Something Strange Happened One Night

One day while running errands, I discovered something very odd about my car. It was in the same place I left it and it had the same license plate, but it did not look the same. Something was different and I couldn’t quite figure it out.

As I walked closer I studied my vehicle to determine what off about it. When I was about 10 feet away, I finally saw it.

The grill that was supposed to be on the front of my car was missing.

Instead was a look directly into blackness. It looked unfinished without the grill, but also a little cool. The question remained.

What happened to my grill?

As I pondered this question, I remembered a strange occurrence from the night before. It was a cold, windy night and I couldn’t bring myself to run outside, so I dragged myself to spend time on the boring ol’ treadmill at the gym.

After a decent enough run, for a mill run, I braved the wintry temperatures as I walked quickly to my car. No sooner as I got the car started, I turned up the heat though I was still pretty warm from my workout.

I pulled out of the parking lot, but I didn’t get very far before I heard a terrible noise. It sounded like I ran over something. It was so loud I turned around in the deserted street to investigate. I kept thinking I must have hit an animal or something that damaged my tires. Maneuvering my vehicle so I could see the culprit of the noise in my headlights, I found it. Thankfully, it wasn’t an animal and it didn’t appear to be too menacing since it floated off the road with the help of the wind. With the mystery semi-solved, I continued on my way.

Now, sitting in my car the next morning, I knew what the mysterious item was. I had to go back to find it. The night had brought storms with high winds and hail. I knew it was unlikely in the same place. The wind had already blown it off the road the night before. No telling where it was now, but I knew I had to try.

Driving the route I took the previous night, I scanned the road and surrounding grass. To my surprise, I uncovered it fairly easy. I got out in the light of day and picked up the grill my car felt the need to deposit the night before.

My car is old and well loved. I often tell people I plan to drive it until it falls apart. In fact, I said it again not long after this little incident. The response was something along the lines of “Um. I think your car IS falling apart!”

I suppose it is, gosh darn it.