A Veritable Army of Mayhem

Two days ago I acted as shepherdess to 44 small girls between the ages of 5 and 8. I led them through art activities and lunch, onto the public bus system, to Presidio Bowl, and back to their school. At one point, we almost missed the bus. We could see it approaching from a distance, and we all took off running as fast as we could after it. I can only imagine the sense of hilarity and dread that must have quickly consumed the bus driver as he watched 44 small, brightly colored bundles shrieking and swarming towards his bus. It was like a scene in a war movie:
The battle-worn captain of the bus sets his jaw and watches as a veritable army of mayhem storms toward him with (almost) a hundred tiny feet. He imagines taking a long drag from a cigarette, exhales, and they are upon him.
But the best moment of the day was once we were actually on the bus, riding back to school. Pointing to the shells of sunflower seeds a previous passenger had left behind on the windowsill, one of the girls whispered to her friends, "Look! Baby clam shells!"