janet's challenge. Then, in a split second, I made my decision. I stood up from my seat and waved my hand desperately to get Ms. Frizzle's attention.

"STOP THE BUS!" I yelled.

Miraculously, she stepped on the brake and brought the bus to a complete, if sudden, stop. That was the hardest part of my plan. The rest would be a piece of cake. Everyone's gaze was glued on me as I started to make my way up to the front of the bus down the aisle as if they were watching a celebrity on the red carpet, but with none of sparkling glamor normally associated with Hollywood actors. With my nerves still somewhat on edge, I managed to calm myself back to normal as I approached Ms. Frizzle and she turned toward me with her unbroken smile. Time to make inquiries.

"Yes, Arnold?" she asked.

"Isn't there… you know… someplace else you can take us for a field trip?"

"You mean, another planetarium?"

"Well, sort of… but… bigger."

"Bigger?"

"You know… the… big one…"

"Oh! Bahahaha! Arnold! Why didn't I think of that?"

Think of what, exactly?

"Seat belts, everyone!" Ms. Frizzle yelled as I went back to my seat. "We're going on a real field trip!"

Whatever she meant by that, I knew it was probably going to blow Janet's mind. But what exactly did Ms. Frizzle have in mind for a 'Plan B' field trip? Then, suddenly, I knew.

"T minus five and counting…" I heard her say.

Oh… crap…

"Four… Three… Two… One… BLAST OFF!"

In the time it takes to say Ms. Frizzle had this planned all along, the interior of the bus had completely transformed to something reminiscent of a commercial air flight, but with the adornment of countless technological gadgets, monitors, and workings normally associated with space station interiors. Even the outside of the bus had transformed, now sporting wings on either side and presumably a fin on the roof. But it was the loud sound of rocket engines that made everyone excited. The sounds grew louder… and louder… and even louder before I realized that the bus was now pointed skyward. Then, in a sudden rush of adrenaline, I felt the bus shoot straight up into the sky at frightening speed, causing me and everyone else on the bus to sink back into our chairs with unimaginable force. The speed at which the bus was now travelling was indescribable. It felt like we were on the fastest roller coaster in the world… times a hundred.

My ears began popping uncontrollably as I looked over towards Janet, who was already looking back at me with complete and utter disbelief.

"What's happening?!" I heard her yell over the rockets.

Despite my own sudden panic and shock, I somehow managed a slight smile.

"A field trip…" I replied smugly. "That's what's happening."

"I take back what I said, Arnold! This field trip is highly unusual!"

"Told you, Janet!"

"Hey guys! Did anyone notice that we're now wearing space suits?!" I heard Tim yell from the front. I looked down and was surprised to see that he was right. My normal clothes had, in fact, been covered with layers hard tailor-made nylon. Everyone else seemed to notice too. Even the Friz was now sporting her own spacesuit, tailored with the same colors and designs that had adorned her dress a few moments ago.

The sounds of the rocket engines got quieter the farther up we ventured. As the air vents inside the bus turned on (presumably to equalize the interior pressure), I was able to catch the sight out Janet's window. The town of Walkerville had since been reduced to a tiny dot against the surrounding brown and green mountains and hills, which were now beginning to take on a bluish cast at our present altitude. The white clouds that hung in the sky above me earlier were now floating far below in the depths, and the sky overhead displayed a strikingly dark blue hue, a hue that was gradually fading to the deathly shade of black as our altitude kept increasing. By this point, the blasting sounds of the rocket engines had disappeared, and I was now able to see the curvature of the Earth.

Earth!

I did a double-take, not believing for a second the sight outside the now circular-shaped window. But I hadn't dreamt it. We really were above the Earth's atmosphere and looking down onto the entire planet.

"Welcome to outer space, class!" Ms. Frizzle voiced through the onboard intercom. "The only planetarium open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week! And how are all of my astronauts doing?"

Everyone on the bus laughed at the Friz's question.

"We're weightless!" D.A. shouted as she started floating out of her chair, book still in hands.

"It doesn't take a book to know that!" Ralphie replied as he started floating in my general direction.

"Come on, Arnold!" Janet ushered me. "It's not every day we get to experience weightlessness!"

"I don't know…" I said. But before I could fight her, Janet had already messed with my seat belt buckle and I was floating upside down through the bus. My cousin followed behind me, but I wasn't mad at her from unbuckling my belt. Oddly enough, I felt like thanking her, despite having spent the better part of the morning fighting with her and dealing with her usual antics.

Let me tell you, gravity is overrated! Although we were technically in a state of perpetual freefall, it was nevertheless fun to just float around and play space tag with my friends. I was, quite literally, bouncing off the walls with joy.

"We are now in orbit around our home planet, Earth!" Ms. Frizzle said through the intercom.

"Look! It's so beautiful!" I could hear Phoebe say.

I refocused my attention out the window. It was a fair statement. I've seen plenty of photographs taken by NASA astronauts both before and during my time in Ms. Frizzle's class, but none of them compare to seeing it through it through my own eyes. I could feel tears develop in my eyes as I struggled to take in the incomprehensible beauty of my home planet. For a moment, I couldn't help but wonder if this was how astronauts felt as they went to the Moon or rode on the Space Shuttle, but I decided that my reaction was no different than theirs.

