WEEK 320
When Lynda saw her car fall apart in the driveway, she realized she'd forgotten to...


...have it serviced, remembering that her husband told her there was an oil leak, and if she didn't check it regularly the old clunker would simply fall apart.

It had been almost a month since her dear husband of almost fifty years had passed away. Lynda was used to being taken care of, and of course Ted, had always made sure the car was serviced.

Lynda wondered aloud, "How am I going to manage without him?" Gazing upon the broken down car in the driveway.

by Gina Romanini-Atkins, Chico, CA

...reset the time machine coordinates to 1982. There her poor old 1976 Toyota Corona sat and rust pieces fell off in the pounding rain. She looked at the time coordinate display: 2009! Lynda gasped as she wondered how to get back to 1982 or closer at least. She looked at the old house where she lived and saw the neglect, peeled paint and strangers peeking out the window from behind a fluttering curtain. Her control panel she held under her shirt to keep out of the rain storm. When she knocked on the door, the strangers scurried and turned out the lights. Bad sign. She looked at the old barn and headed there to find a dry recess where she could hide and fix her console.The beady eyes burned a hole in her back.She quickly reset her controls to 1982 and prayed it would work this time, unsuspecting that success now would mean she has to suffer through the 80's and 90's and Y2k and into the present times to us. She looked out the barn window. The beady eyes peering into the now intact and rustless Corona. She sauntered out shivering inside, got in and drove away.

Now where to?, Lynda asked herself. Anywhere but here, she reassured herself. And looks like I need to fill up the tank.

by Mary Gerdt, Monkton,VT

...get it insured. Flipping open her mobile phone, she called the car salesman who had sold her the car.

"You said you'd give me three months warranty and it's only one week past that. What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing. For that price, what do you expect? Actually, I thought you'd have called me before now, and I would have given you a replacement..."

"What?"

"I didn't think that car would have lasted three months... not at the $50 you gave me, what do you expect?"

"A replacement," Lynda said fiercely.

"I have another one, just like that. You can have it, but no guarantee this time..."

"I'll think about it," Lynda replied, wondering what to do. What SHOULD she do? I ask you.... what should Lynda do???

by Carolyn Ann Aish, Inglewood, New Zealand

...swap her grandson's big toy car back with her own. Stephen lived in Scotland with his very rich father. With all the new technology it projected the image of any car that the owner wanted; Stephen had been enamored with his Grandmother's car.

The reason that it had fallen apart in her drive in a lighter situation would make her laugh...it was still only made of cardboard. Groaning slightly, the old woman picked up what she could (cementing her belief that the toy was unsalvageable) and set off on the most difficult task, walking down the three streets to her fitness class.

Catriona Biggs, London, England