All the kids yelled happily as the bus bumped up over the curb leaving the museum parking lot. Edgar held himself in place with his knees and caught his breath as the girl next to him slid down the seat and bumped into him.

“Butts in seats!” Mrs. Jennings yelled over the ruckus, struggling to turn the giant wheel at the front of the bus as it trundled onto the main road.

The collective yell ended in laughter and loud voices as the bus finished its wide turn.

“Sorry, Edgar,” Poppy said, pushing her hair behind her ear as she looked up at him, her face blushing slightly.

He nearly died inside at the sight, fumbling his words. “I-It’s ok, Poppy. No worries, I think I’ll survive.”

Groaning inwardly at his lame attempt at a joke, he was surprised to hear her laugh as she scooted back to her spot on the wide bus seat. Edgar exhaled gratefully, thanking all gods, known and unknown, and all the many members of whatever school bus committees were responsible for overlooking the fact that school buses never seemed to have seat belts.

Poppy glanced across the aisle at the bench next to them, which was packed with three of her friends. They were giggling furiously and staring at her. She shot them a reproving glance, and they turned away, but continued whispering to each other conspiratorially.

“God, they are so annoying lately.”

Edgar glanced at her friends, “how long have you known them?”

“Oh, forever. Kristina and I have been friends basically from birth. I met Michelle and Mikaela in first grade.”

Edgar nodded, “They seem nice. Rather giggly.”

Poppy groaned, half-smiling and shaking her head.

Edgar smiled back. Poppy was the only person he really knew here. She was his mom’s friend’s daughter and they had met a bunch of times growing up. Now, after the divorce, it was great to have at least one person around he knew.

His Mom had gone to great lengths to reinvent herself, getting a new job and moving them to a new town. He didn’t blame her for any of it; the divorce was dark and she had been through a lot. He was just happy it was over and that his dad was gone. Even just the thought of the man was enough to get him wringing his hands angrily.

“You ok?” Poppy asked, glancing at his hands.

Poppy was slowly introducing him to other people in the school too. In fact, the dark cloud of the last few years seemed like it was finally lifting, and she was a big part of that. The only problem was the way air stopped entering his lungs when her pesky bangs fell out from behind her ears. It made it really hard to have thoughtful conversations.

“Yeah, sorry. I’m fine,” he said, shaking out his hands awkwardly and trying to think of anything else. The bus turned onto the twisty canyon road that led back to their town. “These views are crazy. We didn’t have anything like this where I grew up.”

She glanced over him at the window, “yeah, the canyons are soo pretty. You should see it when the sun comes down. There’s another pretty place behind your neighborhood actually, with all these broken, overgrown buildings. Nobody knows how they got there. It’s kinda spooky.”

Edgar smiled and leaned back, pulling his knees up to his chest, “I’d love to see it. Maybe later?”

The bus chugged forward along the winding road, traveling well below the speed limit as the angle of the road increased to a steep climb. The engine growled like a bear, straining to move its own mass.

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Poppy smiled and nodded, swiping absentmindedly at her phone.

The bus jerked again as the engine made a coughing sound. It was a strong forward, backward jerk that made Edgar throw his hands out against the seat in front of him. The chatter on the bus lulled momentarily. Then, the engine coughed again, sputtered, and went silent. As the engine cut out, and the bus came to a stop, an odd silence settled over the bus.

Edgar looked to the front of the bus, where Mrs. Jennings repeatedly turned the key in the ignition. Not good. At least the breaks were holding.

Then the sound of squealing rubber filled the air as the bus began to slide backwards down the road.

“Edgar, what’s happening?”

Edgar grabbed onto Poppy, glancing at the metal bumper along the side of the road and past it to the long way down to the bottom of the canyon beyond it. He gulped.

“Everybody, stay calm!” Mrs. Jennings called from the front. “Stay in your seats!”

Adrenaline flooded Edgar’s body at the tone of her voice.

“Hold onto me. We’re gonna be fine.”

Then Mrs. Jennings turned the wheel, Edgar could see her looking over her shoulder at the mountain and could instantly see her plan. She was going to steer the bus towards the bank on the opposite side of the road. An excellent plan, and to come up with it so quickly, in a moment like this? He would have been impressed. However, with the bus going backwards, she miscalculated and turned the wheel the wrong direction.

The horrible sound of groaning and scrapping metal sounded as the bus collided with the guard rail at the edge of the road, its enormous weight testing the rail. The bus slowed, and seemed about to stop, when it jerked to the side and one of the rear wheels slid off the cliff’s edge.

The bus jerked again as the other rear wheel slid off the cliffs edge as well, but everything finally ground to a halt, balanced on the cliff’s edge.

At the front of the bus, Mrs. Jennings opened the double doors and ran through. “Everybody off the bus!”

A collective scream ripped through the bus as kids started rushing towards the front, flooding through the double doors.

“Oh my god!”

“Go! Go!”

Poppy stood, moving towards the aisle as bodies rushed past them and someone’s elbow caught her in the nose. The blow was strong enough that she fell backwards against him.

“Poppy! You ok?” Edgar tried to help her back to her feet, but she stumbled.

She blinked, dazed by the blow, “I-I’m fine. I’m fine.”

She grabbed at the seat in front of them and pulled herself upright and into the aisle. Ahead, the last of the students were already filing off the bus and the change in weight had caused the bus to rock backward slightly. Both Edgar and Poppy froze as their whole world wobbled precariously. They looked at each other in horror for a long moment. The sounds of crunching rock and tearing metal filled the air. Then, it quieted. The bus settled.

Edgar exhaled, his heart thumping in his chest.

Poppy turned slowly towards the front of the bus, “We’ve got to go slow, Edgar.”

He nodded. Together, they moved towards the exit.

One step…

Then another…

And another…

Edgar counted the rows between them and the doors at the front of the bus. There were fifteen at first... Then, there were ten... With one step, the bus wobbled again, shifting underneath them like a dragon stirring in its sleep.

Another, unexpected sound filled the air. A loud and distant boom. They took a breath, glancing at each to gather their courage. Before they could take another step, the earth shook. Really? Edgar had heard that earthquakes were more common on this side of the country, but did one have to happen at this exact moment?

It felt as if time slowed. The bus slid off the edge of the cliff and plummeted towards the bottom of the canyon. They became weightless, their feet lifting off the floor of the bus and Poppy hovered in front of him.

He wondered if this was what it felt like to be an astronaut.

Poppy reached for him, “Edgar, I’m-”

But, mid sentence, she disappeared. In the split second he had to process the strange happening, he was grateful that at least she wouldn’t suffer. In his final moments, Edgar floated alone in the empty bus, backpacks and notebooks hovering in the air all around him.

Then, everything went black.