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This is Ria. Welcome to

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Little Stories for Tiny People.

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Buckle up for this sweet,

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sleepy story about a

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lovable van. You heard that

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right. This story is about

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a minivan. You can write a

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story about anything, you know. Let's

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hear it. It's called a van

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named Pearl. Take

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it away, Sophie. Remember, there are no

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pictures. You have to imagine the pictures

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in your mind. You can imagine them

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however you want. Okay, here you go.

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So wished she could straighten her

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hat. It's listing. It's definitely

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listing. But she couldn't straighten her

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hat. She had to focus

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on these winding turns. The

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road seemed to lift up before

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her. She wasn't used

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to steep inclines. She

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liked quiet neighborhood streets.

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The occasional suspension bridge.

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A drive through the countryside. Not

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this. Not this twisting,

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turning, guard rail lacking. Dad,

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look. There's a lake down

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there. Oh, wow. What?

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No, don't you look. You focus

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on ten and two, sir. Mom,

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are those bighorn sheep? There you

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go. The sweetheart can

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look all she wants. Wow, they're

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beautiful. Pearl kept her attention on

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the road as it wound upwards,

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taking them higher and higher. It felt

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as though they were traveling above the

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clouds. She could sense

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little old soul sitting tall in his

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seat in the second row trying to

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see everything. Firecracker smushed

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his face into the back wall.

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window. She felt

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Minnie Sweetheart's little fingers drumming

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into the upholstery. Pearl knew

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she'd be clutching giraffe with

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her free hand. And

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despite her fears, that all

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began with what if, but

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seemed to trail off before

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reaching anything tangible, Pearl trusted

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the gentleman. There was no

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one she'd rather have at the wheel in

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that particular moment. The

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road curved in a wide

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arc, and it seemed

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like the whole world came into view

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below. Pearl had

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never been so conscious of the

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precious cargo she carried as when

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she got a glimpse of the

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cavernous drop off her right side.

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The air grew thin as she

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gripped the road on its winding

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ascent, clouds hung below

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in the sky. The

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sun was a familiar friend coming

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in for a hug. And

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after a few more hairpin

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turns, Pearl felt

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the ground beneath her tires

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grow level. The

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gentleman, the sweetheart, little

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old soul, firecracker,

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and Minnie sweetheart all

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started chattering at once, as

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if they'd been holding their breath for

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the last leg of the journey. Whoa,

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look at that view. Mommy, did they have

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donuts here? It's like we're on top of

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the world. Can we get out? Can we

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run around? Pearl's

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suspension sighed with relief.

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She laughed at herself. Her

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hat was fine, not listing at

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all. She eased

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into an open parking spot

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next to an enormous truck.

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Her precious cargo. Her dear

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family. Clambered out

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of her doors to get

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a look at the view She

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felt little old souls

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palm pat her on the side

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door a Silent

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thank you perhaps She'd

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done it hadn't she all

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that they'd asked of her the

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adventures questionable

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roads Everything

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and now she'd done this

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the big climb But

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to understand this moment

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and to understand what happened After

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it we have to go back We

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have to put this story in reverse

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and go back to the

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beginning or At

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least back to a time

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before Pearl was

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even Pearl After

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untold months of stillness in

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the shadow of the cramped

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garage Surrounded

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by a bramble of bikes hula

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hoops Boxes of old

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linens and who knows what else

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her engine hummed to life The

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first thing she felt was that

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familiar rattle Like a

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subtle cough that was never diagnosed

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and never went away The

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second thing she felt was the

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familiar itch of the matchbox car

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Wedged beneath the middle seat in

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the third row The

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ridges of its tiny wheels digging

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into the carpet She

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had heard people discuss having

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spinach in one's tooth or

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wondering if there was any there She

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never quite understood how the spinach got

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inside the tooth Or

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why they ate so much spinach

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to begin with but that matchbox

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car She imagined felt

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exactly the same way to

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her as the spinach did

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to the people