Between two cars

On a cool autumn morning, on a quiet street in the middle of a small town next to a big city.

Two cars are parked on opposite sides of the street, staring at each other in the early haze.

The older car looks long at the newer car and says “How’s your gas mileage?”

The newer car replies “It’s good! I can go for weeks without needing a refill! Why do you care?” The old car sighs and says “ he drives a lot, short trips, especially early morning coffee runs. How’s your interior? Good with spills?”

The new car looks slightly annoyed, “Why would he be spilling anything in me? I have cup holders!”

The old car chuckles, “He’s not always good at waiting until he gets home to enjoy his coffee.”

The new car scoffed, “Well maybe he’ll treat me better than he treated you cuz I’m newer, he doesn’t want to get me dirty.”

“You think so?” said the old car, “He hasn’t driven you enough yet, you’ll learn. Day after he got me he spilled his coffee, and some fries later on. Once I’m gone and he’s only driving you, he’ll spill something in you too. Don’t take it personally ok, he’s gonna treat you so well. Change your oil, try not to get a flat tire, if he had a garage he’d keep you inside when it was cold. But he’s still in college so cut him a break on that. “

The new car looked suddenly worried, “I always thought I would get to be in a garage once somebody bought me, I’ve been outside for so long on that lot.”

“well,” said the old car, “on this street, you’re pretty well blocked from the wind, he won’t ever park you too far down. And in the winter the snow should only get on one side of you. Could be a lot worse. I knew a Cadillac once that was parked in a field all the time, barely used and got rained and snowed all over.”

The new car looked curiously at the old car. “How is he as a driver? Does he speed? Take sharp corners? Anything else I need to know?”

Again, the old car smiled wider, “Now, I can’t tell you that! I didn’t get to know beforehand and neither do you! I will say this, if you take care of him he’ll take care of you. Try not to break down too much, I’ve been giving him hell recently and it would be nice for him to have a break from that for a while. He and I had a good run. Been together 6 years, I was his first car you know. We’ve seen some cool places, driven to and from his family's house more times than I can count. It’s a pretty drive, mostly through a forest. In the winter the snow sticks to the trees and it is the most precious sight. Make sure he doesn’t accidentally turn off at that rest stop that is always closed, he tends to try to do that. You know, he drove me out to South Dakota once. The flattest most beautiful land you’ve ever seen. And one night he parked and sat on my hood and we watched the stars together, that big spoon-shaped one took up most of the horizon. Another time he took me to Detroit, and while I’m sure the city has its charms, and he did some good work there, it’s not an experience I’d like to relive. I’m not saying it was bad, but there were definitely some guys looking at me funny, and that is not a place where a car wants to get stolen.

He likes to drive his friends around sometimes, most of them are ok. Although that Jimmy, as long as he’s sober it’s fine, it’s when he’s drunk there’s the problem. He likes to kick the back of the seat. I suppose it could be worse. It doesn’t happen terribly often, and you’ll know when it’s about to happen, it’ll be late at night when he usually doesn’t go out. Just grit your teeth and bear it, it’s a small price to pay for having a decent owner.”

The new car stared in wonder as the old car finished his story. Maybe he had expected to end up with someone rich and powerful with a huge garage and their own personal mechanic. And when he had seen his new owner at the dealership, he had been terrified of what might happen next, would he be used at all hours, never having a tire change or basic maintenance done? Would he be driven for 2 years and then replaced? He had seen that happen to another car, resold to the same place after just one year! But it seemed now that he had gotten lucky. “This doesn’t sound as bad as I thought!” he yelled to the old car, “maybe in a year or two he’ll get a place with a garage, you never know right?!”

The old car smiled, “Don’t get your hopes up kid, he wants to be an artist.”