The alley car- this is a small, once sportsy car that stays parked deep into the overgrowth along the back alley that runs behind my apartment. It has been covertly hidden underneath a thin, pale cover, untouched, since I moved here a few years ago. As some things do after being still and stationary for long periods of time, it became invisible to me. I stopped noticing it and wondering about its story until this morning when a rip in the worn out cover caught my eye. A fabric tear that revealed a bit of headlight. Hmmm. I hesitated and looked for evidence it had recently, or ever, been moved, but except for the impressions in the grass made by the bunnies who were with me today, nothing looked amiss. No tire tracks, no blood (Of course I cannot be certain of that, since I forgot my spray bottle of luminol this morning.)
Why would someone hide an innocent car, and why for soo long? While I stood staring at the poor thing, I felt a sense of relief. Was it glad it was hidden? Did it feel safe under such rampant growth and did the fabric feel more like a beloved nunu (a blanket, usually made by someone who loves you)? or was it just hidden in a fabric disguise? I did not sense crime or murder and mayhem here. No, it felt like intentional hiding, or maybe the mystery of the hidden car was inviting curiosity. I ruminated as I walked through the stagnant and hot haze of this August morning.
On my way back, I realized that the way the little car was backed in made it hard for most passers-by to see- EXCEPT - except if you lived directly across from it. It was then that the story unfolded in my heart. This car had belonged to Uncle Carl who lived on a farm in Minnesota 83 years ago. His family and four generations back had settled and worked this farm diligently until Uncle Carl became ill.
Uncle Carl's nephew, Abie, loved, loved, loved his uncle! Abie's mom, who had left the farm when she was 18 (In fact, she couldn't get away fast enough when she became of age, "If I have to snap another bean I'll scream I tell you, I will!") brought Abie to the farm every summer to stay with Uncle Carl and Aunt Jenna. Abie's mom was a teacher, and she spent her summers working on her Masters Degree, in hopes of eventually providing a better life for her lovely son, Abie. He enjoyed the farm life, the animals, the gardening, and even the vegetable preserving. The summers at the farm made for a great childhood for Abie. It gave a balance to his life. He was a studious child, he helped his mom during the year when she was so busy teaching, grading papers, and together they made a nice team, but by school's end every year, he was ready for a change and time spent on Uncle Carl's farm gave him that.
He learned to drive the tractor one year and got so good at it that his uncle let him drive his old truck around some of the dirt roads around the area. The big blue barn, though, was where the dream drive stayed. Uncle Carl had a cool car that rode smooth and drove fast. Sometimes, Abie and Uncle Carl would hit the highway in it and drive for hours, cranking up the radio and singing loud and long! Abie spent many hours just sitting behind the wheel in the barn, pretending he was driving all over creation. Although his uncle never let him drive that car, he told Abie that one day, the car would be his, and he taught him how to change the oil, replace belts, and how to wax it to shiny perfection.
When his uncle became ill, Abie worked extra hard to help around the farm. Uncle Carl would sometimes miss the early morning cow milking, so Abie made sure the cows were milked and he collected the eggs, crated them, too. Aunt Jenna took good care of her farmer husband, but it wore her out, to bits. Good days were fewer, hard days came around more and more often. Even so, summers spent with those two were memorable and dream-worthy.
One winter's night, back in Seattle, Abie woke up to the phone ringing. He heard his mother's voice, then heard her crying. He got up to see what had happened and she said Uncle Carl had gone to see his maker, and Aunt Jenna was selling the farm and was going to live in Hawaii, where she had secretly always wanted to be. The mother and son sat on the edge of her bed, side by side all night, neither saying a word. Sadness filled the dark room.
A few months later, Abie came home from school to see something familiar parked out front. Could it be? For real? There sat Uncle Carl's magic car! Abie's mom said, "Finally!!!!" and she excitedly handed him an envelope with his name on it. Inside was the title to the car and Abie's name was listed as "owner". He couldn't believe it. Every time he drove that car, he felt his uncle's presence with him. Abie took as good a care of that car as ever, and he drove it all through his years in high school and college. Eventually, the miles added up and the car wore down, like Uncle Carl had.
Abie could not let it go. When hard days came around, Abie tinkered with the engine or washed it , shined it up, and he always felt better after that. Abie felt Uncle Carl talking with him like they used to so many years ago. The memories were fresh and present.
When Abie moved into his first apartment, he had the car towed and parked it right off the alley, in the brush where no one would really notice it. Abie backed it into a spot that he could see very clearly from his kitchen and his bedroom. Abie lived there for many years, and even when he got old and feeble, he remained clear on that car and what it meant. He used his cane to help him get across the alley some days, then the walker. When the ramp was added to the deck, he used his wheelchair to get to the beloved car, just so he could sit and look and remember.
One day Abie didn't visit the car. He didn't visit the next day or the next. The neighbors began to worry. They called for a welfare check, the friendly police obliged, but he was nowhere to be found. A month went by, then two. Where was Abie? He never was found, but- in the early spring, something very peculiar made itself known.
Neighbor Audrey was walking her dog and noticed a sparkly something that seemed to be coming from along the alley. As she approached she saw that the little old car was bright and shiny and new again, as if by magic! She cleaned up her dog's poop and ran to tell the neighbors of her discovery. They surrounded the shiny vehicle and made a pact. They knew where Abie was and this is where he would stay, so they got some faint colored fabric and covered the car and vowed to never move it.
One by one the neighbors either died or moved and the story of Abie was almost lost until today! Maybe I'll buy a new fluff of cover for it so it can bring good juju for a while longer, we could sure use it.
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