The Sedan Cruiser — Jamie McNabb

(Short Short) Crushed rock for water. Empty fuel and water tanks. Rust and malignant rot. Her final owner's splendid ideas, overwhelmed by his exhausting work schedule. Memories of sunny anchorages, of fresh paint, and of laughter. "The Sedan Cruiser" is a 570-word short short in which a "project boat" contemplates her past, her present, and what lies ahead. Moorages, boatyards, and backyards are overflowing with boats like the sedan cruiser in this story. Each of them started out bright, shiny, and new. Their first owners loved them, but then any one of a thousand things happened. There are only twenty-four hours in a day and only so much money in a paycheck. Lack of skills, lack of tools, and lack of adequate workspace play their parts. New interests take precedence. Often there's simply a loss of desire. The boat is sold, and all too often, the downward spiral is begun. Annual haul-outs are skipped. Needed maintenance is delayed. Patches of bare wood appear. Rust. Blistering paint. Rot. The projects and the costs mount. It's no longer a matter of sunny afternoons and weekends. Soon, it's no longer a matter of pulling information out of a book and applying it, but of acquiring genuine skills, authentic experience, and applying them. Recreation turns into work, and what's demanded to finish the job turns into real skill and even more money. And all the while, there's the day-to-day job to be kept up with, the family to be attend to, the vacation to visit the grandparents to be taken, the house to be painted, the lawn to be mowed, the car that needs to be replaced, not next year, but right now. The price of the candle overwhelms the joy of the game, and the boats sit. They sit, and they try not to think about what's happening to them. Check out Jamie's website at http://www. jamiemcnabb.com.