zienzieu
01-07-2004, 08:42 PM
Car
by Pearl Pugh
Car was purchased in 1988. Mamma was excited. She’d never had a new car before. And Pops was satisfied because it would only cost him nine grand. Pops drove Mamma home in the new car. Little Girl and Little Boy were even more excited than Mamma. A new car! Who would have ever thought that they would get to ride in a new car?!?!
Mamma had to drive Car to work the next day and figured out that she didn’t quite understand the standard transmission as well as she thought she would. But Car didn’t mind. Car was willing to suffer a few grinds and stalls for Mamma. Car could tell that Mamma would be good to it. Mamma would wash it and change its oil, put air in the tires, and park it under the shady trees on hot days.
Mamma and car got along very well. Soon Mamma understood the gears, soon there was no grinding, Car was happy. Pops liked Car, too. He took extra special care of Car to make sure that Car would be good to Mamma. First Pops tinted Car’s windows. Car was thankful. Then Pops put rims on Car’s tires. Car was proud to show them off to others on the road. Pops installed a state-of-the-art alarm system and a radio with a tape-deck, imagine that! Car tried not to purr too loudly, Car did not want to appear spoiled, but it was hard for Car not to show off just a little. Sometimes, when Pops would take Car out alone, he would drive Car fast and challenge Car to work just a little harder, to show what it could really do. Car liked spending time with Pops.
Car was always giving, and never greedy. Car only used a little fuel and never wasted any. Car did such a good job at saving Pops money that Pops decided to pick Car to take all the way to Mexico! To prepare for the trip Pops had a brand new luggage rack installed on top of Car. Car liked new accessories. Car was determined to really earn this new gift. Little Girl and Little Boy sat in the back seat while Mamma and Pops rode up front. Car was strong and ready, this would be an exciting trip! Through the rain and mud, over smooth and bumpy roads, Car got them all the way to Mexico City. Pops showed Car to all of his family and let everyone ride inside. Car was happy to please Pops and show off all of its special features like air-conditioning and extra-roomy trunk.
The trip back home was not so easy. Car was tired, but would not give up. Little girl had a pee-pee accident inside of Car, but Car didn’t mind. Car endured the accident with understanding, for Car loved Little Girl and Little Boy very much. Car did not become upset with the children when they spilled drinks or when they would fight in the back seat. Car even felt bad for Little Girl and Little Boy when they where spanked by Pops for scratching the tint on the window in the back seat. Car was ok; Car didn’t mind a little scratch or two. But Car stayed out of Pop’s way. Car knew that it was not its place to tell Pops how to discipline Little Girl and Little Boy.
Through the years Car helped the family move, carried the family’s sick dog to and from the vet and even took Little Girl to the airport, where Little Girl would go away for a long, long time. Car also helped take Little Boy and Mamma to a new home. Car missed Little Girl and Pops very much. Car did not understand why things were changing. But Car was still determined to be good to Mamma; she still needed Car to be strong.
One day Mamma had Car bring her and Little Boy back to Pops. Car was so happy to be with Pops and Mamma and Little Boy again, but Car still missed Little Girl. Car tried to tell Pops because Car knew that Pops would feel the same, would make Little Girl come back. Car found one of Little Girl’s hair-ties in the back seat and put it on the front seat so that Pops would see it and remember Little Girl. Car made Little Girl’s pee-pee accident stain resurface so that Mamma would remember Little Girl. Soon Car got its way and Car got to go get Little Girl back from the airport. Car did not like the airport.
Little Girl and Little Boy did not fight anymore in the back seat, Car was glad. And interested, too. Little Girl told stories about a far-away place where there were wild animals and lots of snow. Car had been to a far away place once, but that was a long time ago. Car liked to hear about adventures.
As Little Girl and Little Boy got older, they would like for Mamma to drive them to more places in Car and would most times want friends to come along. Car became sad, because a lot of times not everyone fit inside of Car. That would just not do. Car knew that Little Girl and Little Boy would not want to ride in Car anymore.
