The summer winding down to its end. It meant several things. Most importantly, it meant the temperatures went down, tropic's schedules were cancelled, and the pace of life in the whole of Minnaluna returned to its regular rhythm. It also meant events returned to the calendar. Mainly classic car events, as the classic car culture was so very high in the entire country. Also sports events, concerts, and large fairs in most of the cities and towns. And the most important event of the year; the Take Five cleanup race.
Even in a country running as smoothly, with an as open and helpful population, and with an as high emphasis on recycling and the environment as Minnaluna had, littering was a problem. Take Five had started out as a simple governmental initiative. It was a simple and year-round thing; there were signs in the cities and at camp grounds and event areas, at stadiums and everywhere people gathered to socialize, that encouraged people to Take Five. Pick up five pieces of litter, or spend five minutes picking up litter. Had a hike in the forest or the mountains? End by Taking Five. Spent a day fishing? Finish by Taking Five. Been camping somewhere for one or more nights? Take Five before going back home. Leave the place of your repose better than when you arrived there. If everyone did it, things would be cleaned up in no time.
It was a successful campaign. All over the country, people were Taking Five in their day to day life. Clubs and groups organizing outings made it mandatory at the end of their outings and even had contests with it. And throughout the country, Take Five groups had grown out of the off-road and four-wheeling clubs, as they usually got to places the regular public didn't get to. They had taken the initiative to a whole new level.
They started out their recycling spree by taking an abandoned car. Often not even from a junkyard, but pulled out of a tree row, a field or someone's backyard. They got it running and more or less roadworthy, and adapted it to go offroad or rock-crawling - but it didn't get restored. They used cars that were beyond restoration, leaving the viable projects to get restored or at least refurbished by other enthusiasts. Instead, they used cars that were one step away from a visit to the crusher and gave them a new purpose, recycling them into offroad vehicles to go out into the wild and clean up.
Often, these groups operated on their own. They had their own events, usually at the end of the four-wheeling season; a final event for the club to go out, have a great day together, and do some serious cleaning up. Over time, the Minnalunan government had jumped in on those events and had declared a national event date; the second weekend of September had become the weekend of the Take Five Race. They gave out rewards to the clubs and groups, as well as to corporations sponsoring the clubs and groups for the race. Many companies already sponsored offroad and other automotive clubs; auto parts stores, recovery gear companies, companies specializing in producing driveshafts, gearboxes, wheels and tires, lift kits, winches, shock absorbers, engines and engine parts, exhaust systems, as well as recycling centers and companies producing cleaning items like trash bags and trash pickers, and companies producing outdoors gear. It had become, as they say, a thing.
One company which had teamed up with local offroad clubs, outdoors clubs and nudist clubs to organize a Take Five event before it had become a national thing, was based in the medium-sized mountain city of Rainbow Falls. It was the heavy vehicle and offroad recovery company Heavy Liftin' of Florence Beaumont and her daughters and son. They were all very experienced four-wheelers and rock-crawlers, and they highly applauded the initiative. Every year, they participated in the event, and every five years, they built new vehicles - even the youngest daughter Marion participated in both the event, and helping her older brother and older sister with building their vehicles.
2025 marked another fifth year. It was time for new vehicles to be built. It was also a big year for Marion; the first time she would build and drive her own vehicle rather than riding along with any of her family members. At 14 years of age, she had started her driving lessons to get her license, even though she already was a pretty good driver, having learned how to drive a car both on the road and in rough terrain from when she had been seven years old.
The sleepy slowness of the summer season had given them ample time to prepare. There were much less jobs for the company during the summer, allowing them time to scout for a vehicle, bring it home, and begin working on it. August saw the most activity. The second half of August was the time when the Heavy Liftin' Youtube channel dropped its Take Five update video for the year. The largest of the two garages on the premises, the one containing five full bays, was entirely dedicated to the building and preparing of the vehicles. The company's main videographer, a raccoon woman by the name of Clara Clayton, spent almost all her time in that garage, except for the times when she accompanied Florence as the puma woman went out on a recovery job, since she was the puma owner's personal camera woman.
