Minnira's Story.

Well, to start this story, I'll have to go back to my past. Well no actually, I can't pinpoint one point in my past, it must be a combination of things that has bought me to a point today where I have quite a love for dolphins. They're absolutely fantastic creatures! Some people like cows, some tigers... I like dolphins. Just have a look at some of the pictures of my room and my dolphin calendar, squeezable dolphin noise making soft toy, clicky plastic dolphins, magnetic dolphin, etc. etc....
Annnyywayy, my story starts one night when I was over at my friend's place (we'll call him Fartigle for the purposes of this story.) Anyway, I was just sitting in Fartigle's room when his phone rang. Another friend of ours, (we'll call him Pootle for the purposes of this story), was on the line. Now, Fartigle, Pootle and I have been known to get together and go and steal street signs before. Once again, look at the pictures of my room... Security signs, a high voltage sign (not in use, don't worry) and a fire hydrant (also not in use) are amongst some of my finest sign stealing achievements. It may be morally wrong, but I'm young, and it's a phase I'm sure I'll grow out of.
So Pootle says "Hey guys, are you up for a little sign stealing?" For the purposes of this story, let's say Pootle's nickname is 'Poopy'. Now pootle wanted us to go and see if we could steal 'Poopy St.' because it was loose and he wanted it as a souvenier in his room. We agreed, and turned up at his place around midnight.
Then... there's my car. If you look in the 'stuff' section of this page, you'll see it, a beautiful 1980 toyota corona named 'Ashley' (neither male nor female;) Now ashley runs well, but has recently had problems with it's back windows... or lack thereof. Long story short, (god knows this story will go on long enough anyway), there is see-thru plastic where the two back side door windows should be.
The night of the story in question was wet. Very, very wet. I'm talking rain so heavy I could hardly see out of the windscreen with the wipers on full. We were sliding around corners and skidding through red traffic lights! (Well, through one set of red lights, just a little bit.) We left from Pootle's place on a short trip to 'Poopy St.' to see if we could dislodge the street sign. After parking down the road, we went up to the sign, and I got up on top of Poopy's shoulders, (he's a big, well built guy), to try and get the sign off.
After minutes of jiggling, pulling and tugging, (now clear your mind of dirty thoughts people!), it was clear the sign wasn't moving. It was still firmly bolted in place. So, feeling like we'd failed our misson, we headed back to Pootle's place. When we got there we pulled out the street directory to see if there were any other "potential targets" for street signs. Somewhere along the line, one of the guys came up with the idea "Hey, see if there's a Dolphin Street in there Minnira!" (They allready had knowledge of my little 'dolphin thing.') So, not expecting to find anything, I flipped over to the D's to find a "Dolphin Ct." in a city about 15 minutes from where we were. Very tempting.
The other guys were like, "Ahh, why not, let's go and get it." I was a little reluctant because it was a fair way, and we mightn't be able to steal the sign, and it was late and it was really wet. This was the first time I'd tested my plastic windows (They were homemade ones, created out of left over laminating plastic and stuck on with thick clear sticky tape!)
But, I thought, what the heck, why not!? So we jumped into the Corona, and drove off. We had a slidy slippery time on the way there! So we're driving down all these back streets, cruising along in the wet trying to find this street. Then I look up from out of my side window and go "OH... MY... GOD!"
Up on a high pole there stood 'Dolphin Ct.'... broken, and attached to the sign with only one bolt! It was perfect, absolutely perfect and an amazing co-incidence! So I parked the car, and me and Pootle went to see what we could do with the sign while Fartigle stood watch (again.) I got up on big Pootle's shoulders but could only just reach the bottom of the hanging sign. So I'm up there, in the spitting rain, swinging and yanking at this sign, trying to get it loose. We were trying for about five minutes, when Pootle said "ahh, stuff it"...I got down from his shoulders and he proceeded to try and push the whole pole over (which is dug into the ground quite a bit!)
He got the pole onto an angle so we could reach the sign from the ground, and we twisted and turned the sign some more. It still wouldn't come off, and I thought I heard a car coming and started to walk back to the car, half because I didn't want people to see me, and half because I was going to give up. Then as we walked away, the sign just fell off by itself! We turned and looked at it on the ground, amazed, and Pootle just picked it up, and we ran back to the car and drove off!
So we were all on quite a high then... I was soo excited, I couldn't believe what had just happened! So we're driving back to Poopy's place with the sign, happy as larry, still on the wet wet roads. We stopped at some lights beside a car, and I took off a little quick and the wheels started spinning like crazy on the wet ashphalt. I kept the foot down and changed up into second, while the wheels continued to spin... suddenly the rear wheels lost traction (understandably) and the tail began to slide, while this car was driving beside us! As soon as it happened I took the foot off the accelerator, and got the car under control again. No major dramas.
After this I was driving along the highway with the rain bucketing down, when Pootle noticed a police car on the other side of the highway. I didn't even see it, but I was speeding at the time, so my heart skipped a beat, then I slowed down. Then Pootle goes "it's turning around and following us!" Okay, so my heart skipped a couple of beats then.
Now, not only did we have a stolen sign in the back, but Ashley isn't exactly what you'd call roadworthy. A nice car, but bits are starting to fall off! So the police don't like that as a rule. Also, I had my probationary licence plates up, and 'P' platers generally get pulled over more often. I also had plastic windows in the back of the car (they kinda make it stand out), AND I was driving over the speed limit.
Then... red and blue flashing lights came on behind me. My heart stopped at this point. "ohmygod!!" I thought... "Okay, just relax, and be cool..." The lights kept flashing, and then, out of only two cars on a road in the middle of the night, mine being the dodgy one, the police officers decided to pull over the other car! It took a few seconds for my heart to start again, and to catch my breath.
Fartigle, Pootle and I were amazed! What a close escape! We might have been in some deep shit! So we drove off, stopping at a 7-11 for fuel and food, and to see if there was a sign we could steal resembling Fartigle's name. There was one possiblity, but it was in strong light, near a major road, so we decided against it. So we all went home, having had what could best be described as quite an interesting and strange night.
Thus endeth the story, and for further proof, check out the website for a picture of the 'Dolphin Ct.' sign! :)

--Minnira.

P.S. - The plastic windows held up fine all that night, and still don't let a drop of water in the car to this day!