Bodie and the Bubble on His Mirror

Bodie was ready to go when a rainbow-colored soap bubble settled on his side mirror. It perched there like a tiny glass button, round and bright, with blue, yellow, and green colors sliding across its skin.

Bodie was a red tow truck. Beside him waited Nell, a little blue car with a squeaky wheel. She needed a ride to the small garage at the end of the neighborhood street. Nell’s front wheels were already lifted in Bodie’s wheel-lift and held in place with snug straps.

“Are we ready?” Nell asked.

“Almost,” Bodie said. He checked the street ahead, then glanced at his side mirror. The bubble covered part of the glass. He could see a patch of sidewalk, but not the whole lane behind him.

Bodie stayed still at the curb. A parked van stood farther down the street, and a row of houses made the road feel cozy and quiet. Somewhere nearby, a sprinkler ticked across a garden. A few drops dotted the pavement.

“I can’t pull out until I can see clearly,” Bodie said. “Drivers need a clear view in their mirrors.”

Nell looked at the bubble. It held its shape, with a tiny bit of the street bent and wiggly inside it. “Maybe it will pop,” she said.

“Maybe,” Bodie replied. “But I don’t want to startle it—or us.”

He checked the straps holding Nell’s front wheels in the wheel-lift, then looked at the mirror again. The bubble clung to the glass. Bodie could wait, but he wanted Nell to reach the garage before the mechanic finished for the day. He pictured the little garage’s wide door and its neat row of tools. Nell could have her wheel looked at, and he could bring her home afterward.

“Should I try to blow it away?” Nell asked.

Bodie considered this. A puff might send the bubble somewhere else, but it might not clear his mirror. He kept his wheels at the curb and watched the bubble wobble ever so slightly.

The street was still. A breeze had not reached them yet. Bodie and Nell had a choice: hurry with a blocked view, or wait together. Bodie chose to wait. The bubble’s colors moved across the glass as if they were looking for a way out.

For a little while, nothing changed. The bubble stayed on Bodie’s mirror, round as a marble and just as stubborn. Bodie watched the street ahead. Nell watched the bubble.

“Do you see that?” Nell asked at last.

The bubble gave a small wobble. It leaned toward the street, then settled back against the glass.

“What made it move?” Bodie asked.

“I think a breeze reached us,” Nell said. “It came around the corner, but it was too little to lift the bubble.”

Bodie looked at the leaves on the nearest tree. They barely stirred. “You may be right. If we wait for a stronger breeze, it might carry the bubble away.”

“Then we can watch for it together,” said Nell.

Bodie liked that plan. He stayed parked, his wheels pointed straight. Nell sat quietly beside him. They watched a paper napkin resting near the curb. It lifted one corner, then lay flat again. The leaves trembled. The soap bubble shivered on the mirror.

Bodie felt ready to go, but he did not rush. He could wait a little longer. Nell was secure in the wheel-lift, and the garage would still be there when they arrived.

Then a breeze slipped down the street. It stirred the tree leaves and sent the napkin skimming along the sidewalk. The bubble wobbled hard. Its round shape stretched into a shining oval, then sprang back.

“Here it comes,” Nell said.

Bodie watched without moving. The breeze pressed the bubble’s edge. For one moment, it clung to the mirror. Then it lifted free and floated above the curb, turning slowly in the air. It sailed toward a garden fence, where it vanished with a tiny pop.

“Your mirror!” Nell said.

Bodie checked it carefully. He could see the lane behind him, the parked van, and the quiet street beyond. Nothing covered the glass now.

“Clear,” he said. He checked the road ahead once more, then eased away from the curb. Nell’s rear wheels rolled along the road as Bodie carried her front wheels in the wheel-lift. They passed the garden and the napkin, which had stopped beside a mailbox.

Bodie had wanted to hurry, but waiting had helped him see. He drove at an easy pace, keeping his mirror in view as they headed toward the garage.

The neighborhood passed by in a calm procession. Bodie rolled past a corner house with a yellow porch, then past a little patch of grass where a dog’s ball rested by itself. Nell rode securely behind him, her blue hood catching the last warm colors of the day.

“How is the ride?” Bodie called.

“Smooth as a bedtime story,” Nell answered. “And I can still see the bubble colors when I close my eyes.”

Bodie smiled. In his side mirror, the street looked clear. He could see Nell behind him and the road stretching back toward the houses. Now and then he checked again, just as he had before setting off.

They reached the small garage at the end of the block. Its door stood open, and a work lamp lit the tidy space inside. Bodie eased to a stop in the driveway. The mechanic came out to greet them, then lowered Nell’s front wheels and carefully released the straps.

“Thank you for bringing me,” Nell said. “You made the ride feel easy.”

“I’m glad we waited,” Bodie replied. “A clear mirror makes it easier to travel safely.”

Nell’s wheel would be looked at in the morning. For now, she rested inside the garage, beside a shelf of tools and a neat stack of tires. Bodie parked outside, where he could see the quiet street through his clear mirror.

The houses seemed settled for the night. The sprinkler had stopped ticking, and the leaves stood still. Bodie remembered the bubble’s bright colors bending across his mirror, then floating away when the breeze arrived. It had been a small pause, but it had given him and Nell time to notice the street together.

“Good night, Bodie,” Nell called from the garage.

“Good night, Nell,” he answered.

Bodie rested beneath the garage’s little roof. Beyond it, the neighborhood grew quiet, and the memory of red, green, and blue colors stayed with him as the night settled around the street.