Once upon a time there was a little car that, due to unforeseen circumstances, had to have some permanent modifications made to it. It had a permanent trailer attached to it which couldn’t come off at all without undue force. If anyone did try to remove this trailer, it would result in serious damage to both the car and the trailer. The little car found the trailer hard sometimes to lug around but realised there was no other option but to carry on. Besides, this trailer felt very much a part of the little car now.

This little car was friends with a big removable trailer which could attach to other cars as need be. The trailer was currently being towed by a van. It was a nice van and the little car got along well with it. The little car and the trailer were very close and they had many happy times together. Alas, the little car knew that was the extent of its friendship with the trailer but began to fear that the trailer expected the little car to tow it around one day. The little car knew it would be impossible to carry the trailer around at all because of its permanent modifications and it didn’t want to hurt the trailer’s feelings by turning it down when the job became available.

So, the little car took the trailer aside and said, “I’m sorry but I won’t ever be able to tow you. It’s not that I don’t like you. You are a very important friend to me but I already have this permanent trailer that stops me from towing other trailers. I’m really sorry.”

The trailer was understandably hurt but said, “When the van that tows me around now stops working, just leave me to go rusty in the scrap yard.” The scrap yard was Vehicular Hell. Vehicular Heaven would be a restoration job performed by a human who wanted to keep the vehicle as a classic. The little car felt wretched. It didn’t like hurting the trailer’s feelings but there was no way it could do the job expected of it.

Months went by and the little car realised that the trailer was still very unhappy about the little car not being able to tow it. Couldn’t the trailer see the little car already had a permanent modification? Surely, the trailer could see the little car’s predicament?

But no, it didn’t seem that was the case at all! The trailer began asking the little car to carry items around for it in its boot. The trailer had previously carried these items around without difficulty in the past and suddenly was asking the little car to do it when there was plenty of space still in the trailer. This didn’t make sense.

Then the trailer began reminiscing how it and another trailer would go to help some vans carry items quite regularly. The vans didn’t ask them to carry the items but the trailers did it because they wanted to. The little car couldn’t help but feel the trailer was trying to make it feel guilty because it couldn’t tow the trailer around. The little car was stuck with one trailer for the rest of its function and couldn’t change that. Still, the little car felt very bad indeed.

Soon after, the trailer told the little car stories of other cars it knew of who towed large trailers. The little car realised the trailer didn’t actually know these other cars but knew of them through other cars. The little car bit its front fender! I’d like to bet those little cars aren’t towing a permanent trailer so they’re able to tow a removable one! But, like a coward, the little car said nothing.

The little car was very sad. It knew the trailer was angry and hurt about it not being able to tow it but the little car cannot do anything about that. The little car began to feel guilty about sometimes asking the trailer to hold tyres for it because its own permanent trailer was too small. The little car knew the trailer didn’t like holding the tyres anyway even though it would often say, “I’ll hold those tyres for you. You know I will. You only have to ask.” But when the little car did ask, the trailer’s wheels could sink into the ground and it would say a begrudging yes.

The little car was worried that the trailer would try to use holding tyres as leverage to get the little car to tow it in the future. So, the little car stopped asking the trailer to hold the tyres and struggled on along. Knowing the trailer as well as it did, it knew the trailer would say, “But I always held your tyres for you!” The little car also knew that was only half the truth. While yes, the trailer did hold the tyres for it, the trailer didn’t ALWAYS hold them but only SOMETIMES albeit reluctantly.

Today, the little car is very sad. It doesn’t know if it should have it out with the trailer once and for all and risk the immediate death of their friendship or if it should let the trailer carry on slowly destroying their friendship with the guilt trips.