I saw her on craigslist on a Friday morning and my heart started beating faster, so fast I could feel it against my chest. It was Serenity, or as near to Serenity as I had seen in a long time. But I knew this could not be true; my Serenity was still in the garage, patiently awaiting her heart transplant, covered in dust and regret. And this, her twin, was obviously hale and hearty - or, at least, mobile.
Cheryl and I had talked about it, this need to get something running quickly. The boys had their cars, Cheryl had her van, and I had only my sad little Serenity. Without something to drive myself, it would be necessary to catch a ride with someone else. Not outside the realm of possibilities, but terribly inconvenient and out of everyone's way. So she needed to be fixed. Or sold.
It had been my intention to take my car into the shop and see how much it was going to cost to get her running; I suspected a great deal more than I could afford. The engine was ready to drop in, but would still need a complete check-out before attempting to ignite the cylinders. The brakes had been cannibalized for the red car. The exhaust system was piled in a corner of the garage awaiting the acquisition of a welder. Little things here and there add up to a lot of money at $100/hr.
But this car, this twin, was already running. And available. It was possible to go right over to the seller and lay down money and drive away. Instantly. It was just a matter of money.
I sat and thought about it for several minutes before my emotions completely overwhelmed my intellect, and I called Cheryl on the phone and told her what I had found. She agreed that it was a reasonable solution (and a reasonable price). So I called the seller. It was still for sale. I told him I would come to see it. He said there were other interested parties. I told him I would come to see it right away. Then I called Cheryl again, and she got the financial wheels rolling (so to speak) so that we could pay for it that very afternoon (she's a miracle-worker, if you didn't already know that). And she arranged to leave early from her office to come pick me up so that we could go up and see the car.
We went. The car had the usual rust spots, but it was very clean overall. We took it for a test drive - all the way to the credit union, where we obtained the money necessary to make the sale. We drove it back. We went into the seller's little office. (It turns out he was a dealer, although the craigslist item was in the owner-only section. I didn't make a fuss about that.) We handed him our money. He handed us the paperwork to sign. Several signatures later, we had our third Subaru.
While we were in the office, two other families stopped by to ask about the Subaru. Apparently the seller had been telling the truth. They were all greatly disappointed to find out that the car had already been sold. I still feel kind of guilty about that, especially for the families with young kids who have never experienced the joy of owning a Subaru. But ... first come, first served.
I had to pop the hood again when we got home, just to look at the engine compartment (my favorite place). It isn't the EJ25 like in Serenity. This one is Serenity's smaller cousin, the EJ22. More durable, better mileage, or so I've been told. Not as much power, but who needs all that power when all I'm doing is driving a few miles to work? It's not like I'm doing any off-road racing.
Yet.
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