The five-bay garage was a flurry of activity, and a cacophony of noise. People walking in and out, carrying parts and steel pipes and panels, amidst a constant noise of whining grinders and chopsaws, hissing plasma torches and crackling and fizzing welders accompanied by the percussion of hammers, and other tools used as hammers, banging things into place or out of place.
By one of the regular doors leading into the large garage was Florence Beaumont, the puma owner of the company, talking cheerfully into a camera pointed at her by Clara Clayton, the raccoon camera woman.
"Goooood morning, everybody! It's the second week of August, and you know what that means! Time to get serious about Taking Five! And as it's the second week of August in twenty twenty-five, that also means it's time for new vehicles!" She motioned at the door behind her. "As you can hear from the concert of activity behind me, we're already in full swing! Let's go have a look at what those wonderful brats of mine are up to, shall we?"
She opened the door and walked into the garage, followed by Clara. In the second bay, a dirty white cabover-style pickup truck was sitting on the car lift, raised up high into the air. Under it, working on unbolting the exhaust piping, was Sonja, the oldest of Florence's two daughters. Florence knocked on the side of the pickup bed to attract the girl's attention.
"Well then, Sonja! Tell us what we're looking at here."
"Alright!" the puma girl nodded with a smile. "Hey everyone! What we have here is a nineteen ninety-two Mitsubishi L-three hundred pickup truck. I like it a lot; in Japan it's called the Delica, which is almost the same as my favorite Delicata chocolate bars! I got it for a few hundred bucks off InterMarket, and it's actually in surprisingly good condition, so I'm actually going to paint this one in milk chocolate brown! I think it'll even last more than five years, I'm aiming to keep it around for at least ten, and maybe take it on some recoveries as well."
"Someone's ambitious," Clara chortled from behind the camera.
"So why did you choose this one, Sonja?" Florence smiled. "Tell us what the advantages of it are."
"Well, for one, it already comes with four-wheel drive!" Sonja smiled. "And that means it has the two and a half liter turbocharged diesel motor. I got it so cheap because the turbo had failed, but I've got a new one on order, it'll be here the day after tomorrow. It'll just be a small turbo, just enough to give it some extra low-end grunt in the low range. Because yes, it also comes with high and low range."
"So what are the plans for it, aside from a new turbo?" Florence smiled.
"A little refresh of the motor, and I'm putting in the lift kit I scavenged off my Tacoma from last year," Sonja smiled. "And thanks to our sponsors, I'll be putting in a Brawler low-profile exhaust system, and of course a set of Milestar Patagonia thirty-seven inch tires on Mammoth D-Window seventeen inch beadlock rims. This year, we're going for the new Patagonia M/T-zero two tires, I'm curious to see how they will behave under this truck."
"Any extra offroad equipment planned, Sonja?" Clara asked from behind the camera.
"Just the usual," Sonja nodded with a smile. "I'm taking the front winch bumper with the Badlands winch and the bullbar off my Tacoma and fitting it to this truck. I'll try to put on the rear winch bumper from the Tacoma as well, but I'm not sure if that's gonna fit. And of course the under-lights and light bars, and the PRP seats that are in the Tacoma."
"So basically, you're just stripping everything off your old Toyota and putting it on this truck?" Clara chortled.
"Pretty much, yeah!" Sonja nodded with a bright smile.
"Sounds like you'll be pretty busy," Florence smiled. "Let's go have a look at my boy over here."
While Sonja got back under the Mitsubishi pickup truck, Florence and Clara stepped over to the middle bay, where the puma boy Thomas was bending over under the opened hood of a rusty dark blue station wagon sitting between the posts of the car lift. A knock on the hood brought him upright.
"Oh, hey ma."
"Working hard, Tom, are you?" Florence smiled. "Tell us, what do we have here?"
The puma boy stood fully upright and wiped his forehead, leaving a black greasy smear.
"Right, well, this is a nineteen eighty-nine Peugeot five-oh-five Break GDTD. I pulled it out of someone's backyard where it was totally overgrown by vines and bushes, it was quite a struggle actually. And all that greenery hasn't done it any favors; it's completely rotten, but the bones are decent. I only paid a hundred fifty for it because it's so rotten and it's a non-runner."
