Adventure on the Open Road...

 by Charlotte Bennardo

(Sorry, I'm a day late....)

The theme is first freedoms. For me, that was getting my car; I worked so many summer jobs to buy it: McDonalds, yard work, babysitting, cleaning houses, waitressing. There was having a car given to me, much less being bought for me. That car meant, since I paid for it, the insurance, the gas, EVERYTHING that no one could tell me I had to loan it to anyone, or had to drive anyone anywhere. It. Was. Mine. (Of course, curfews still existed and the threat of having to surrender my keys if I got into an accident that was my fault or a ticket.)

That first baby was a 1965 Ford Mustang.... Black leather bucket seats, standard 3 speed shift, and painted a cherry red. 

Like this, only red...

Photo by Grish Petrosyan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/vintage-ford-on-street-15359749/

I didn't have to take the bus my senior year. I could drive to meet up with my friends. I didn't have to beg a ride from my brother (who always refused) or my father (who was always too busy) or my mother (who thought I should stay home with them.). This car took me places and gave me adventures a teen could only dream of. Oh, the places I went... Sometimes the best adventures are those you take yourself on.

I wish I had that car today.

Charlotte is busy promoting her new YA fantasy, The Excalibur Vow, and thinking about the sequel people have been asking for. She writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels and short stories in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, horror, paranormal, and romance genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy: Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has several short stories in anthologies, online, and her website, along with newspaper and magazine articles. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned, and is working on several children's and adult novels and short stories. She lives in NJ but dreams of a Caribbean beach house. And more cats.