It has been a month since Francis took Bugs home from the second-hand car dealer and he was now confident about the car's condition, so, he was ready to take it on its first adventure. Francis needed to buy clothes and other things in Grand, the closest bigger town to Valley, the town where Francis lived, and weekend would be a good time to do it.
There was only one way to get to Grand from Valley, which was through Dark forest. The forest was called Dark because it was really, really dark after the sun set. There were stories about car accidents, animal attacks and ghosts in the forest. Those stories were the reasons why people always planned their time well whenever they needed to drive through the forest.
That Saturday morning, Francis woke up earlier than usual. He cleaned Bugs, got ready and had breakfast with his parents.
“Don’t forget to get new socks, Francis!” Francis’ mum reminded.
“I’m sure I won’t, Mum. They all have holes now.”
“You might want to get some cleaning kit for your car.” Francis’ dad suggested.
“Do they have better ones there, Dad?”
“Yes, they do. Try the ‘Car’s Best Friend’ near the police station.”
“Sure. I’ll see what I can find there. Thanks, Dad.”
Francis left the table after finishing his breakfast and saying goodbye to his parents. As he was opening the driver side door, he cheerfully asked Bugs, “You’re ready for the trip?” Bugs quickly replied by blinking its headlights. Then, off they went.
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“... And, the big wild cat ran back into the forest. It showed itself to some people who happened to be in the forest, but no one had been able to catch it.. That’s how the story goes..”
Bugs’ wipers went for a couple of times, showing that it would not want to meet the big cat.
Francis laughed jokingly, “You’re not telling me you’re afraid, are you?”
Bugs blew the exhaust hard, saying that it was not afraid.
At the same time, they were approaching Dark forest. Francis and Bugs had left the house early and now the sun is shining brightly, but the forest still looked dark. They didn’t like to imagine how dark it would look at night time.
As Francis was driving Bugs through the forest, the surrounding did not look as frightening as they thought it would be. Even thought the sun could only touch the ground from the little spots between the trees that were standing densely, Francis and Bugs could still felt the bright day. The radio reception was still working well too. So, it was a nice drive through the forest.
Bugs slowly wound the windows down. Francis smiled as he heard the cheerful sounds of birds and felt the cool wind with the fresh smell of dew and leaves. It was a beautiful morning drive through the forest.
It took Francis and Bugs less than one hour to drive through Dark forest because there was no fog and they could see the path very well. Soon after that, they were entering Grand.
“OK, Bugs! Let’s get some clothes for me first. I’d like to finish before the shops get too crowded.”
Bugs blinked its headlights in agreement.
Francis was very disappointed when he entered the big shopping mall. When he saw the half-empty parking area, he thought that the mall would still be empty. It turned out that a lot of people were avoiding parking hassle and took the public transport. The mall was already full of people and the shops were already crowded. His shopping could not go as quickly as he thought it would be.
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Francis finally came out of the shopping centre after lunch. He put his shopping bags into Bugs’ back seat and he blew a heavy breath, “We still have to go to the market, Bugs. Mum wanted me to get some stock for the kitchen while we’re here.”
Bugs blinked its headlights.
As Francis was driving to the big market, he told Bugs how the shopping was not as easy as he expected. Bugs replied in making soft roaring sound in sympathy.
Francis quickly parked Bugs in the closest spot to the market that he could find. Then, he took a piece of paper from his jeans pocket, shopping list from his mum. Francis raised his eyebrows realising that the things that his mum wanted needed to be bought from different sides of the market, which meant he needed to hurry if he wanted to go home while there was still light!
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Again, Francis was disappointed because the market was also very crowded. It took him much longer to do his shopping than he expected. He came out of the market when the sun was already falling halfway towards the west.
“One more stop, Bugs, and we’re going home!”
Bugs blew the exhaust hard, disagreeing on Francis statement.
“I’m not planning on coming back here again anytime soon. So, we’d better get everything we need today.”
Bugs blew the exhaust hard again.
“I’ll try to be as quick as possible, Bugs. I know that you wouldn’t want me to miss our last stop anyway.”
Then, as they went past the police station, Francis could see the big sign, ‘Car’s Best Friend’. He quickly made a turn into the shop’s parking area.
Bugs quickly blinked its headlights a few times.
“See.. I told you, you wouldn’t want me to miss it! Just be patient for a little longer, then, we’ll be ready to go home.”
