The Chronicles of the Mint Green Camper Van

Chapter 1

It all started one day when my girlfriend Kira and I were driving to work. We've been absent-mindedly wishing for an old mint green Volkswagen van for years now, and when we saw one parked at a yellow house near the bookstore she works at, we came up with a (potentially horrible) idea.

We had nowhere near enough money to afford buying one at full price, so we decided we would walk up to their front door with the little cash that we had, and hope that this mystery family would cut us a deal since they had another van already parked in the driveway.

Every time we passed the house we would imagine who lives inside it. (After weeks of debate, we decided it had to be a newly wed couple that was in their mid-thirties – fresh off of living in one of their two vans during a three year long stay in the Rocky Mountain Region.)

Admittedly, it took us longer than we'd have liked to build up the courage to approach them. But after two months of toying with the idea (and an unexpected amount of free time before work one day), we knew that if we didn't do it now, that we probably never would.

When the day finally came, we parked behind Mr. O'Malley's bookstore as we always did, and began the trek to the yellow house that has been in the historical district that is home to our dream van. The house was a faded shade of pastel that was likely due to how long it has been around, and not one of conscious design choice. Freshly planted conifers lined the front porch with white columns that have been eroded by weather, and a freestanding ficus rested to the right of the front door.

Since Kira was the one who noticed the van in the first place, she guilted me into being the one to knock as she stood by my side.

"They're going to love you Cal. They might even be the trendy couple from the store who always brings their two kids in to see if we have any new leather bound journals," she croons.

"Or we could be totally wrong, and this might be the half-insane man who always wanders in without spending a single dollar," I reply sarcastically. "Standing so close to their house without knocking is stressing me out though, so are you ready to do this?"

Kira looks down at her feet and scrunches her nose in the cute way that she does when she's nervous and says, "I don't know. I kind of like the mystery of not knowing who they are and of having this grand dream to think about. As stupid as it sounds, I don't want this to be over."

Her saying that tugs at the dreamer in me too, but before I let our minds win again, I realize we have to see this through. "I know this has been such a fun idea to let our minds wander with, but imagine how great it would be if this works out even better than we thought. And you know that Rick Rubin quote that I love about finishing projects so that we can start something new. This is exactly that, just in a really round about and basically unrelated way."

She huffs a breath at me, "To keep you from quoting Rick Rubin again, let's just get this over with. I drank too much coffee and need to pee anyways."

I take another step towards the door, and before I can think anything of it, my hand is gently knocking at the door with the three thuds that I've become accustomed to doing when I decided I needed to add something 'more unique' to my personality as a kid.

Nearly twenty seconds pass without hearing a sound from inside, but right as I'm deciding if we should knock again or to turn around and leave, I hear a metallic lock rattle from inside.

The intricately carved (and equally eroded) white door in front of us gently swings open. A gray haired woman that simply can't be under the age of seventy five smiles at us and sweetly says, "Oh hello there! How can I help you two? Do you know my husband Richard? He's always having past students come and visit him."

Kira and I share a quick glance that simultaneously says we were wrong about their age, and that we may have a better chance with this van proposal than we thought. I nervously scratch my head and stutter a bit as I say, "Um, no. We actually have a really random question."

I look over at Kira, then to the van, and then back at the old woman. "Kira works at the bookstore around the corner and we drive past your house every day, which led us to see your awesome green van parked out front. We saw that you have two, and I know this is an insane question to ask, but is there any chance you're open to selling the mint green one to us?"

The woman looks down and puts her hand to her heart while a somber smile tugs at her lips. "That van was actually our nephew's who passed away recently. And honestly, the only reason I opened the door today and didn't tell Richard to do it was because your reddish-brown curls reminded me of Jess when he was younger."

After another moment where I can tell she's thinking about what to say, I can visibly see her becoming closed off. "Jess was always such a dreamer, but I don't know if I'm ready to part with that van yet." A few more moments pass as her eyes scan the street around us. "How about this. Will you come back a week from today and I can let you know? I just need some time to think this over."

I cut in maybe a little too quickly, "That would be perfect. Thank you for considering this at all, and just know that if this is too much that it's okay.."

A flash of intensity passes through her eyes that is gone within a second, so quick that I could have imagined it. After a moment she says, "I think this happened for a reason. It's just a little sudden, and I want to make sure I do Jess right by how I deal with this. Does 10am work for you both?"

"My shift starts at 11, so we can stop in on the way to work," Kira interjects. We begin to turn slowly, and with one last longing look at the van I say, "We'll see you on Friday."

End of Chapter 1