Christmas Cars

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  It took me a few days to make a plan for turning my car into Rudolf the Red nosed reindeer. According to the rules, I had until December 18- a little over three weeks-to complete my entry. First and foremost the car needed to have a distinctive red nose. There were a bunch of dinky ones in the grocery stores along with antlers for your car doors but these all looked commercial and cheap. Plus the store noses were all painted red foam. I wanted a nose that really glowed.

  First, I tried to paint a light bulb red, but when I tested it on a traditional lamp the light didn't shine through the paint. It was time to start over with the nose idea. I walked around the hardware store and found nothing that inspired or helped me. Half of my first week was down and I hadn't come up with anything useful. I had to get started on the other aspects of the truck decorations. During school I designed hoof stickers for my hubcaps and printed them out in the graphics department for mere cents.

  Next up was the tail, which I made out of a discarded rabbit hide in my toy chest. The hide was a souvenir from a hunting expo my Dad and I had had attended a handful of years ago. The antlers weren't hard either since my dad had half a dozen of them hanging on the wall in the garage. It took me a while to figure out how to hook them over the car doors, but I managed to create a hook out of metal and wire found in my dad's stuff.

  The truck still seemed rather bare, so I put a row of bells along the edges of the truck bed to symbolize a harness. I realized I needed eyes in the second week and once again designed and printed stickers off at school. After strategically placing them on the hood I felt like the car was starting to come together. I even dared to think that it was looking rather professional, but I still needed one more thing-a nose that would glow as I drove through the night.

  With only one week to go I was starting to get frantic. I couldn't find any light bulbs with colored glass in town, and it was too late to special order online. Desperate, I finally asked mom for help. I approached her nervously not sure how she would react.

  "So, this is why you are putting around in the garage and putting strange stickers on your car?"

  "Yeah," I said. "It is just for fun. Any ideas?"

  "hmm, let me think about it. In the meantime will you run to the flower shop and pick up my order of poinsettias? We need them for the church function this weekend," she said.

  Sighing heavily, I asked if I could take her car. I wasn't thrilled about unveiling mine, though I was already seeing others driving their entries around town freely. I didn't see any glowing noses though so I felt comforted. She agreed and I set out for the flower shop.

  I pulled into the small parking lot outside of Hunt's floral to find a u-haul taking up most of the spaces. I had to maneuver awkwardly in order to pull in. As I rounded the truck and headed to the front I found that there was furniture on the front walk for sale. Not one to turn down a deal I inspected the prices. They were decent, but we didn't need old coffee tables or bed sets. Though, perhaps dad would like that large hutch for his tools in the garage. It didn't matter though, until I won that $500 I wouldn't be able to afford it. By then most of the furniture would probably be gone.

  As soon as the door opened an electronic recording produced a "Ho! Ho! Ho!" I hoped they didn't have that thing playing all year. Instrumental Christmas music was playing on the speakers and the entire place was decked out with red, gold, and green ribbons. The smell of fresh, wet, pine hit my nose and made me ache for our now dead Christmas tree.

  In the center of the store stood a huge Christmas tree that appeared to have real red and white flower ornaments on its branches. The very sight of it took my breath away. I didn't think this tree would even do Leary's house justice. This thing belonged in the White House. Just seeing it made me realize how empty and bare our living room was without one. Only a tree could bring that special glow of Christmas cheer.

  Mrs. Hunt walked briskly down the stairs from the upper story. "Sorry to keep you waiting," she said.

  "What?" I turned away from the tree. "Oh, no problem."

  "How's your family this year, Tom?" she asked.

  "Good. Dad is gone and that's hard on us all, but we're good."

  "I'm glad to hear it. I believe your mom ordered some poinsettias?"

  "Yeah, she sent me to pick up the order." I gestured to her tree. "Great tree."

  "Thank you. We enjoy decorating several each year. Usually, we sell a few for events and parties." She bustled around the counter checking tags attached to clusters of poinsettias.

  I heard bump and a curse from upstairs. Mrs. Hunt stood up and stepped toward the stairs. "You alright up there, Don?"

  "I'm fine. Don't come up."

  Mrs. Hunt sighed and went back to searching for our pointsetta order. I played with some pens on the counter and noticed a pile of bills. They were all marked red as past due. I felt my cheeks heat, embarrassed that I had just found out something very personal about the Hunts without meaning too. I lifted my eyes away from the papers.

  Mr. Hunt appeared on the stairs carrying an armful of cardboard boxes. One of the boxes facing outward had the words "kitchen stuff" written on it. It seemed odd that they were putting kitchen stuff in the top of their flower shop. The door chimed "Ho! Ho! Ho!" again as he left the front door.

  "So what are you doing with the upstairs?" I asked, curious.

  Mrs. Hunt paused. "Well... times have been hard on most everyone financially these days. We discovered that we need to downsize a bit to make it through this rough patch. So were putting in an apartment up there, and getting rid of the house."

  "Oh," I said.

  "So, have you been up to anything fun?" asked Mrs. Hunt still checking tags.

  "Um,?I'm entering the car contest this year." I said.

  "Really? Don is going all out this year too. He keeps listening to that Rudolf song on the radio."

  "Yeah, I can't seem to find a lit up red nose."

  "Why don't you paint a light bulb? I found it." she called, and picked up two poinsettia plants under each arm.

  "Tried that. Doesn't work."

