Camper Van for Sale

We pulled into the driveway. A man parked on the side of the road. We had all stopped to look at the white camper van for sale parked on the lawn of a house set far back behind a row of tall pines. In the distance two older men were talking, neither looking at us. The man who parked on the road soon left saying he didn’t want the van, that we could have it. So, we circled the van – an old model being sold for a significant sum of money. We looked in the driver’s side window and saw two plush covered seats, tidy, neat, unblemished. You’d think a 25-year old camper van would have a splotch or two of spilled coffee, ketchup from a hurried burger, but no, the seats were spotless. Pristine.

One of the older men came to talk with us, twisting keys in his hand. He said he’d had the camper just two years, that he’d driven all the way to Chicago to get it and paid cash because he’d wanted it so much. But then when he got back, he said, he just drove it around, gesturing over his shoulder to the road thick with speeding locals and tourists.

He said if we were serious he’d unlock the doors for us to look inside. Then, he told us about the new tires and how they didn’t make this model anymore but it was a really great camper van. He just didn’t want it anymore because all he did was drive around in it. He said this in a way that said he thought he wanted the van in a big important way but quickly the van became a burden which he drove around because he thought he should. This made the van feel joyless, not exactly cursed, but like it might be carrying a heavy load of something sad, regretful. We were glad to leave, glad that he’d told us the van only got 10 miles to the gallon.