The Weirdest Thing Ever

Julia started first grade today. Now Jenna's down for a nap, and I have the house to myself for the first time since May. I thought I would take this opportunity to tell you about the weirdest thing that ever happened to me.

I was about seven and we were living in Big Spring, Texas. Big Spring wan't a huge town, but it did have a busy downtown that got congested at noon and rush hour. One day, my mom and I were driving around downtown. We were in our old Plymouth Scamp. It really wasn't that old; it just always felt old. The Scamp was a gold-colored two-door car. Very '70s. For some reason, the passenger door (where I was sitting, without a seatbelt of course -- this was probably 1978) did not close all the way. It was tied shut with a piece of bright yellow rope. When you took a corner too quick, the door still swung open a little bit. And the glove compartment would pop open, which was a problem unrelated to the broken door. I can't believe we rode around like that. Anyway, so my mom and I are in the Scamp when suddenly my mom feels something bite her in her shirt. She looks down and sees a little pincher claw which was apparently attached to some kind of insect that was in her shirt. So she freaks and starts driving like a maniac. She makes a hard left turn, the glove compartment pops open, my door swings open and my school library book, "For the Love of Benji" (remember that little dog? I loved him.) falls out into the busy intersection. Ordinarily, I would have said something like "Hey, my library book just fell out." But I knew that under these circumstances, I should keep my mouth shut. My mom parks at the library and runs inside. (She later said she ran inside the library and tore her clothes off, which made my brother and me laugh hysterically. She then clarified that she made it into the restroom before tearing her clothes off.) She never found what it was that had bitten her.

So we go home. I still haven't said anything about the book -- I figure we'll have to pay for it or something. Then my dad comes home from work and says, "I was driving downtown today and found a book in the street so I picked it up and brought it home. It's about Benji." He handed it to me. My library book! He had no idea it was mine or that I had even lost the book.

I think we got the door fixed eventually.