I woke up slowly, I heard my mom down stairs first.  My sisters both still asleep beside me.  Our queen sized bed was more than big enough for us three girls.  My brother had his own twin-sized bed in his own room, he complained all the time about his bed not being big enough.  My mom put up with it for a while, then wouldn't take any flak.  "You could have a queen sized bed too, if you had to share it with two other people."  I got out of bed first and took my early chance in the bathroom.

We were poor but happy.  It was years before I realized this.  I didn't think much of it at the time.  I guess that is part of happiness, not needing to think about things.  We didn't have much, but we had everything we needed.  A big yard to go naked in, trees, a big kitchen.  A room for the girls, one for the brother, and a room for our mom.

Once I got out of the shower I could smell breakfast.  Breakfast was pancakes and eggs, a few fried vegetables.  I ran downstairs with my towel wrapped around me for warmth.  Mom was wearing just her apron.  All of the food was all delicious.  Mom had learned how take care of us on my fathers pension.  She didn't need to work, but she took good care of and loved all of us.  The sun was streaming in the kitchen window, warming us up enough so I could drop the towel.  It was fun watching the dust dance in the light, don't know why there aren't more poems about that.

I walked up to the bus stop as naked as the day I was born.  My shoes on my feet and my back-sack on my back.  The partly cloudy sky was entertaining in its patterns, a weave here, a puff there.  There were no other houses near by.  I stood alone out by the curb, enjoying the wind.  You could still smell the fallen leaves around, even the smoke from where we had burned our piles of leave.  I could still taste the yams we cooked in the fires.

I could hear the bus coming a mile away.  The smoke out the back and the squeaking noises were hard to miss.  After it stopped in a grunt, the door opened and the bus driver glared at me.  After I hesitated to get on, the bus driver asked if I was coming with a hiss.

"Yes sir" was all I could reply, and I got on.

I took my normal seat.  Walking past Billy I heard him mutter "Poor white trailer trash doesn't even dress anymore.  Didn't you know you only have to do one week in the program?"  I ignored him and kept walking.

One by one the bus picked out more and more students.  Shannon got on wearing only a little vest.  I was glad that I was not the only naked student.  She sat down next to me with a smile, putting one of her hands on my thigh.

"Hey, you're cold!" Was all I could shout.

"You're warm", she said with a giggle.  Putting her hand further down into my crotch.  After her hand had warmed up, I didn't mind her rubbing my hairless pussy.  She let out a startle when I returned the favor.  Rubbing each others crotches to 'keep warm' we didn't pay attention to the other kids as they arrived.

The screeching sound was getting worse, the bus driver didn't seem to care.  We had gotten back to civilization, then we heard the bang.  A tire exploded, dropping the bus onto the tarmac.  After coming to a slow and noisy stop the bus driver got up.

"Is any body hurt?" He asked, not waiting for an answer.  "Everybody sit down and wait here!"  The bus driver yelled, getting up and getting out of the bus closing the door behind him, checking the damage.

We noticed the smoke was getting worse after the bus had stopped.  The smell of burning rubber was getting pretty pad.  We started to stand up any way when it happened, the bright flash broke windows, flowing in flames and glass.  Everyone screamed and panicked.  Some students crawling over seats to get out, some sitting down and crying.  The flames were everywhere, on the chairs, on the floor.  The smoke was thick and black.  I grabbed Sharon and ran for the emergency exit.  We couldn't figure out open to open it at first, then once it was open jumped out without thinking of how far up we were.  Some kids broke their arms, Shannon got pretty bad scrapped up.  I was OK.

My ears were still ringing from the explosion when the next tire went, Shannon then passed out, I could only sit their crying as I hugged her limp body.

We watched the fire for an eternity, the fire trucks arrived as it was about to go out.  I thought it was pretty for a moment.  I thought to myself that would be a great name for a band, "Burning School Bus."  I snapped a picture of it with my phone.  Never could look at the picture again....  I saw the kids running around, still on fire or smoldering.  Some were passed out.  I don't remember much after that, just kind of came to while a doctor was checking me over, a nurse rubbing lotion on my burns.

They said later the bus's brakes had locked up, heating up and melting the tire, causing a leak in the gas tank when the bus bottomed out, the heat and the leak later causing the tank to explode.  Most of the kids weren't hurt by the explosion, but some of their clothes caught fire or melted to their bodies.  

My mother made us go back to the hospital to visit the burned kids, although I hated to.  My friends were OK.  Billy got the worst of it and later died, he was sitting closest to the front by the tank.  Some kids were going to be in and out of the hospital for years.  My minor burns blended in my my suntan.  You could still see the pattern of their clothes on their burned bodies.  The doctor came by when he heard we were there.  He wanted to speak with us.  Never thought I would hear a person say:

"You don't know how lucky you were to be naked."

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