D/C- We don't own Magic School Bus or bats. No bats were injured in the making of this story. Just Phoebe's dad.
part I
Even though Ms. Frizzle always told us to be extra careful when we went on field trips, a lot of times we could hardly tell what we were doing. Last week we went to the bat caves to learn about how bats find their way through the dark caves; none of us could have suspected what would happen.
We sat in the classroom that frosty July morning waiting for Ms. Frizzle to enter. Everyone was anxious about the field trip she had been talking about. We were pretty surprised she wasn't fired for taking us, especially since she didn't tell anyone she was going. The district thought we were in the classroom- they never suspected that we were in any sort of peril.
I'm Wanda. I've been a fifth grader in Ms. Frizzle's class since last August, and all that time out of the classroom made everyone fail. Even Ms. Frizzle's crazy teaching techniques couldn't save the stupid kids.
As we approached the caves, Phoebe screamed and burst into tears. She refused to go inside. I looked over at Arnold and Ralphie who were laughing at her. I felt bad for her.
"Come on you weasley wimp! It's just a bunch of bats!" I marched up to her and hit her on the back. She cried harder. Arnold and Ralphie laughed harder. Carlos started crying too. Ms. Frizzle told us to go inside the welcome center until she could shut them up.
"I know why she's crying," Dorothy Ann said. "It's because of her dad."
We all circled around her and looked out the window at Ms. Frizzle trying to console Carlos and Phoebe. We could understand partly why Carlos was crying; he was a dork, but why was Phoebe? She was a big mean poo-poo head and no one knew why she was crying...except for DA.
"When she was a little girl, about five or so, she was at the bat caves with her dad, just the two of them. It was their outing, you know, their special time. Nothing could ruin her day with her dad- the best dad in the world."
The circle tightned around DA as she wiped her eyes quickly.
"But something did.
They were walking through the caves with only their flashlights to guide them. Her father was holding her tightly.
'Don't let go, Pheebs, we don't want to get lost,' he told her.
'I won't let go daddy, I promise,' she said. She made him a promise and regrets her decision to get a closer look. A bat flew over her head, and she shook her head playfully and giggled. 'Daddy, one of them crapped on me!'
They were a happy couple, Phoebe and her father, and she was stupid with glee. Just then, Phoebe heard the flap of another bat's wings, and she jumped up.
'Daddy, watch me catch this one! Watch me!'
'No!' he said. 'No, I can't see you, don't let go of my hand!'
Phoebe dropped her father's hand and chased the little bat."
DA paused so that the group could catch their breath. We had gone from Indian style seating to upon our knees in anticipation.
"Well?" Keesha asked. "What happened next?"
DA continued. "Phoebe's father screamed her name, but she just kept running. She was giggling so loud she couldn't hear him yelling.
'Phoebe, no, stop!'
Then there was silence.
'Phoebe? Phoebe, where did you go honey?'
'I'm over here, Daddy!'
'Okay Phoebe, slowly make your way to me,' he instructed her. She didn't say anything, but her father could her running, very fast, toward him.
'No, Phoebe! No running in the caves!' She couldn't hear him, and her father stopped trying to convince her to slow down. When he took a step forward he heard a loud clunk.
'Ow, Daddy, I ran into a wall!'
'I told you not to run; now the bats are mad! You've disturbed their slumber! Now one of us must die!'
There was a rumble in the walls of the cave, and a screech coming from the direction of Phoebe's untimely collision, getting louder and louder.
'Stay down, Phoebe, stay down!' She obeyed for once; her father tried to duck down, but he was too late. All Phoebe told me was that she heard him scream, 'OW, MY RETINAS!' Then she followed the bats out of the cave to find help."
DA stood up and looked out the window. Phoebe had stopped crying, but Carlos was all wet.
"Hey! I can read lips!" Ralphie said as he ran toward the window to see what Phoebe was telling Ms. Frizzle. "...and that's why I never run in the halls. Please Ms. Frizzle, don't make me go into the cave!" Ralphie turned around with a smug on his face.
"Is that all she said?" Arnold asked.
"No, now she's saying, 'Let me stay out here and make out with Arnold! He's afraid of bat's too.'"
"That liar, I'm not afraid of bats!" Arnold retorted.
"He was kidding!" I said in my flirty voice.
"Is there something in your throat?" Arnold asked me.
We walked outside when Ms. Frizzle signaled it was okay, and together we walked into the cave. Phoebe held DA's hand, and Carlos grabbed Ralphie's Pokémon t-shirt.
We weren't one hundred feet in when we heard Arnold talking to himself. "Oh, Phoebe, you have a great back." He slid his hand up her back. "Oh, and you didn't wear a bra today. That's sexy!"
"Get your hands off me, you fruit!" Ralphie screamed and ran away.
"Okay children, calm down, we need to stay together," Ms. Frizzle demanded in her annoying nasal whine, more annoying than mine.
"Where's Ralphie?" Carlos was feeling around him to find his friend.
"Ow, that's my boob!" Keesha turned around to slap him.
"You pervert!" DA shrieked. She slapped him too.
"Hey, that was me, DA!" Arnold argued.