One day, Mamma was driving Car and there was an accident. Out of nowhere (not that Car could see), Mamma hit the side of a truck. Car spun around on the street. No matter how hard it tried, it could not stop. Finally a fence and some bushes brought Car to a stop. On the sidewalk! Car was embarrassed. Car knew that it was not supposed to be on the sidewalk. Car blamed itself for becoming old. Car began to think that maybe it was becoming obsolete.
After that, Mamma came home with a Van. Car had to give up its spot in the garage for the van. Car got rained on. Car was sad. Pops would still change Car’s oil and rotate the tires and vacuum its carpet, but always after the van had been done. Car began to droop a little on the inside. Car did not have the strength to hold everything together. Pops tried to tape the ceiling upholstery up, but that didn’t work. Car’s sadness was so strong that it began to droop more. Pops could tell that something was different with Car.
Pops had a cousin that needed Car. Car wanted to make Pops proud, so Car ran its best and tried to be good to Cousin. But Cousin was not like Pops. Cousin liked to drink and Cousin’s hands were rough and broke things. First Cousin broke the window-roller-upper. Car knew that it did not have those luxurious power things that others had, but Car liked its roller-uppers and did not like Cousin for breaking them. Cousin also left Car’s windows down in the rain. Someone stole Car’s top-of-the-line pull-out stereo with tape deck. Car became upset. Car began to stall on Cousin. Car began to cry. Car was not embarrassed to leak water from its radiator in front of Cousin. Car was glad to rebel against Cousin. Cousin let his bad children pull its ceiling upholstery off and write on its soft foam lining. Car was not happy.
Cousin parked Car on a hill for a long time. Car wanted to be driven. Car missed Pops and Mamma and Little Girl and Little Boy. One day, early in the morning, Car saw Pops. Car did not think that it was really Pops. But it was! Pops told Car to please start. Car started. Pops drove Car back home. Car was so happy, it began to cry again. Water spilled out and this time Car was embarrassed. But Pops took care of Car and made repairs. Little Girl spent a lot of time cleaning Car. She shampooed Car’s carpet and gently rubbed off the offensive words written on its soft foam lining. Little Girl wrote nice things and funny things and Car liked when she would look up at its ceiling. Car tried hard not to let foam fall in Little Girl’s eyes, but sometimes it happened and Little Girl would laugh.
Pops taught Little Girl how to use Car’s gears. Car was proud. Car knew that Little Girl was going to be the driver soon. Car felt young again.
Little Girl and Little Boy would take Car to school and to the mall and would sometimes squeeze many friends into Car. Car had many good times when Little Girl was driving. Little Girl took Car to Mexico again, only not so far… just to the border. And Little Girl took Car to the beach and to amusement parks. Little Girl tried to take care of Car, but she didn’t know Car like Pops did. But Car did it’s best for Little Girl and tried when it did not feel like trying and ran when it did not feel like running. Because Car loved Little Girl and Car knew that Little Girl loved it.
Car felt sick. Little Girl called Pops because Car was crying again. This time Pops took Car to a car doctor and was all fixed up. Then Little Girl gave Car new tires and a new muffler. Car felt good again.
Little Girl loved to drive Car and Car knew it. No one else that Little Girl knew had a car like Car. Little Girl and her friends liked to go to drive-thru restaurants and sometimes Little Girl would drop French fries. Car liked them, they were a special treat. Car also liked when Little Girl and her friend would turn the radio up loud and sing out of Car’s windows. It made Car feel special. Car also liked when Little Girl would drive fast on curvy roads and drive over bumpy roots that made Car’s mud-flaps scrape the road. If Car could smile, it would have at those moments.
Car could feel that it was getting older, but it wanted to give as much as Little Girl needed. For years Little Girl drove Car. Just when Car thought that Little Girl was finished with it, Little Girl needed Car to take her to a new home. Car was confused again. There was no Pops, no Mamma, no Little Boy. There was only Little Girl and her boyfriend. Car liked Boyfriend, but not as much as Pops or Little Boy. Sometimes Little Girl would visit with Pops and Little Boy. Those became Car’s favorite times.