"And what makes this a good choice for the Take Five?" Florence smiled.
"It's a GDTD," Thomas said, motioning at the engine. "It has a two and a half liter turbocharged IDI diesel motor with a hundred and eight horsepower, and it has a five-speed manual. I did some research, and this combination was actually the most durable."
"Except that it doesn't run," Clara chortled.
"Except that it doesn't run, but I'm working on that," Thomas nodded with a chuckle. "All the injectors are stuck, so I'm just gonna pull them and replace them with new ones. Or well, old ones that actually work, really. Sonja's Tacoma threw a rod last year, so if they'll fit, I'll probably steal the injectors out of that motor."
"What other advantages does it have?" Clara asked with a smile.
"It's plush," Thomas smiled. "These ones came with central locking, power steering, AC and front fog lights, and the five-speed. Not that the central locking will do me much good, but the power steering and AC will definitely be a great help."
"So what other plans do you have for it?" Florence smiled.
"First, get the engine running," Thomas chuckled. "And if I can't manage that, I'll probably drop in the Perkins I put in the Fiat Tempra wagon I had before. I'll have to plate the holes in the frame, and I guess I'll tack-screw some license plates over the holes in the floor to keep the rocks from flying in and hitting me in the nuts."
"Sounds like a good plan," Clara sniggered. "Why a station wagon, though? You had one last time too."
Thomas shrugged.
"I like wagons, that's really all there is to it."
"Fair enough," Clara nodded with a chortle.
"Any other plans, Tom?" Florence smiled.
"I'll put in some lift blocks so I can run the Patagonia two sixty-five seventies on sixteen inch beadlocks," Thomas said, gesturing at the side of the station wagon. "It already has disc brakes all around which is great, so I'll put on some upgraded rotors and four-piston calipers, and I'll switch out the axles. It has rear-wheel drive, so I'll drop a Dana seventy in the rear and a Dana sixty in the front to get four-wheel drive. I can scavenge those and the transfer case from my Tempra wagon, as well as the hubs because I know the beadlocks fit on that, they're already on there so I'll just run the wheels and tires from that wagon on this one."
"You have a good deal of work ahead of you yet," Florence smiled. "We'll let you get to it, and go have a look at the biggest news of this year's race!"
She and Clara walked over to the fourth bay, where a rusty silver-colored and quite small pickup truck with a passenger car cab was sitting between the posts of the car lift. And sitting next to it, unbolting and removing the wheels, was the youngest Beaumont girl, Marion. Florence gestured at her while smiling into the camera.
"That's right, my little girl Marion is driving her own car for the first time this year! Come on over here, princess, and tell us what you got here."
The puma girl scrambled to her feet and stepped up to her mother with a smile.
"Okiedoke! This is my car!" She poked out her tongue with a giggle. "Mom was mean, she didn't let us use any of those three million Valiants she has sitting around, so I had to find a different car!"
"Are you kidding me, princess?" Florence chortled. "The whole objective of the Take Five is to clean up and recycle trash, of course you weren't getting your grubby little mitts on any of my restoration projects! So what did you get?"
"I got this!" Marion smiled while pointing at the small silver-colored pickup. "It's a nineteen ninety-nine Volkswagen Caddy pickup truck, with a one point nine turbo-diesel motor in it. I got it for three hundred fifty bucks from a farm in Thistlepatch where it was just wasting away in the back of a barn."
"It's kinda small, isn't it?" Clara smiled.
"I'm kinda small!" Marion giggled. "So it's a perfect fit! And I'm lucky, too! I don't have any cars from previous events to rob parts from, so I get to put all new stuff on mine!"
"Lucky you indeed," Clara nodded with a chortle.
"So what are you planning to put on it, princess?" Florence smiled.
