A Kid's Guide to Spray Painting a Car

Written for:

ID: 1545436   (Rated: 13+) Title: TLC -- Try your Luck Contest!!  Description: ROUND 7 Close for judging!! Thank you for trying out!! *smile* By: Manic_Mari♥Nek-o-Lantern

Six-year-old Katy stole out of the front door, three cans of coloured hairspray and a roll of paper towels held close to her chest. She could hear Mom snoring over the loud music emitting from the radio. Hopefully, Mom wouldn't wake up before she was done painting the car. She did so want it to be a good surprise!

The little girl settled her materials down beside the Honda Civic carefully. Mom was a light sleeper and practically anything could wake her up. She didn't want Mom to see an unfinished product! Arms akimbo, Katy stared at the car recalling the heated exchange between her parents a few nights ago.

“Why did you get me a white car?” Mom grumbled, scrutinising the newly purchased vehicle.

“White's good. It's a practical colour,” Dad defended himself. “Come on, it's a great car!”

“Yeah, but I'd prefer any colour to white! You know that! I hate white!”

“Well, I'm not going to take it back to the car dealer.” her dad huffed. “You'll just have to deal with living with this horrible colour.” Then, he stomped off into the house, slamming the door behind him.

Personally, Katy thought that the car was beautiful as it was. But, she shrugged, since Mom preferred some other colour, then, what Mom wanted was what Mom got. Looking at the cans of hairspray, she felt her chest swell with pride. No other kid would have thought of this! She'd hit upon this idea watching Mom colour her hair yesterday. If it worked on hair, she reasoned as a logical little child might, it was sure to work on cars!

Before commencing the painting, Katy made sure to peel off her jacket in spite of the cool weather. She didn't want any stains on the jacket. Mom would have a fit if that happened, considering how expensive it was.

“All right!” The little girl pushed up her sleeves and got to work. “Let's start with the doors.” She snagged one can, shook it as vigorously as she could, uncapped the top and aimed. Just like what Mom had done yesterday.

“Psssssssssssst.” Katy watched with deep satisfaction as the paint concentrated in a brown dot on the door. Her hands danced left and right and she giggled in anticipation. Soon, the entire car would be covered with the brown liquid! “Mom'd be so pleased when she sees that the car isn't white anymore!” she thought gleefully, shivering slightly as the wind bore down upon her. Still, she refused to put on the jacket. She wanted it to be a pleasant surprise for Mom, and pleasant surprises for sure didn't come with stained, expensive jackets.

Once done with one side of the car, she stepped back, surveying her handiwork. Somehow, a spot had gotten onto the side mirror. Katy laid the can down and tore off a piece of paper towel. She felt exceedingly proud that she'd considered such a possibility and had made provisions for it. After painstakingly wiping off the smudge, she proceeded to the other side of the car. When one can ran out of paint, she went onto the next one. Fortunately, she'd thought to bring out all the cans hidden below the dressing table.

Gradually, the white car turned brown. It wasn't perfect, of course. A few unpainted spots remained, but overall, Katy was satisfied with the paint job. By the time she was done with both sides of the car, her little arms ached terribly. It wasn't a huge car, but still, it consumed a lot of her energy. Glancing at the watch, Katy felt her jaw clench. In thirty minutes, Mom would wake up from her nap! She had to hurry!

The child placed the can onto the hood and tried to clamber onto the car. In her struggles, she unbalanced the can and it rolled off, landing with a horrible clamour.

“Oops.”

Hurriedly, she dropped onto the ground, hunting for the can beneath the car. When she eventually squirmed out from under the vehicle, she found herself face to face with a pair of legs.

Mom.

“Katy!” Mom bellowed. “What do you think you're doing! What's all this?” She swept a hand, indicating the browned car.

“I'm sorry, Mom!” The little girl cowered against the front wheel in the face of her mother's anger. “I only wanted to – ”

“Wanted to what, young lady?”

“Wanted to paint the car brown,” Katy mumbled. Tears pooled in her eyes. She didn't understand what she'd done wrong. All she'd wanted to do was to surprise Mom.

“Why?” Mom's voice still hummed with anger, except that now, it was mixed with a trace of curiosity.

“B-B-Because you d-d-don't l-l-like white!” Katy burst into tears, hugging the cold metal tin for comfort. Suddenly, she didn't feel so smart anymore. “A-A-All I-I w-wanted was f-f-for y-you to be h-h-happy.” She wished she'd never come up with this stupid idea.

Katy felt Mom reach out to grab her and she winced, anticipating the rough handling that was to come. To her surprise, she felt Mom crush her to the chest, can and all. “Oh, Katy,” she murmured into her daughter's hair. “Thank you, honey. That's so sweet of you.” Katy peered up, her tear-stained face questioning Mom's sudden mood swing. “I'm sorry, honey, for yelling at you.” Mom gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I didn't know why you were doing this, so I just jumped to conclusions. Forgive me?”

Katy blinked the tears away from her eyes and return Mom's kiss sloppily.

“Come,” Mom heaved the girl into her arms. “Let's get you back into the house.”

“B-B-But, the car?”

“The car can wait. It's cold out here, and I don't want my little girl to fall sick.”

Before they entered the house, Mom turned and looked at the car. “Katy, that's really some idea you've got there. But, thank you.” She gave her daughter a squeeze and they disappeared into the house.

The End

[Word Count: 995]