I looked down, making out the outline of North America as the bus continued sailing around the planet. Apart from the unmistakable blue hue of the bordering seas and oceans and the bright icy white of the north pole, I could see patches of light and dark green that made up grassy plains of the American Midwest, the swamplands of the American south, the temperate forests of Canada, the tropical rainforests of Central America, as well as patches of light brown that made up the deserts of the American southwest. There were also gray patches at higher latitudes that made up the Canadian tundra and I could even make out the snow-capped Rockies stretching all the way from the American southwest to Alaska. White clouds were swirling around, creating jet streams, storms, and all other kinds of weather phenomena.

Using my eyes, I traced through Mexico and the isthmus of Panama and was able to spot the upper portion of South America. Sunlight glinted off the Gulf of Mexico, giving me the impression that Earth's water was somehow made of polished stone or glass. It was no wonder the Apollo astronauts coined the term blue marble to describe our home planet.

"And there's air we can breathe." Keesha said, going off Phoebe's comment. "It's not too hot and it's not too cold…"

"Well, Keesha, as our old friend Goldilocks would say," Ms. Frizzle began, "it's just right. It's the only planet that we know of that can support any kind of life, let alone intelligent life like us. Every leader, scientist, engineer, author, athlete, artist, musician, pretty much every person that lives or has lived, and every event in human history - wars, plagues, the rise and fall of civilizations, breakthroughs in science, triumphs, celebrations, holidays, sporting events, – all of it, with the exception of the Moon landings, has happened down there, on that small blue planet spinning through space we call home."

My mind began to wander after the Friz's Saganesque mini-lecture. I suddenly felt very, very small. Everything I have come to know through my life up until then has all happened on Earth, and it was likely that after this field trip the rest of my life would be spent there too. To think that this place, this blue gem in the sea of black space is just an infinitesimally tiny part of the greater Universe was simply mind-boggling.

I had left all of that behind.

"Wow…" Keesha said. "I've never thought of it that way…"

"I have no words." I heard Tim say in front of me. "This is just incredible!"

"This is just the beginning." Ms. Frizzle said. "Hold on, class! We're going over the night side!"

I felt Janet tug on my sleeve.

"You were right, cous!" she said merrily, "this field trip is amazing! My friends will be SOOO jealous! Thanks for letting me tag along!"

"If by that, you mean beg your parents to let you join my class, then you're welcome." I said.

"Oh, quit being such a Negative Nancy, Arnold!" she replied.

I stuck my tongue out at her in a mocking, slightly immature gesture that suggested my relish in seeing her world view shaken.

The bus started to increase its velocity once again and I watched as North America started to drift westward as we flew over the Atlantic Ocean. Soon after, the fuzzy border between day and night came into view, and my gaze fell towards the glimmering points of light that dotted the darkness, like glowworms on the ceiling of a cave or even the lights on a Christmas Tree. For a moment, I wasn't sure why the night side of Earth was dotted with light, but it didn't take me long to figure it out.

"Are those city lights?!" Wanda asked, amazed and bewildered.

"They sure are." Ms. Frizzle replied.

"We must be flying over Europe right now!" D.A. said. "Look!"

"Oh yeah, you're right!" Ralphie said. "I see London! And I can see France!"

"And we can see your underpants!" Carlos blurted, causing everyone including myself to laugh.

"Oh, shut up, Carlos!" Ralphie said.

"Hey! It was just a joke!"

"Now, now, class. Let's not get too carried away with crude humor." Ms. Frizzle said.

Carlos said nothing and drifted to another part of the bus. Janet had since drifted to another part of the bus to get a different view and Ralphie was now drifting to my spot by the window.

"Well, I must say Arnold, you really outdid yourself this time." he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly confused.

"Well, you saved the field trip for one. And two, you picked the right day to bring your cousin, even though she seems a bit obnoxious. I just wish Carlos would stop making jokes every time I say something."

"Well, to be fair, Ralphie, you did sort of walk into that one."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Oh, well. Nothing for it."

"He means well." I said. "Unlike some people I know…"

"Like your cousin?" Ralphie asked.

"I couldn't tell you for sure." I replied, remembering how happy she now was. "True, she may irritate me, but I'd like to think that she doesn't mean to be obnoxious to other people."

I abruptly changed the subject.

"Somehow, it doesn't feel like I saved the field trip." I said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, the Friz usually doesn't try to make field trips normal. Not only that, but after we discovered the planetarium was closed, she didn't even try to perform any magic to make the trip exciting like she usually does. Don't you think that's a little weird?"

"Well, now that you mention it, it does." Ralphie replied. "You think it might have something to do with your cousin being here?"

"Possibly. But it still doesn't fully explain why the Friz would deliberately take us on a normal trip. If she didn't want anyone to know about the bus's magic, she wouldn't have taken our class on so many weird trips in the first place."

"Well, whatever it is I'm sure the Friz had her reasons." Ralphie said. "She probably had this trip planned for us anyway, with or without Janet. Maybe to try and throw us off as an early April Fool's joke?"

