Yoo 285 - A Tribute to Babar, A Story: Pt 1

I have all sorts of sad news for you today.

Sad news the first:

I finally went to band practice. This might not be sad in and of itself, but my performance, after not playing for two months, certainly was. 

Sad news the second:

I don't really have any sad news the second. This is filler text to make the next point seem even more dramatic.

Oh wait! They're going to poke my finger at work today and tell me that the all-knowing BMI scales say I'm obese and also that I have high cholesterol. That's going to be sad.

Ok, the really sad news (the third):

The Kyoodad is selling Babar!!

Like, this Babar, guys!

(i thought i had way more pictures of him...sad news the fourth that this is the only one i could find).

He was "my" car from the most junior of high school years...skip freshman year of college...all the way thru an internship and college semester number 8 of 9.

That's a long time!

The Morgan and Dylan sisters both had a brief stint where they called him their own...but they didn't love him and take him off to the exotic lands out west for college, like I did. So he's been holding down the fort that is the Kyooparent's backyard for quite some time now. Just sitting there, trying not to be an eyesore and wishing he had people to tell all his cool stories to.

Cool stories like spending a night guarding precious cargo (me and Elizabeth) at a gas station in Miles City, MT on a Rexburg to Winnipeg to Clay Center road trip.

And carting the "Polly Peptides" along a [dam] marathon relay course.

And looooooooooong drives thru Nebraska and Wyoming and Utah and Idaho. And then back again. And then there again. And then back again...you get the idea.

And so many weekend excursions with the Katiefriend. Where we usually almost died and then Babar welcomed us back with open doors and was so happy to see us and we were even more elated to see him.

And how, for the better part of our time together, his dashboard was adorned with a line of army men, simply because I found myself sitting there one day with army men and sticky tack and nothing better to do than decorate.

(^^ lining a dashboard looking almost identical to this vv).

(they kept my passengers under control).

And then there's the best story of them all.

So good, I probably haven't told you yet. Or just about anyone else that didn't know me at the time. But it shaped me as a teenager. Shaped.

So pay attention.

[from Babar's perspective]

It was a bitterly cold Nebraska morning. And not just cold, snowy cold. I sat out on that lonely street all blistery night long while the skies dumped on me and the tree branches that normally sheltered with leaves in the summer did little to stay the storm. By the time that snowplow came by, I was a ghost of my typically regal maroon self. A thin layer of ice crystals had formed on my windows and a thick, smooth layer of fluffy snowflakes covered every remaining surface.

If only there was a way I could alert the Kyoodriver. I love her, but I know she doesn't prepare for mornings like this. She probably doesn't even realize that it snowed. I need to be defrosted! Someone needs to tend to these windows! My engine's hovering just above absolute zero! Oh but she won't. She'll come running out that kitchen door at 8:06 am, completely oblivious to the effects of last night's weather, and hop right in with her usual "Ok Babar, tardy bell's at 8:10, let's see what you've got" pep talk.

Oh if only I were a transformer and could grant all of her wishes! I would be the best transformer for her. Helicopter. Jet. Motorcycle. Autonomous car that starts and defrosts at the first indication of inclement weather. Whatever she needed!

But alas, I am limited to the capacities of a simple 1995 Olds Eighty-Eight. (luxury edition).

And so, just as I predicted, Kyoo was absent all early-morning long. The Kyoosiblings started gathering around my doors several minutes before the scheduled 8am departure time, but they did nothing more than throw snowballs and gripe about their Kyoosister. Which I found quite curious considering that their classes started 10 minutes later than hers. But oh how oblivious they were to the pending disaster! Couldn't they warn her?? All they needed to do was scrape the mounds of snow and ice off my laboring windshield! Or at least tell her that it had snowed and maybe to stop jamming to the Harry Potter soundtrack in her bathroom and just leave already.

But they didn't.

And just as scheduled in her own world of Kyootime, there she came, bounding down those patio steps at 8:06 with words of "why couldn't anyone get the car warmed up??" and "who has the keys...you're supposed to get the keys for me" spilling out of her mouth with vigor. It was a typical morning.

I felt so helpless. There wasn't much I could do in the .63 seconds that she gave me to warm up. I knew the situation couldn't end well when I felt my driver and passenger's side windows roll down. Could it really be? Was she going to try to drive to school navigating with her head peering out one side and the Morganhead peering out the other?

"No time to scrape that stupid windshield."

Was all she said.

And we'll stop there for the day. Part two tomorrow! Stay tuned?

And have a moment of silence for Babar! And that the new owner will love him just as much, if not more! And that he'll survive for him for longer than two months...

Have a great day :-)