Tim Wright walked into his house and almost immediately collapsed on the couch. He had just finished a long day of hard work. He hated the feeling of being exhausted after a long day. It was times like this that made him wonder if he should have tried to have a career in art.

Tim had always been an artist. He was always drawing and sketching in third grade. He even created his own comic book series based on Weatherman. His artistic talent grew as he got older, and in high school, he started branching out into other forms of art. He learned how to play guitar and piano really well. He was part of a pretty successful local band in high school, where he was the lead singer who either played guitar or the keyboard (of course, something that he would never admit to anyone was that Carlos had helped him a lot with learning guitar. Carlos was actually better than Tim at guitar, but Tim didn't want anyone to know since he wanted to be the most artistic one. Carlos actually helped Tim learn how to sing, too. Carlos was also better at this, but again, Tim didn't want anyone to know). He also got his own camera and started making his own films, although they were mainly short documentaries.

Tim hadn't really changed much since third grade. He got taller, grew a bit of a mustache, and developed some lean muscles, though he was still pretty skinny, and that was about it. Still, it didn't really matter because he was able to pull of his look. With his 6'0'' muscular stature, handsome facial features, and the fact that he was in a band, he became quite popular in high school. What also helped was that he joined the basketball team, which made him more popular and made his muscles more defined. Many of the girls in Walkerville High saw him as cute. He went on quite a few dates, though not as much as Ralphie or Carlos, but that was okay with him. The way he saw it, he wasn't being smothered in attention and got just the right amount.

Tim had always dreamed of one day being a famous artist, whether it be from films, music, sketches, or any other art form. All of his friends even expected that his future would be like that. However, towards the end of junior year, Tim started having doubts about a career as an artist. He knew that the chances of someone becoming a famous artist were really low, and most people never end up getting that big break. Sure, starving artists were glorified, and the period was seen as only a small obstacle in the path to becoming famous, but Tim knew better. As an artist, he understood the difference between romanticism and realism. Sort of like war, where romanticism portrayed it as something that brings glory and honor to the people who fight in it, such as Washington Crossing the Delaware, but realism portrayed its cruelties and hardships, such as photographs of the Civil War. In that same way, starving artists were romanticized, but reality would most likely be a lot of suffering and misery with a high chance of it all amounting to nothing

With all of this in mind, Tim decided to go for a career that had less chances of a future filled with hardship and pain. Luckily, he didn't have to look far. He wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but he decided that engineering would be the career for him. He figured that it was most likely because solving complex problems appealed to him. Although his friends saw him as mainly artistic, Tim was incredibly logical. Or it could have been that engineering offered ways of being creative when finding solutions since Tim was very creative.

He ended up going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, arguably the best engineering school in the country. At first, it was hard to choose which field of engineering to specialize in, especially when MIT had top-notch programs in chemical, electrical, mechanical, and biological engineering, as well as aeronautics and astronautics. In the end, Tim chose civil and environmental engineering for two reasons. One, would provide a way for him to be able to continue drawing since civil engineers create plans for infrastructure projects, so in a way, he could still do art. Two, it would be a way to honor Ms. Frizzle by allowing him to find ways to improve the environment and solutions to environmental problems.

He quickly became one of the best engineering students at MIT and graduated in the top 10% of his class. Afterwards, he decided to continue his studies at MIT and enrolled in the graduate program. After 3 years, he finally graduated from MIT with his M.S. in engineering. Afterwards, he moved back to Walkerville, where he took the FE Exam and successfully passed it. With that, he became an engineer in training, and then he began gaining experience under the direction of a professional engineer at a pretty good firm in the small town. After 4 years as an EIT, he took the PE Exam, and he finally became a licensed professional engineer. He was then highly sought after by many employers, and he decided to work at an engineering firm in Richmond. Currently, he was focusing on designing and creating plans for a construction site.

He had been a professional engineer for a year now and loved his job of making sure that structures would be safe for people and for the environment. Of course, there were times like this where he felt like he should have tried art as a career.

Don't get him wrong, he loved his job, but it was a lot of hard work, especially when it involved a lot of planning and thinking. A career in art would definitely not involve so many hours of hard work. Sure, the chances of him being famous were very low, but there was still a chance, and maybe he should've taken it. Then again, dreams don't always come true, so maybe it was for the best that he chose the path he had taken.

After a few minutes of resting on the couch, Tim got up and went upstairs to change out of his suit and into a pair of jeans and a flannel shirt, then he went to the kitchen to make himself dinner. After preparing a nice meal for himself, he sat down at the table to eat. A few minutes later, Tim's phone rang. "Hello?" he answered.

"Hey, Tim. How was your day?" It was Stephanie, Tim's girlfriend. He met her a few months ago at a party of one of his coworkers.

"Oh, hey Steph. The usual. Lot of hard work, very stressful. You?" Tim responded as he got up to check the mail.

"The same. Long hours of sitting at a desk working for a soul-sucking corporation." Stephanie worked as an accountant for a large corporation in Richmond. Both she and Tim did not think it was ideal.

"Well, have you looked into finding another job that is more...invigorating?" Tim said as he went through the mail and found a letter from Walkerville Elementary, which piqued his interest.

"Yes, but it's not easy finding a better job when all I really know how to do is accounting."

"Relax. There are options. Like, you could go to a trade school and learn to be a mechanic or electrician or something." Tim responded as he opened the letter and began reading.

"I know. I'll look into something like that, but it might be a while before I make a decision like that. I don't even know if I want to spend more money on another school."

"Alright. At least put some thought into it. You really need-" Tim suddenly froze as he had just read the news in the letter. He couldn't help but become speechless.

"Tim? Tim?! Is everything okay?" Stephanie asked.

"Steph, I, uh, I'll have to call you back." With that, Tim hung up and began processing the information he had just received. He couldn't believe that the Friz was dead.

After a few minutes of just sitting in silence with the information, Tim's phone rang again. He wanted to hang up, but saw that it was Carlos, so he answered. "Hello?"

"Hey man. I have to ask you something." Carlos responded.

"What?"

"Did you, by any chance, receive a letter from Walkerville Elementary?"

"Yes. I-I can't believe it, man!"

"I know. I'm going to the funeral. Think you can make it?"

"Well, I feel like I have to be there. For her."

"Alright. Can you check if anyone else will be there? I know Ralphie will be there, and he will check with Keesha."

"I can check with Wanda."

"Good. Well, see you around man." Carlos then hung up.

Tim then dialed Wanda's number, hoping that she would be there.