No, not the wild-spirited, color-splotched mare with mane streaming like flames-thrown behind in the wind Taking desert inclines with scuffing hooves on rock catching her balance in mesquite curbing? The sage, dust All that nature throws in its pathway to knowledge toward treachery of crosswalks?
“P-l-e-a-s-e don't slow down! Stop signs--? ”No! Just keep going! Don't slow down now!”
“They'll hear us coming 3 blocks away!”
Pinto? Clogged carburetor--? No one much-mentioned rear-end inferno reputation?? A mere twinge in my signature Woman-without-a-clue
“Hey, it runs, right? Gets where we're goin'?”
Kids duck in back seat so as not to be seen In the cloud of smoke We make our approach
Hiss Spitter, Belch, Pop and--
BANG!
--Like a gunshot
Kids take cover on street, in backseat duck down so not to be noticed...
“Oh Ma! MA!!! Not right here! Farther down!”
...so not to be seen ...by friends that matter... in this ride from hell! Backfiring Beast--
“Friends” skitter away from what will emerge from the smoke and fumes of high-risk-situation
Kids spill out through jammed door to unexpected accolades onto equality's curb of laughter Public school's wake of exhaust and relief
I drive mercifully away
Start of another school day
True. I swear! Had this car for a short while in the early 80s when I went back to college. It met its demise in a front-end collision. Woman with no license ran a stop sign, plowing me into a utility pole. The Pinto's reputation for fiery explosions burst across my mind. I couldn't help but note the clicking hissing sound. No time to think of my banged-up head. Door was jammed, but window still rolled down, so I climbed through it in a skirt, no less, and ran. Car was totaled. If the collision had been just a little farther back, I might not be writing about it.