Boyfriend was nice to Car and gave Car a brand new state-of-the-art CD player, imagine that! Car was thrilled. But not for long. Little Girl left Car for only a few hours when someone came along and broke Car’s window and took that state-of-the-art CD player. Car did not cry. Car knew that Little Girl would be upset. But it was not Car’s fault. Car’s little horn alarm system had long since stopped working and Car was unable to warn Little Girl when the bad man came to take the CD player. Little Girl cried and cried in the driver’s seat of Car. Little Girl did not give Car any more music for a long time. Car felt bad. Sometimes Little Girl would wear headphones in Car, but Car didn’t like that because Car couldn’t hear the music.
One day Car felt that Little Girl was different and sad. Little Girl went with Boyfriend to a new home far away. Little Girl put Car in the garage and left Car there for a long, long time. Car would see Little Girl every day as she would get into Boyfriend’s truck. Car liked the truck. They shared the garage together and the truck was nice to Car and would always tell Car of its adventures with Little Girl and Boyfriend. The truck told Car that Little Girl was going to have a little girl of her own. Car was filled with hope that it would one day belong to Little Girl’s little girl. But the truck let Car down easy. The truck told Car that it was lucky to have been retired in the cozy warm garage. But Car never stopped hoping that Little Girl would one day dust it off and drive Car again.
And that day came. Little Girl started Car and brought Car to another new home. Car was glad that Little Girl still wanted it around, even if it hardly got to drive. Car knew that it did not have the new sticker that it needed. Car wondered when Little Girl was going to put a new sticker on. Car waited through rain and mud and the hot sun. Sometimes Boyfriend would come out to start Car.
On a very happy day for Car, Boyfriend put in a brand new battery. Car purred again. Car was thrilled. A new battery meant that Car was going to drive! Boyfriend also put on a new sticker and put the proper papers in Car’s glove box. Car was so excited! Boyfriend took Car for a few warm-up drives and then finally drove Car to work. Car wouldn’t mind being strong and dependable for Boyfriend. But Car just couldn’t help that it had an old and brittle belt. The belt broke and Car was sad. Car hoped that Boyfriend would notice the broken belt before trying to drive Car again. Luckily, Boyfriend noticed right away and Car heard Boyfriend tell Little Girl on the phone that he would bring a new belt in two days. Car was relieved. Car would just rest here and wait for the belt. Car could show that it wasn’t washed up. Car would make Boyfriend proud.
Before Boyfriend returned with the belt, bad men came again. Car knew these types. They bashed Car’s window, took the not-so-state-of-the-art radio that Boyfriend had given Car. The bad men did not have a key, so they ripped the inside of Car to shreds and started Car with bare wires. The bad men ripped Car’s back seat out and took all of Little Girl’s camping gear from the oh-so-roomy trunk. The bad men drove Car to a ditch and then ripped Car’s license plate off. They broke every knob and button. They left Car bare. Car wanted Little Girl to come.
Instead, a tow truck came and drug Car to a lot filled with other victims of violent crimes. Little Girl came a few hours later. She brought Little Boy with her. Then Pops came. Car wished that Mamma was here, too. Pops hugged Little Girl and Little Girl cried. Pops told Little Girl that there was nothing that could be done, Car could not be fixed. Little Girl sat in Car one last time and cried. Little Girl was not embarrassed to cry. Little Girl told Car that she loved it and that she would miss it. If Car could give a hug, it would have just then. Little Boy gave Car a pat and walked away. Car could feel his sadness. Car was sad to go like this. Car wanted to make Pops proud one last time. Little Girl told Car to keep her Nana’s rosary. Car remembered the rosary that Little Girl had slipped in the side compartment of Car so, so long ago.
Pops and Little Girl walked away arm in arm. Car was glad to have had a family like that.
