1998 · not illustrated yet
Ben's Escort Van
Illustration in the queue. New spreads are drawn every week — join the list and you’ll see this one the day it’s inked.
“Borrowed without asking, driven without a licence, returned without a bumper.”
Ben's dad is out, and he has left the keys to his Escort van. A quick spin around the yard cannot hurt, can it? The gears crunch, the engine stalls, but we are moving. It is only when we try to reverse back into the parking space that we hear a sickening crunch. What was that?
“Wait... was that the bumper falling off?”
From the back cover
There are three rules to borrowing your dad's van. One: do not ask permission. Two: do not drive it without a licence. Three: try to return it in one piece. We are about to break all three.
A quick joyride around the yard turns into a lesson in reversing when we meet a solid concrete post. The bumper is hanging off, but Dad will not be home for hours. The grown-ups will notice the damage, of course. But they will never find out who did it.
- Where
- Ben's yard and the gravel track
- When
- Sunday morning
- Who
- Ben, Me, Neil
- Props
- An Escort van, No licence, One bumper
- The oblivious grown-up
- Ben's dad was at the football
- Got away with
- The bumper was quietly binned