Ode to the Beast of War
By Kira

"She said, "This is the end of my childhood."
In her chariot again, "The Beast of War", Boy at the wheel
one last "hoorah!", he said
It smelled of cheep air freshener, (probably under a seat) instead of the perfume of Marb 100's and clove cigarettes
Her eyes alight with the fire of memory, she says goodbye to every little thing, as do I
Her initials, LC, spelled out in masking tape above her seat, shot gun. That was HER spot. Lyrics to TMBG in red Dave Crane script on the visor. She wants to keep that. "OBJECTS NIN MIRROR ATE CLOSER THAN THEY AT FEAR". My comtributions...."DA BOMB"
butterfly stickers and safety pins, rubber lizard, plastic cow,
The Parking Angel, "NO SOLICITORS", Four people in four snapshots from an amusement park photograph booth: Andy. Doug, Ryan, Me....stuck ther with clear packaging tape
more initials: above Boy - AIM, above me - KEN with the "SHE" from a hershey bar, LC has the "HER" and VR the "Y'S"
KBG, DC, BD.
249 is written on bits of tape, "SIS - Savage Uteris" and other random DC-isms, or maybe DB, all on that punch tape stuff. And magnetic poetry that sticks to windows, Darth Vader sticker from Taco Bell - the Meca, NIN sign hanging from the rear view mirror, a fishing lure and a large safety pin with three green buttons, one ivory, a bag of glitter on the floor, a pink comb, a brittle carnation hangs from a handle, under the back seat is the broken neon bar, a pitch black bottle cap and other "junk"
the wooden stake from the school construction is gone, the stips of masking tape residue on the soft red seats will never leave - like the smell did, like we did. With Boom nestled behind us humming low sounds, we pull into the driveway, safely. Above it hangs a yellow and black street sign, arrow pointing forwards with "Wild and crazy things this way!" in black magic marker. This was the last journey.
"We made it," he says
"She just needed us to be in here," I said
We take our time getting out
LC looks at me with her big blue eyes
"This is the end of my childhood," she says