The End
by Pearl Pugh
Car was purchased in 1988. Mamma was excited. She’d never had a new car before. And Pops was satisfied because it would only cost him nine grand. Pops drove Mamma home in the new car. Little Girl and Little Boy were even more excited than Mamma. A new car! Who would have ever thought that they would get to ride in a new car?!?!
Mamma had to drive Car to work the next day and figured out that she didn’t quite understand the standard transmission as well as she thought she would. But Car didn’t mind. Car was willing to suffer a few grinds and stalls for Mamma. Car could tell that Mamma would be good to it. Mamma would wash it and change its oil, put air in the tires, and park it under the shady trees on hot days.
Mamma and car got along very well. Soon Mamma understood the gears, soon there was no grinding, Car was happy. Pops liked Car, too. He took extra special care of Car to make sure that Car would be good to Mamma. First Pops tinted Car’s windows. Car was thankful. Then Pops put rims on Car’s tires. Car was proud to show them off to others on the road. Pops installed a state-of-the-art alarm system and a radio with a tape-deck, imagine that! Car tried not to purr too loudly, Car did not want to appear spoiled, but it was hard for Car not to show off just a little. Sometimes, when Pops would take Car out alone, he would drive Car fast and challenge Car to work just a little harder, to show what it could really do. Car liked spending time with Pops.
Car was always giving, and never greedy. Car only used a little fuel and never wasted any. Car did such a good job at saving Pops money that Pops decided to pick Car to take all the way to Mexico! To prepare for the trip Pops had a brand new luggage rack installed on top of Car. Car liked new accessories. Car was determined to really earn this new gift. Little Girl and Little Boy sat in the back seat while Mamma and Pops rode up front. Car was strong and ready, this would be an exciting trip! Through the rain and mud, over smooth and bumpy roads, Car got them all the way to Mexico City. Pops showed Car to all of his family and let everyone ride inside. Car was happy to please Pops and show off all of its special features like air-conditioning and extra-roomy trunk.
The trip back home was not so easy. Car was tired, but would not give up. Little girl had a pee-pee accident inside of Car, but Car didn’t mind. Car endured the accident with understanding, for Car loved Little Girl and Little Boy very much. Car did not become upset with the children when they spilled drinks or when they would fight in the back seat. Car even felt bad for Little Girl and Little Boy when they where spanked by Pops for scratching the tint on the window in the back seat. Car was ok; Car didn’t mind a little scratch or two. But Car stayed out of Pop’s way. Car knew that it was not its place to tell Pops how to discipline Little Girl and Little Boy.
Through the years Car helped the family move, carried the family’s sick dog to and from the vet and even took Little Girl to the airport, where Little Girl would go away for a long, long time. Car also helped take Little Boy and Mamma to a new home. Car missed Little Girl and Pops very much. Car did not understand why things were changing. But Car was still determined to be good to Mamma; she still needed Car to be strong.
One day Mamma had Car bring her and Little Boy back to Pops. Car was so happy to be with Pops and Mamma and Little Boy again, but Car still missed Little Girl. Car tried to tell Pops because Car knew that Pops would feel the same, would make Little Girl come back. Car found one of Little Girl’s hair-ties in the back seat and put it on the front seat so that Pops would see it and remember Little Girl. Car made Little Girl’s pee-pee accident stain resurface so that Mamma would remember Little Girl. Soon Car got its way and Car got to go get Little Girl back from the airport. Car did not like the airport.
Little Girl and Little Boy did not fight anymore in the back seat, Car was glad. And interested, too. Little Girl told stories about a far-away place where there were wild animals and lots of snow. Car had been to a far away place once, but that was a long time ago. Car liked to hear about adventures.
As Little Girl and Little Boy got older, they would like for Mamma to drive them to more places in Car and would most times want friends to come along. Car became sad, because a lot of times not everyone fit inside of Car. That would just not do. Car knew that Little Girl and Little Boy would not want to ride in Car anymore.
