How To Make Your Engine Behave

I saw her,

pulled over on the side of the road.

The hood of her beat up station wagon was raised.

I didn’t know anything about cars or how to fix them,

But I pulled over anyway.

I asked her if she needed any help,

And she answered that,

“No, it will behave in a minute.”

And then I watched her proceed

To spank the engine with an ice cream scoop.

“An ice cream scoop?”
I asked her with an amused brow.

She just chuckled embarrassedly and replied,

“Just watch and wait.”

The engine grumbled like a pre-teen child pleading for

“Five more minutes…”

And dozing off again.

But she kept at it with that ice cream scoop.

Nagging…

Until it finally stormed out of bed in annoyance.

Black smoke emitted from the muffler,

Coughing with morning breath,

And the windshield wipers rubbed its eyes awake.

That night, after finishing off the cookie dough ice cream,

I put my own ice cream scoop in the trunk of my car.

You never know,

My engine might act up some day soon.