"Yeah, I guess so." I said, remembering my earlier statements about the Friz's eccentric personality. "If that's the case, I sure fell for it. Hard."

Ralphie laughed at my comment, causing me to laugh in the process.

"Hey guys!" I heard Phoebe call out as she floated in our general direction.

"Hey, Phoebe!" I said.

"What brings you here?" Ralphie asked.

"I'm trying to get a better view of Earth, but everyone else was hogging the other windows. Janet, especially…"

Oh boy… I thought. Maybe my earlier thoughts about my cousin were wrong.

"We'll share our window with you." Ralphie said. "We were just talking and stuff."

"Go ahead, Phoebe. It all yours." I said.

Phoebe smiled and gave a slight chuckle as her face blushed slightly. I smiled back, feeling my cheeks turn red and my heart race as I moved out of the window to let her by, not noticing the added swagger in my kind gesture.

"Thank you, Arnold." she said sweetly. I felt my face turn, if possible, even more red than before. I felt a slight nudge on my shoulder and turned around to see my best friend give me a suggestive smirk. I frowned. He'd obviously seen the whole thing happen while I wasn't looking.

"Arnold and Phoebe sitting in a tree…" Ralphie teased. "K-I-S-S-I-N…"

"Oh, shut up…" I said. "We're not a couple!"

"Not yet anyway…"

I shook my head and rolled my eyes as Ralphie chuckled and patted me on the back as any good friend would do to say that they were simply joking. Even if I wasn't willing enough to openly admit it, there was at least some truth to what he was saying (even though he was unaware of it). I did have a small crush on Phoebe, and it had become apparent enough for me to confidently say that she had a crush on me too. However, the prospect of her and I becoming a couple was still a long way off. We were still young children after all. Such a prospect would have to wait a few more years.

As the bus continued in its orbit about the Earth, I watched as the Sun passed behind the planet to create a bright orange halo as its light filtered through the thin atmosphere. It was perhaps the greatest sunset I had ever seen, reminding me all-too-well of that famous photograph of the crescent Earth taken by the Apollo astronauts. There were plenty more surprises to behold on night side of the planet, namely flashes of lightning over equatorial Africa where storms were brewing. Along the sparkling coasts of China and Japan, I could even see bright patches of aquamarine blue where whole swarms of plankton had illuminated the water with their odd bioluminescence. Even without the overpowering light coming from the world's cities, I'm sure aliens would have no problem determining the presence of life on Earth.

But perhaps the most striking sight were the glowing curtains of red, green, and blue light dancing around the north and south poles – the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis.

As I watched, I heard Ms. Frizzle explain their origin. Apparently, they were the result of super-charged electrons from the Sun's solar wind. colliding with the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere. The electrons are then energized through acceleration processes in the downwind tail (night side) of Earth's magnetosphere and at lower altitudes along auroral field lines. The accelerated electrons follow the magnetic field of Earth down to the polar regions where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms and molecules in Earth's upper atmosphere. Through these collisions, the electrons then transfer their energy to the atmosphere, thereby exciting the atoms and molecules to higher energy states. Once they relax back down to lower energy states, they release their energy in the form of light.

Somehow, I couldn't get the idea of Earth's Aurorae being a giant neon sign out of my mind after the Friz's collegiate explanation. Probably because I came to realize that it was essentially the same thing. I was completely and utterly dumbfounded.

"Isn't this amazing, class?" Ms. Frizzle asked.

"Amazing? It's out of this world!" I could hear Janet shout excitedly. I had to admit, she couldn't have said it any better.

"Oh, wonderful! Well, now that we've gotten a good look at our own planet, I think it's time we go and do some serious exploration!"

Ms. Frizzle floated back into the driver seat and pressed a small red button on the dash console, revealing a TV monitor that extended from the ceiling. I watched as an image started to form on the screen through fading static. Finally, the image was clear enough to reveal a map of the Solar System and a flashing yellow beacon marking our present location.

"Let the tour begin!" the Friz said. "First stop: The Moon!"

Everyone onboard cheered and celebrated. My fears, however strong they might have been, had become a thing of the past and were evaporating into pure excitement and joy. My nagging curiosities of the Friz's initial attempt to take us on a normal trip were pushed firmly to the back of my mind as the bus escaped Earth-orbit and I saw the unmistakable disk of the Moon appear through the front window, beckoning for us to approach.

Time to explore.

Hey everyone!

I apologize for the rather long wait between chapters. I've just been busy with tons of other stuff, so it's been difficult trying to find time to continue writing. At the end of the first chapter, I had briefly mentioned the possibility of adding additional exploration of the Solar System. In the original episode, there was no mention or attempt to visit the Moon, given that it had to fit in a 30 minute slot, in addition to putting emphasis solely on the planets themselves. Therefore, I thought it would be appropriate to do so here. What do you think? In any event, I hope to see you soon in the next chapter! :)

Again, I do not own The Magic School Bus. All copyrights and trademarks belong to Scholastic, Inc., as well as any other respective owners I might have forgotten to mention.

saturn95