The Car and the Crab Meat
By Lydia Dolly
My Sister and I walk to the car and from the seconds of walking from the house to the car, I knew it was going to be a very hot day. We got to the car so my mother could take us to the Park City Mall. We were going to meet our Aunt so we could have a “girl’s day”. Our aunt has boys so she does not have the daughter that she can dress up and do “girly” things with instead she has us, her nieces.
We got to the mall and our mother dropped us off. We met up with our Aunt and started to shop. We had a blast but the day was ending fast and it was time that our Dad picked us up from the mall. My sister and I get a phone call from our Dad wondering where we were at so he knew where to park. He came inside and met up with us. My sister and I said our goodbyes to our aunt and then we were off to the car.
Right when we exited the mall, we smelled something so horrific. It was also very hot. It was so hot that you could see the heat rising from the pavement of the parking lot. The smelled penetrated our nostrils and the sweat dripped down from our faces. I still remember asking what that horrible smell was. My sister was saying “that’s disgusting”. As we got closer to the car, I noticed that the smell was getting stronger. I said “That sucks for whoever’s car that smell is from.” We got closer and it was an unbelievable smell. We got to the car and it was so strong that I swore that is was the car next to ours. I open the front passengers car door to my Dad’s 1988 red Ford Tempo and saw what the smell was coming from. It was a smell so thick and pungent that it made my sister gag and I just wanted to walk home. My dad had a can of crabmeat in the car and because it was so hot, it exploded. I quickly slammed the door shut and said that I was not riding in that car. We had no other way of going home so we put all the windows down in the car and my sister and I hopped into the back seat. As we drove home my sister and I literally had our heads out the window it was so bad.
To this day, I have no idea how we made it home without anyone puking or passing out especially with my sister’s quick gag reflexes. We did make it home and my mom and dad quickly cleaned the car. They put baking powder all over the floor where the crab meat was. That was an interesting day and one that will never be forgotten. We still hound my dad about the crab meat. A couple years later, I turned 16 and my first car was the 1988 red Ford Tempo. The baking powder was still there because it stuck to the floor. Luckily the smell is not longer there. This story is important and memorable because it was disgusting and also hilarious. It was so unexpected.