  I stepped up to the register to pay for the plants.

  "Every year at Christmas dinner we put candles in red vases to add atmosphere. Maybe you could try something like that."

  I froze, thinking. "Yeah, that could work. Do you have some? Red vases I mean?"

  Mrs. Hurst smiled. "Why yes, we do. In many sizes."

  She helped me wander around the store until we found the perfect vase. The sides were smooth and round, and the glass clearly red. It was perfect. With trepidation I asked for the price of the vase and found that I could afford it. Now, I just had to rig the thing to glow on the front grill of my truck. I had been designing ways to make this work in my head for days. I hadn't listened in algebra for a full week now. The teacher didn't notice if we slacked off so I had been drawing plans in my notebooks.

  I had always planned for a glass bulb in the design, but a glass vase would require for there to be an extra secure frame for it to rest in. Using my dad's scraps and tools and some wire I attached a secure metal frame for the vase to rest in on the front grill of the car. Next I just had to figure out how to get a light into the red nose.

  At first, my goal was to make the engine the power source for the light. I had magical fantasies of starting the car and having my Rudolph nose light up. I searched the internet for ideas on how to do this and found nothing. I searched among my dad's mechanic books and found nothing. Bitter disappointment crashed down on me as I realized that the deadline was drawing nearer. I had three days to get my car ready before the entry date, and I still wasn't finished. I thought about asking Bill the town mechanic, but I knew he was entering a car too and I feared that he would steal my idea. So, I was stuck until I remembered that Mrs. Hunt had mentioned lighting her vases with candles. Sure I couldn't put a wax, fire-burning candle in the vase while it was attached to the front of my car, but I remembered att
ending my cousin's wedding reception where they had battery operated candles on the tables for decoration. Surely, I could find something like that.

  My feelings were mixed as I wandered through the hardware store that next day after school. I still felt the bitter disappointment of not being able to have the light in sync with my engine, but at least I now had an idea of how to get it to light. I had to ask the clerk about the battery operated lights, and he led me to the correct aisle. The old man led me through the store chatting the entire way.

  When we reached the light aisle the old man continued to talk without missing a beat. "You can buy the lights in different size packs. My mother always bought the 50 packs for our Christmas party every year. My wife and I like the small 10 packs with the white glow. Some of them have a softer yellow glow. Also, my favorites are the ones in this row. They are a bit pricier, but they go on and off with the help of a remote."

  I had only been half listening, but turned when I heard that. "A remote? As in I get to control when it goes on and off from far away?"

  "Magical isn't it? I love using them for a nice night at home with the wife. She swoons every time I put on some soft music and switch on the candle lights."

  I didn't want to imagine an old man romancing his equally old wife. It didn't help that the guy gave me such a huge wink that his mustache went crooked.

  "Yeah, thanks. I don't think I need help anymore, but you've been great. I'll just take a few minutes picking some out and I'll see ya."

  "Glad to be of service." The guy gave me a salute and walked away.

  I sighed in relief and got down to business. Sure, my fantasy about having a glowing nose synced with my ignition wouldn't pan out, but having a remote control for the nose was close enough that I was happy again. After snagging the most promising looking package I headed home, excited to try the lights out as soon as possible.

  They worked! They worked! I called my mom and my brother out to see the finished product. My brother Daniel was pretty impressed, but my mom circled my truck while tapping her nose.

  "Something is missing," she said. "The truck bed is too empty, and it looks dirty."

  "Uh, what should I put in there?" I asked.

  "I don't know let's clean it first and come up with ideas while we work," she said.

  Pretty soon we were sweeping, and swabbing my dirty truck bed together. Mom was right. The dirt and grime were pretty nasty.

  "You should put ice cream in the back," Daniel suggested.

  "Nah," I said. "How about fake snow?"

  "A tree?" mom mused.

  That suggestion was followed with an awkward silence.

  We threw out a few more ideas. Finally, I got it.

  "Presents! It needs presents," I shouted.

  Daniel and Mom stared at me and then looked at each other.

  "He's right," Mom said.

  "I like it!" Daniel agreed.

  "Um, where do we get the presents?" I asked.

  "They will be fake, duh," said Daniel.

  Mom plunged her wash rag into the cleaning bucket. "hmm, I haven't thrown away a handful of cereal boxes yet. We could wrap those up."

  "Cereal boxes?" I asked.

  Daniel tried to hide an amused grin.

  "It is just a start." Mom defended her idea. "After that we can go to the whiskey store and see if they have cardboard boxes. Sara told me the last time she moved her office they were willing to give her a bunch of left over boxes."

  I raised an eyebrow. "We're wrapping empty boxes of alcoholic beverages as Christmas decorations?"

  "Don't forget the cereal boxes." Daniel whispered behind a dramatically flourished hand.

  Mom threw a wet rag at us both. "I still better not find you two drinking till you're of age or I'll tan your hides."

  "Yes, Mom," we said.

  We put aside jesting and got to work. Over the next two days we bought some cheap wrapping paper at the dollar store, acquired the boxes and started to wrap. Mom tied pretty bows on them and arranged them in the back of the truck.

  We pulled back to survey our work when we had finished. Mom had been right about the truck bed, what had once been a gaping ugly hole had transformed into a festive and bright Christmas display.

  "I think we are going to win," I said and pushed the button to light up the nose. It lit up the dark wall of the garage with a soft red glow.