Wow I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I have an uncanny ability to win contests. My most recent victory with the fates has won me another car. I have three other, and all of them were free. This one is a P.T. Cruiser, my dream car. It is dandelion yellow with ash gray trim- “tre tre chic”.
As I step inside, my nostrils flare with the clean and toxic smell. I can’t breathe. My vanilla spray is definitely in order. I wouldn’t want to damage the car on it’s first drive, so I skim the owner’s manual. Oil changing, annual maintenance, furnishings, those are all things I can look at later. Just as I’m about to close it up and rev into the sunset, I see one section that is unfamiliar. Quickly I flip open to that page and notice a diagram of a button. It doesn’t say exactly what the function is, but more specific procedures for pushing it. That’s weird, I think. Most buttons don’t come with instructions. It tells me to hold it down for ten seconds, after which the top will pop off and another, smaller but more important button will appear. This button I need only push once and very briefly, otherwise the consequence could be steep.
Finally, curiosity overcomes my better judgment, and I seek out the location of this mysterious component to my latest reward. It sits, quite nonchalantly and obtrusively, right upon the dashboard. For a short period of time I wonder why I didn’t notice this before, but soon disregard that thought as irrelevant to my quest in discovering the function of this button.
OK. Here goes nothing! I push the button, holding ten seconds. Just as the manual proclaimed, a cover lifted and the second button was revealed. I very gently tapped. By now my anticipation had built up so much, I had to let a squeak out. Just a little one, but full of emotion(as I suspect most squeaks are).
After it a lifetime of waiting. Waiting for something. Being unsure of what I was waiting for seems to have been the hardest part. If I had known what it was going to do, I would most likely be bored, but since I didn’t, I wasn’t. Finally, Finally! There was a change. Just a slight change, but a change nonetheless. The glove box to the right of the driver’s seat opened, and a small tray was lifted by several tiny mechanisms all working together. I could see them, rotating and twisting at a pace similar to a hummingbird’s heart rate. They glinted off the sun in a pattern that took me seconds to decipher.Once that was done and gone, I focused my attention back to the tray. On it sat a little rectangular box. It was approximately one centimeter high, six centimeters lengthwise, and four centimeters widthwise. The color was a sophisticated urban gray, but with a matte texture telling me it must have been made of a stiff paper.
Then it came to me. It’s gum! Chewing gum. The kind used when fresh breath is desired! And so I lifted from the tray very carefully, being sure that this wouldn’t cause another event, and slowly, I opened the box. Sure enough, covered about midway down to hold it in inside, was a piece of gum. Just one. I unwrapped it and popped it in my mouth eagerly. The taste was astonishing! It made me want to puke! I couldn’t understand why anybody on earth would choose such a combination of flavors! There was mint first, which was refreshing until the broccoli, lemon, and sugar taste came about. I soon spit the gum out and guzzled down my entire water bottle.After the disappointment faded, I remembered my new car and hopped in. Putting the key in the ignition and starting the engine was just the prologue to an extraordinary experience. The radio had inexplicable sound. My favorite station was already tuned in and a Coldplay song called Yellow was playing.
As I drove off into the sunset, the director cut the scene and I was off work until tomorrow. “Great job!” said my acting agent. “That was by far you’re best shoot all week. Just one thing… Did they play that prank on you?”
“Yeah. Well, I think so. The gum. It was revolting. That was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever had to cover up on stage.”
“You sure covered it, though. I didn’t notice a single twitch that shouldn’t have happened. Great job!”
As I step inside, my nostrils flare with the clean and toxic smell. I can’t breathe. My vanilla spray is definitely in order. I wouldn’t want to damage the car on it’s first drive, so I skim the owner’s manual. Oil changing, annual maintenance, furnishings, those are all things I can look at later. Just as I’m about to close it up and rev into the sunset, I see one section that is unfamiliar. Quickly I flip open to that page and notice a diagram of a button. It doesn’t say exactly what the function is, but more specific procedures for pushing it. That’s weird, I think. Most buttons don’t come with instructions. It tells me to hold it down for ten seconds, after which the top will pop off and another, smaller but more important button will appear. This button I need only push once and very briefly, otherwise the consequence could be steep.
Finally, curiosity overcomes my better judgment, and I seek out the location of this mysterious component to my latest reward. It sits, quite nonchalantly and obtrusively, right upon the dashboard. For a short period of time I wonder why I didn’t notice this before, but soon disregard that thought as irrelevant to my quest in discovering the function of this button.
OK. Here goes nothing! I push the button, holding ten seconds. Just as the manual proclaimed, a cover lifted and the second button was revealed. I very gently tapped. By now my anticipation had built up so much, I had to let a squeak out. Just a little one, but full of emotion(as I suspect most squeaks are).After it a lifetime of waiting. Waiting for something. Being unsure of what I was waiting for seems to have been the hardest part. If I had known what it was going to do, I would most likely be bored, but since I didn’t, I wasn’t. Finally, Finally! There was a change. Just a slight change, but a change nonetheless. The glove box to the right of the driver’s seat opened, and a small tray was lifted by several tiny mechanisms all working together. I could see them, rotating and twisting at a pace similar to a hummingbird’s heart rate. They glinted off the sun in a pattern that took me seconds to decipher.Once that was done and gone, I focused my attention back to the tray. On it sat a little rectangular box. It was approximately one centimeter high, six centimeters lengthwise, and four centimeters widthwise. The color was a sophisticated urban gray, but with a matte texture telling me it must have been made of a stiff paper.
Then it came to me. It’s gum! Chewing gum. The kind used when fresh breath is desired! And so I lifted from the tray very carefully, being sure that this wouldn’t cause another event, and slowly, I opened the box. Sure enough, covered about midway down to hold it in inside, was a piece of gum. Just one. I unwrapped it and popped it in my mouth eagerly. The taste was astonishing! It made me want to puke! I couldn’t understand why anybody on earth would choose such a combination of flavors! There was mint first, which was refreshing until the broccoli, lemon, and sugar taste came about. I soon spit the gum out and guzzled down my entire water bottle.After the disappointment faded, I remembered my new car and hopped in. Putting the key in the ignition and starting the engine was just the prologue to an extraordinary experience. The radio had inexplicable sound. My favorite station was already tuned in and a Coldplay song called Yellow was playing.
As I drove off into the sunset, the director cut the scene and I was off work until tomorrow. “Great job!” said my acting agent. “That was by far you’re best shoot all week. Just one thing… Did they play that prank on you?”
“Yeah. Well, I think so. The gum. It was revolting. That was definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever had to cover up on stage.”
“You sure covered it, though. I didn’t notice a single twitch that shouldn’t have happened. Great job!”
XOXOXO, JC