One day, Mamma was driving Car and there was an accident. Out of nowhere (not that Car could see), Mamma hit the side of a truck. Car spun around on the street. No matter how hard it tried, it could not stop. Finally a fence and some bushes brought Car to a stop. On the sidewalk! Car was embarrassed. Car knew that it was not supposed to be on the sidewalk. Car blamed itself for becoming old. Car began to think that maybe it was becoming obsolete.
After that, Mamma came home with a Van. Car had to give up its spot in the garage for the van. Car got rained on. Car was sad. Pops would still change Car’s oil and rotate the tires and vacuum its carpet, but always after the van had been done. Car began to droop a little on the inside. Car did not have the strength to hold everything together. Pops tried to tape the ceiling upholstery up, but that didn’t work. Car’s sadness was so strong that it began to droop more. Pops could tell that something was different with Car.
Pops had a cousin that needed Car. Car wanted to make Pops proud, so Car ran its best and tried to be good to Cousin. But Cousin was not like Pops. Cousin liked to drink and Cousin’s hands were rough and broke things. First Cousin broke the window-roller-upper. Car knew that it did not have those luxurious power things that others had, but Car liked its roller-uppers and did not like Cousin for breaking them. Cousin also left Car’s windows down in the rain. Someone stole Car’s top-of-the-line pull-out stereo with tape deck. Car became upset. Car began to stall on Cousin. Car began to cry. Car was not embarrassed to leak water from its radiator in front of Cousin. Car was glad to rebel against Cousin. Cousin let his bad children pull its ceiling upholstery off and write on its soft foam lining. Car was not happy.
Cousin parked Car on a hill for a long time. Car wanted to be driven. Car missed Pops and Mamma and Little Girl and Little Boy. One day, early in the morning, Car saw Pops. Car did not think that it was really Pops. But it was! Pops told Car to please start. Car started. Pops drove Car back home. Car was so happy, it began to cry again. Water spilled out and this time Car was embarrassed. But Pops took care of Car and made repairs. Little Girl spent a lot of time cleaning Car. She shampooed Car’s carpet and gently rubbed off the offensive words written on its soft foam lining. Little Girl wrote nice things and funny things and Car liked when she would look up at its ceiling. Car tried hard not to let foam fall in Little Girl’s eyes, but sometimes it happened and Little Girl would laugh.
Pops taught Little Girl how to use Car’s gears. Car was proud. Car knew that Little Girl was going to be the driver soon. Car felt young again.
Little Girl and Little Boy would take Car to school and to the mall and would sometimes squeeze many friends into Car. Car had many good times when Little Girl was driving. Little Girl took Car to Mexico again, only not so far… just to the border. And Little Girl took Car to the beach and to amusement parks. Little Girl tried to take care of Car, but she didn’t know Car like Pops did. But Car did it’s best for Little Girl and tried when it did not feel like trying and ran when it did not feel like running. Because Car loved Little Girl and Car knew that Little Girl loved it.
Car felt sick. Little Girl called Pops because Car was crying again. This time Pops took Car to a car doctor and was all fixed up. Then Little Girl gave Car new tires and a new muffler. Car felt good again.
Little Girl loved to drive Car and Car knew it. No one else that Little Girl knew had a car like Car. Little Girl and her friends liked to go to drive-thru restaurants and sometimes Little Girl would drop French fries. Car liked them, they were a special treat. Car also liked when Little Girl and her friend would turn the radio up loud and sing out of Car’s windows. It made Car feel special. Car also liked when Little Girl would drive fast on curvy roads and drive over bumpy roots that made Car’s mud-flaps scrape the road. If Car could smile, it would have at those moments.
Car could feel that it was getting older, but it wanted to give as much as Little Girl needed. For years Little Girl drove Car. Just when Car thought that Little Girl was finished with it, Little Girl needed Car to take her to a new home. Car was confused again. There was no Pops, no Mamma, no Little Boy. There was only Little Girl and her boyfriend. Car liked Boyfriend, but not as much as Pops or Little Boy. Sometimes Little Girl would visit with Pops and Little Boy. Those became Car’s favorite times.
