THE ABANDONED CAR

When Thenu first found the car, it was almost covered with thick vines and had a thick layer of rust on its surface.

It was an old Toyota, and would have been light blue at one point in time, until someone had abandoned it on the other side of the paddy field where Thenu found it. A tall layer of grass had hidden it in sight for a few years, making it difficult for anyone to see it from the road. He counted it as luck, that boredom during the extended school holidays had made him travel a little further away than usual from his house, in search of adventure. And it was amazing he had actually found it!

Excited about his find, 10-year-old Thenu decided to go to work on it. Borrowing some of his father’s tools, he pulled out the vines and began sandpapering the rusty spots. The inside of the car was a mess too. There were all kinds of things growing inside, no steering wheel or a front seat and when he opened the boot, there was no engine or battery. But Thenu was already inventing stories in his mind to play inside the car when he finally managed to give it a proper clean.

Then one morning, when he arrived at the car he found a little girl, peering in through the windows.

“Hey! This is my spot,” frowned Thenu. The girl jumped in surprise.

“You scared me!” she said with a deeper frown.

“Well I think you are trespassing, this is MY car,” said Thenu.

“I don’t see your name on it!” came the quick reply.

“I found it first!” he glared at her.

There were choice words exchanged before Thenu, who tried to handle things without too much conflict said: “Alright! Alright! Let’s share it then,”

The girl paused. “If we share, do I get to make the inside pretty?” she asked.

The word ‘pretty’ sent a shiver down his spine, as images of pink flowers and glitter filled his mind. “As long as you don’t make it horrendous,” he grimaced.

The girl set her mouth in a thin line. “I’ll TRY not to,” she said sarcastically.

And over the next few days Thenu found himself building a friendship with the girl, whose name was Geetha. She happened to have quite a vast imagination that added to what was going to happen with the car, and they both found their games mingling quite well with each others as they worked on it.

A week later, when Thenu and Geetha reached the car that was looking quite spotless now, they found a small made boy playing inside it.

“TRESSPASSERS NOT ALLOWED,” shouted Geetha charging towards him.

The boy scrambled out in fear. “I- I was just playing,” he said anxiously.

Thenu felt sorry for him and asked: “If you want to play with us you have to tell us how you can help improve this car?”

The boy thought for a few minutes. “Well I have some leftover paint at home, I can help paint the car,” he said brightly.

Looking at the brown rust that covered the car, both children nodded their heads at this. “Bring the paint tomorrow and we’ll see,” Geetha said firmly.

The next day they found the boy, whose name was Fawaz standing with two buckets of paint impatiently waiting for them. “See here!” he said pointing at the back of the car. “I painted it a little bit to show you how it will look.”

It looked bright yellow and had white polkadots. “Quite the artist I see,” said Geetha. Thenu patted him on the back. “Looks fine to us!” he said.

In another week the car was complete. Geetha had managed to find an old cushion set and had replaced the front seat. They had washed it thoroughly so it smelt better too. The car stood a beacon of yellow and white, shining in the sun. A ‘No trespassers allowed’ sign was attached to it.

And three children, full of wonder and delight played the day away without thought of time or differences.