In the first gold of morning inside the bus barn, Darlene, a veteran driver with 26 years on Route 9, walks her pre-trip inspection alongside her bus, clipboard in hand, running a practiced eye over the tires and mirrors. The bus waits patiently, rows of empty seats behind her. Warm ToyStory photorealism; golden-hour small-town Americana; a gently comic workplace mood. This is a fictional scene from the Cedar Valley School District bus barn. No real driver, student, family, school, stop, route, or district is depicted.