This time, the shop was quiet, not many people were shopping there, but the shop assistant told Francis that they kept their stock for VW in the storage because there were not many VW owners came to their shop. They would need time to get what Francis needed and bring those to the shop. After considering the time and cost that he had to spend if he had to come back to Grand another day, he finally agreed to wait.
When the other shop assistant came back from storage with the car cleaning kit that Francis wanted, Francis quickly paid for it and rushed to where he parked Bugs.
“OK, Bugs. We’ve got everything we need. Let’s go home.”
Bugs blinked its headlights rapidly a few times.
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In a short time, they had arrived at the border of Grand and Dark forest. Bugs hesitated for a second which resulted in it stopping in a sudden.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared, Bugs!” Francis was grinning.
Bugs didn’t make any sound at all.
“All I was telling you this morning were stories! They’re not real!”
Bugs still didn’t make any sound.
“Oh, Come on, Bugs! The longer you take, the later we’re going into the forest! It’s going to be nightfall soon, and it’s going to be very dark in the forest. Do you want to be in there when it is dark?”
Bugs finally started up.
“That’s better! Just hang on, Bugs! We’ll be home soon!”
Bugs blinked its headlights.
Francis held his breath as he was driving Bugs into Dark forest. It was still about 2 hours before nightfall, but in the forest, it was already dark. Francis had to turn Bugs’ headlights on to be able to see the path they were on.
They went on slowly, trying not to leave the path they knew and not to be heard by any wild animals that might be around them.
As they came to the middle of the forest, the trees became thicker, and the car often drove softly into tree branches that hang low. Suddenly, there was a loud thud on the top of the car.
Francis jumped, “What was that?”
Bugs blew the exhaust hard.
Francis kept driving, hoping that if it was a big wild cat, it would just jump off and run back into the forest. The thing did not move from the top of car, though. It kept making a thudding noise along the drive.
Francis was trying to decide which was better, to stop and have a look or to keep driving until he could find a safe place, with some people around, to check it out. He finally decided to wait until he found a safe place with people around. So, he kept driving towards Valley.
Francis checked his watch, he estimated 15-20 minutes until he was out of the forest. He tried to stay calm, the last thing he wanted was for Bugs to choke and stop working altogether in the complete darkness.
Finally, Francis and Bugs could see the border of the forest and Valley. The sun was still up for another hour or so. Francis quickly drove towards Valley police station and parked Bugs there.
Once Bugs was parked, Francis unlocked the car. He carefully opened the door without swinging it wide open. He held the stirring wheel lock in both hands and slowly pushed the door out with his foot. Then Francis waited a few seconds.
Nothing happened.
Francis, then took a brave moment to steal a look up to the top of his car. He couldn’t see anything there. Not a big paw of any kind of big wild cat! He waited another few seconds.
Finally, Francis bravely jumped out of his car, and stood facing it. As he looked up, he was facing the thing that had made him scared the last half an hour of his drive.. It wasn’t a big wild cat and it was certainly not a ghost.. it was a big tree branch!
The tree branch was big and sturdy enough to stay still on the top of the car during the drive -Francis was not driving fast anyway-.
Right at that moment, a policeman came out of the station, “Do you need help with that?”
“Yes, Sir. Could you please help me pulling it down?”
“How did it get on your car?”
“It happened in the forest. It fell from the tree just like that, on my way back from Grand. I wasn’t going fast enough to let it fall because it was dark in the forest. I thought it was a wild cat or something.”
“Try not to drive back too late next time.”
“I will. Thank you very much, Officer.”
“Anytime. Drive safely now.”
Francis sighed inside Bugs now, “What a day, Bugs!”
Bugs blinked its headlights.
“I wonder if Herbie’s days were as exciting as yours.”
Bugs was silent for a few seconds, then it started blinking its headlights, moving the wipers and blowing the horn a few times.
Francis laughed, “Maybe not. I guess yours are crazier than Herbie’s.”
Francis looked serious for a minute, then he asked Bugs again, “By the way, Bugs, are you related in any way to Herbie?”
Bugs blinked its headlights.
“Like a great grandson or something?”
Bugs blinked its headlights and moved the wipers a few times.
“Sort of.. OK.. Enough for today, Bugs! I’m ready for bed!”
Bugs blinked its headlights for the last time. After that, they both went quiet until the moment they reached Francis’ house, when Francis parked Bugs and walked out.
“Night, Bugs! I’ll give you a wipe tomorrow morning.”
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