Boyfriend was nice to Car and gave Car a brand new state-of-the-art CD player, imagine that! Car was thrilled. But not for long. Little Girl left Car for only a few hours when someone came along and broke Car’s window and took that state-of-the-art CD player. Car did not cry. Car knew that Little Girl would be upset. But it was not Car’s fault. Car’s little horn alarm system had long since stopped working and Car was unable to warn Little Girl when the bad man came to take the CD player. Little Girl cried and cried in the driver’s seat of Car. Little Girl did not give Car any more music for a long time. Car felt bad. Sometimes Little Girl would wear headphones in Car, but Car didn’t like that because Car couldn’t hear the music.
One day Car felt that Little Girl was different and sad. Little Girl went with Boyfriend to a new home far away. Little Girl put Car in the garage and left Car there for a long, long time. Car would see Little Girl every day as she would get into Boyfriend’s truck. Car liked the truck. They shared the garage together and the truck was nice to Car and would always tell Car of its adventures with Little Girl and Boyfriend. The truck told Car that Little Girl was going to have a little girl of her own. Car was filled with hope that it would one day belong to Little Girl’s little girl. But the truck let Car down easy. The truck told Car that it was lucky to have been retired in the cozy warm garage. But Car never stopped hoping that Little Girl would one day dust it off and drive Car again.
And that day came. Little Girl started Car and brought Car to another new home. Car was glad that Little Girl still wanted it around, even if it hardly got to drive. Car knew that it did not have the new sticker that it needed. Car wondered when Little Girl was going to put a new sticker on. Car waited through rain and mud and the hot sun. Sometimes Boyfriend would come out to start Car.
On a very happy day for Car, Boyfriend put in a brand new battery. Car purred again. Car was thrilled. A new battery meant that Car was going to drive! Boyfriend also put on a new sticker and put the proper papers in Car’s glove box. Car was so excited! Boyfriend took Car for a few warm-up drives and then finally drove Car to work. Car wouldn’t mind being strong and dependable for Boyfriend. But Car just couldn’t help that it had an old and brittle belt. The belt broke and Car was sad. Car hoped that Boyfriend would notice the broken belt before trying to drive Car again. Luckily, Boyfriend noticed right away and Car heard Boyfriend tell Little Girl on the phone that he would bring a new belt in two days. Car was relieved. Car would just rest here and wait for the belt. Car could show that it wasn’t washed up. Car would make Boyfriend proud.
Before Boyfriend returned with the belt, bad men came again. Car knew these types. They bashed Car’s window, took the not-so-state-of-the-art radio that Boyfriend had given Car. The bad men did not have a key, so they ripped the inside of Car to shreds and started Car with bare wires. The bad men ripped Car’s back seat out and took all of Little Girl’s camping gear from the oh-so-roomy trunk. The bad men drove Car to a ditch and then ripped Car’s license plate off. They broke every knob and button. They left Car bare. Car wanted Little Girl to come.
Instead, a tow truck came and drug Car to a lot filled with other victims of violent crimes. Little Girl came a few hours later. She brought Little Boy with her. Then Pops came. Car wished that Mamma was here, too. Pops hugged Little Girl and Little Girl cried. Pops told Little Girl that there was nothing that could be done, Car could not be fixed. Little Girl sat in Car one last time and cried. Little Girl was not embarrassed to cry. Little Girl told Car that she loved it and that she would miss it. If Car could give a hug, it would have just then. Little Boy gave Car a pat and walked away. Car could feel his sadness. Car was sad to go like this. Car wanted to make Pops proud one last time. Little Girl told Car to keep her Nana’s rosary. Car remembered the rosary that Little Girl had slipped in the side compartment of Car so, so long ago.
Pops and Little Girl walked away arm in arm. Car was glad to have had a family like that.
The End