Prequel: All Locked Up

Oh what a crazy day...my first time driving with my sister and we were late not less. "Hurry!" she yelled as we rushed through town. "Go Faster. We're going to miss the bus!" What a good role model and real world driving instructor. My sister was never known for her safe driving and she apparently was fine with passing that style on to me as well. I remember the rush I felt exceeding the speed limit just outside of town. 55...56...57! Oh, the wild man behind the wheel of that gray Calais. The quad four screaming in protest at the g-forces as we rounded the gentle curve towards the high school.

There is was, the bus. It hadn't left, but we assumed it was waiting for us. As I flew into the parking lot and found a close spot...parking perfectly as I recall...the press was still on. Go Go Go! Put it in park, grab your bags, lock the doors, slam them shut and on to the bus! Yes, victory! We had made it and I had not ended my first driving mission in failure.

The fact was, however, we didn't even need to rush at all. The bus sat in place for several more minutes. I guess they were waiting for someone else, or my sister didn't know when it was actually scheduled to leave, but the fact of the matter is we were fine on time. So fine, in fact, that I had plenty of time to ponder my recent high speed dash and it felt good to been given a chance and not to have let my sister down. She sure wouldn't have had any reason to be doubt her choice to hand me the keys. The keys. Now, where did I put those...in my pocket? Hmmm...that's strange. If they weren't in any of my pockets, did I drop them? I ventured off the bus to search the ground. There wasn't much ground to cover and it was all pavement. The keys had not fallen from my pockets so I went back further...to the car. Sure enough, they were in the car. Locked up tight where they would be safest. That was just great. Now I needed to fess up that I screwed up, to my sister no less. I tried to justify my mistake and blame her for rushing me, but it was my fault. So we used the school phone to call my mother at work and told her we needed her to bring the spare key right away. Why right away? Why couldn't she bring them up when she had finished what she was doing? Oh, didn't I tell you...the car was still running.