Brand New

"What kind is this one?" I breathed, moving toward the corner of the showroom. I'd decided on a green Liberty, but frowned out the window at it, thinking it rather ugly. It rides beautifully, I reminded myself, and it's an excellent deal. Only one previous owner. A nice set of features. Well within my price range. But I walked slowly toward the glimmering black Compass in the corner.

"Look how pretty," I said admiringly as our salesman walked back toward us. "It's all happy and cute from the front and sleek and sexy from the sides. It sort of flares out at the back wheels. It's lovely," I said, peeking inside the open windows at the interior.

"Do you like it better?" Dad and Salesguy said and I paused sheepishly.

"I do, obviously," I replied when they continued to look at me expectantly. So instead of the more logical Liberty, the cute Compass pulled out of the showroom and onto the pavement. I grew impatient when the paperwork took too long, decided on 0% interest rather than $1,000 rebate and glared at the incompetence when the sky darkened and we remained inside the building.

"We'll do it ourselves," I said of the tires when the indicator light glowed and the dealer couldn't find tools to correct the problem. "I'm so not impressed though. Honestly," I shook my head in disapproval.

"I do like it though," I mused as I drove toward home. "It sits lower to the ground than most SUVs, there's plenty of room for me and it drives so smoothly!"

"Lifetime warranty," Dad offered as he peered at the manual. He wiggled something and noted that you could change gears manually. And flip this thingie to put it in 4 wheel drive."

"There's a normal outlet," I said once the vehicle was pulled safely into my garage and Dad was properly filling the tires. I put items in the console - a bottle of pills, packet of Kleenex, tubes of lip gloss - and made a mental note to switch over the insurance tomorrow. Looking at the sparkle of the black paint, even under the bare lights hanging from the ceiling, I smiled.

"I'm glad that's done," I told Dad.

"I did worry about you in that old car," he agreed. "And this is nice."

I'm happy, I think. I feel rather adult in my pretty car. I can drive when going to lunch with people from the office. I imagine I'll grin when I head to my garage each morning and make my way toward work. It was time for a change - even during a time in my life when nothing seems very stable. And I'll share a photo tomorrow - my new transportational device is quite the cutie.