Car Trouble
by Tristen Andre
6th Grade
Living in Los Angeles for so long, my mom was very careful and alert when doing errands, which meant no lolly gagging by the car. But mishaps can still occur. One hot summer day in the middle of July, I was accompanying my mom on her errand run. I was a mere two years old at the time, still in diapers. My mom was quite concerned about all the hooligans in Los Angeles since it was a big city, so she always got quickly into the car. After hitting the lock, buckling me in and shutting the door as she always did, my loving mother realized that, to her horror, she had left the keys, and me, locked inside the car.
Mom was outside my door, trying to get me to pull up the lock, but the car seat was holding me back. Peering through the window my mother was motioning with her finger to keep trying, but it was to no avail. Next my mom tried to get me to unbuckle the car seat by mimicking the pushing of a button. That didn’t work either, as I didn’t have the strength. Circling the car many times for another possible entrance she pried at windows, pulled on doors, and peeked through the sunroof. None of which were effective. The longer I was there, the more I started to overheat.
Since cell phones weren’t that popular yet, getting to a phone was a risky business. As the car was starting to really boil and I was locked inside, getting the phone meant that my mom would have to leave me. From inside the car I could see my mom frantic with worry, pulling on her hair, and going berserk since she couldn’t get me out. After she calmed down she turned to me, with a tear in her eye. Through the window she told me to take my shirt off so I wouldn’t overheat. After doing that my mother couldn’t decide if she should leave me to get a phone. In the end she did. Running as fast as she could she entered the store and quick as a flash called my dad and Triple A. The car was getting hotter and hotter, would they come in time?
Arriving almost at the same time, my dad and Triple A sped into the parking lot. As the men from triple A examined the car, I started to bail forth fresh tears for my mom and for the car to cool down. The Triple A man used a thin wire to pop up around the window. I watched its progress as it groped around for the lock. Upon finding it, it jerked upward. “Wee ooh wee ooh” the car alarm went off as the door sprang open and my mom unbuckled and embraced me, pulling me out of the car whispering, “I’m so sorry, I love you, I love you.” Words could not explain how grateful my mom felt about Triple A’s contribution in saving me and how badly she felt for causing it in the first place.
Being locked in the car was an unforgettable, unfortunate, and unimaginable event of a lifetime, mostly for my mom as I was too little to remember the event. My mom was terrified out of her wits and I was sweating buckets she often told me. I found this story memorable when my mother told it to recently because I didn’t have any recollection of it being just under two years old at the time. This true story was about my mom’s angst about me being trapped in a steaming hot car, and her worry about how she was going to get me out. So now you’ve heard her story, remember, check for your keys before you lock the car! And know that you’re parents can make mistakes and learn from them as well, and that they love you very much and always try their very best to keep you from danger.
