When Life and Death Meet

June 12th

    With summer having just started, and the sun high in the sky, Scooter tugged on Tim's sleeve, trying to get him out of the house quickly.

    "C'mon dad! C'mon! Hurry!" She began to giggle, dragging him down their porch steps and to the street.

    "Hold your horses! The truck won't be going anywhere, we have plenty of time." Tim let out a light laugh, shaking his head.

    "I know, but still! I wanna get in and start driving it around!"

    "As long as I'm in there with you! You still have a week or two before you can get your license." Scooter barely even listened to her dad, leading him to the Mackleburg house, where the happy couple was sitting on their own porch, holding any paperwork that was needed when selling a used car to someone.

    "Hello Mr. Mackleburg, Mrs. Mackleburg." Tim gave them a nod as he watched the couple stand and walk over to the truck.

    "Timmy! Scooter! Are you guys ready to get your new truck?" Mr. Mackleburg hugged the two, who returned it.

    "Yep, Scooter's been bugging me all day about it!" The dad chuckled, rubbing his hands together before pulling his wallet out. "Nine thousand six hundred bucks, right?" He eyed Mr. Mackleburg, who nodded while looking over his paperwork.

    Tim wrote out the check, and he exchanged it with the paperwork.

    "Alright, here's the registration... proof of this interaction..." Mr. Mackleburg continued to name off the different documents.

    Scooter was basically ignoring the legal parts of this sale and was focusing all her attention on the truck. She ran her hand across the side panel, looking inside the bed. She already had so many plans for when she got her license and could drive this vehicle wherever she wanted.

    It didn't take long for the sale to happen, and Scooter was hopping into the driver's seat, waiting for her dad to get in beside her.

    "Welp, thank you sir for the truck! We really appreciate it!" Tim called out as he started to get in the front seat, Mr. Mackleburg waving to them.

    "Oh, it's no problem! Enjoy!"

    Soon, Scooter was driving her new truck home, her dad in the passenger's seat, giving her tips here and there, occasionally yelling at her to slow down, even though she was only going 20 mph in a 25 mph speed limit.

    They finally got home, and while Tim got out of the truck and headed inside, Scooter stayed in her seat for a while. She looked around the silent trunk, breathing in, the scent of greasy dirt and... a hint of mouse urine? Scooter wrinkled her nose a bit, but shook her head and ignored it. She knew she would get used to it in no time, it would just become the smell she would learn to love. The seats were worn out and had the occasional rip, but she didn't mind. There were dead bugs littering the flooring. I can just run through with a small vacuum, but if I clean it, will it ruin the authenticity? I don't wanna mess the truck up... Scooter sighed and shook her head, a weak smile finding its way on her face as she gave one last glance to the truck, before getting out of her seat and locking the door.

    The rest of the day was going by pretty slowly, and nothing really interested Scooter about it. Sure, she was happy she had gotten her truck, but now that she had it, and she couldn't drive it yet, she was feeling bored with nothing to do. She forgot about this depressing part of summer. The part where all her friends were going out, while she's stuck at home, trying to think of something to distract herself, but ultimately, she couldn't find anything that would satisfy her desire to be active. It wasn't that bad, it only really affected her when night fell.