A Silver Bow New Bent In Heaven

by Mike Mayak

“Crazy going to a car wash at night,” Artie Beechcroft said.

“Yeah,” Ferdie Ridgeway said. “But it’s not night yet, it’s just around seven-fifteen.”

“Town I grew up in, car wash and convenience store might be the only places open on Saturday night.” Artie said.

“Yeah,” Ferdie said. “To be twenty-something, and out on our own on a Saturday with nothing to do.”

“Except maybe a term paper back at the dorm,” Artie said. “Gotta love Spring. Hey, there’s the car wash.”

They’d driven down West street after leaving Saturday evening Mass at the College and were doing their usual bit of driving around in Ferdie’s beat-up ‘74 Mustang, stopping at the mall, grabbing something to eat and staving off boredom.

“Looks like they got a line,” Ferdie said pulling in behind several cars at the automated car wash.

“Yeah, and you just drive up, punch in a few buttons and swipe your credit card,” Artie said. “Gotta love all this Jetsons stuff.”

“Yeah, and if we get stuck in the car wash we blare the horn,” Ferdie said.

“Hey, what the hell?” Artie breathed.

There were two cars ahead of them, one with a customer paying for their wash. From the car right behind the paying car someone snuck out, crouched down and ducked between the cars. In another minute, he slipped back into their car and Ferdie and Artie could see him clutching a license plate.

“That guy just stole that…” Artie said.

“Yeah, I saw,” Ferdie said. “Hang on.”

Ferdie opened the armrest and to Artie’s amazement pulled out a car phone. In another moment he had dialed a number.

“Mom and Dad and my Grandparents went in on this,” Ferdie said. “They didn’t want me to be stuck somewhere. Sometimes it’s nice when your family still thinks you’re in grade school and…hello? Yeah. I’d like to report…”

Ferdie gave them all the information he had and then pulled out of the line to tell the owner of the ripped-off car when he came out of the wash and had Artie run into the office to tell them.

Then Ferdie drove he and Artie down the street to the convenience store to be a safe distance away when the police arrived.

“Yeah, another dull Saturday Night!” Ferdie said as they sat in the car munching cheap convenience store tacos.

“Yeah,” Artie said. “Hey, look!”

He pointed at the western horizon. Clouds had moved and they could just see a thin sliver of Moon in the Western sky.

“Like to a silver bow, new bent in Heaven,” Artie quoted. He grinned. “Glad we read Shakespeare!”

“Yeah, but he never wrote about a car wash!” Ferdie said laughing.

—end—

AUTHOR’S NOTE; Title is from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” —-mike