The Bug

The call came suddenly, and I don't think any of us were expecting it. It was a beautiful summer day, with a few clouds in the sky (you know, those ones that look like cotton?) and the smell of fresh-cut grass in the air. I was on my way to a friends house, which was about six houses down, when all of a sudden my brother came peddling on his bike as fast as he could down the road. "Holly! Holly!" He yelled as he almost fell of his bike. Getting his balance back, he took a deep breath and explained his actions."We just got a call from that car show! Dad won the beetle!" The Beetle. That wonderful, 1972 VW beetle. The one that was supposed to go in a childs learning center, but was too big. The one with the primary-colored fenders and the schoolbus yellow cab. The one that Dad had put $10 towards to buy one raffle ticket. We had won. "Oh my lord, Adam, are you sure? You're not playing a joke on me, are you?" "No, Holly I wouldn't lie about this!! You know how I love working on cars!" That was true. My brother, though only sixteen, was the best mechanic in the county. He had a natural tallent with an engine and grease and all that other car stuff that I never understood. Adam's real love though, was his 1969 baja VW beetle, and I knew what he would be like with another one around. "Holy cow Adam, when are you going to get it?" "Dad is picking it up right now! He'll be home in like ten minutes!" After dashing to my friends' house to tell her the news, I ran, puffing, back to my house to see the new arival.1

~~8 years later~~2

*Ring!**Ring!* "Hello? Oh, Hey Sarah! The mall? Sure! Are you going to pick me up or do you need a ride? Oh okay no problem. I'll be over in about fifteen minutes!" Picking up my car keys, I ran through the house looking for my purse. After finding it under the couch (the dog must have put it there) I went outside to the plum-purple, metallic-flecked 1972 beetle waiting in the driveway. I stopped to smile fondly at it's front, that always appears to look like it's smiling, and climbed into the cab. Hanging on the rear-view-mirror was a small Poleroid. It showed me,13,my brother,16, and my parents gathered around a brightly colored bug. My Bug. The one that still had the natural interior, which I had my posterior on right now. The one that had taken my bestfriend and I on so many roadtrips, and on so many trips from college,to home,and back. 3