"I'm kinda copying Tomtom," Marion smiled. "I'll put on a small lift kit so I can run the Milestar Patagonia two sixty-five seventies on sixteen inch beadlock rims, disc brake conversion for all four wheels and a four-wheel drive conversion. Tomtom will help me with that, he has a bunch of experience converting his two-wheel drive station wagons to four-wheel drive. We'll put in a basic rollcage too, and look!" She pointed at the bed of the small pickup truck. "I'm gonna weld in some bars just ahead of those wheel tubs in the bed to make a rack for holding large trash cans, and then the rest of the bed can be used for larger trash like tires and stuff. Oh yes, and I'm gonna put on a winch bumper with a winch on the front, I found a second-hand one that I can go pick up tomorrow!"
"Very good, that's right in the spirit of this whole thing," Florence nodded with a smile. "Of course it's all too easy to use all sponsor-provided parts and materials, so I'm proud of you thinking outside the box and picking up second-hand stuff."
"And I like the idea of the rack for trash cans," Clara smiled. "That's pretty darn clever, you won't have to strap those cans down all the time."
"Thankies!" Marion smiled brightly. "Yeah, I kinda learned that from last year and the year before when I was riding with Sonson and we had to constantly unstrap and re-strap the cans she was hauling with her. So I thought, I wanna do that better!"
"You are a clever girl, princess," Florence smiled. "We'll let you get back to work, you still have a lot to do it looks like."
"Thanks, mom!" Marion smiled.
She sat back down by the side of the small VW pickup truck to unbolt the left rear wheel. Florence and Clara stepped over to the fifth bay, and Florence took the camera from Clara to take over the filming.
"And of course, our camera woman is not gonna be left behind! Clara will be filming most of the event, or at least our part in it, but she's also driving in it herself! So what will you be driving, Clara?"
"That's right, and I'm going old-school," the raccoon woman nodded with a smile. She motioned at the car lift in the fifth bay, on the raised arms of which was sitting a very sun-baked and weathered dull red, boxy Chevrolet pickup truck with a blue left door and black left front fender. "Here we have my entry; a nineteen seventy-six Chevrolet K-thirty square-body in Scottsdale trim. It's a three-quarter ton four-wheel drive truck that's already sitting higher than usual, so I should have no troubles fitting some large Patagonias under it. I'm thinking thirty-two-inchers at least. It's almost ready to go, I just need to patch some holes in the floor, and there is one kinda sorta major change I have to make."
"And what would that be?" Florence chortled.
Clara sniggered softly and made a funny face.
"These trucks are very popular, so they tend to be quite pricey. I picked this one up for twenty-three hundred bucks, and that's only because the motor is blown up. So I will have to do an engine swap on it." She laughed shortly. "I actually hope Tom will get the engine in his wagon running, because then I can steal the Perkins out of his old wagon and plop it in this truck."
"Hahaha! Hey Tom, you hear that?!" Florence called out with a laugh, turning to the middle bay. "Clara's planning to pilfer your old motor!"
The puma boy turned his head to look aside from where he was leaning over the engine of his station wagon and grinned.
"She's welcome to it! I just did a test with one of the injectors from that blown motor in Sonja's old truck, and they fit, so I'll have this one running in an hour or so!"
"Well isn't that convenient," Florence chortled, turning back to Clara.
"You bet!" Clara nodded with a smile. "As soon as I've finished setting up the cameras for the timelapse, I'll start yanking the motor out of this truck."
"I'd better give you this one back then," Florence chortled, handing the camera she was holding back to Clara and smiling into it as the raccoon woman pointed it back at her. "And there you go, everyone! That is one of the main beauties of the Take Five Race! It cleans up the country, it brings people together, and it's a lovely family affair! We'll try not to lapse the time too quickly, so you can all see how much we're enjoying working together and helping each other on these jalopies as a family!" A cheerful laugh rolled from her lips. "And I can hear you keyboard warriors typing already! But Flo! What will you drive? You're not preparing a car! Are you not gonna participate? C'mon folks, you should know better by now. Of course I'm participating, and of course I'll be driving Daffie our DAF truck for when we find the big stuff like abandoned car wrecks that need hauling out with brute force. So I will in fact be preparing a vehicle, but it will be a simple preparation as all I need to do is a fluid check and some maintenance on Daffie. And I'll be doing that in the first bay, so you'll see me pulling in there in the timelapse in a bit! So, cue the timelapse!"
She waved at the camera with a smile and turned to start walking out of the garage via one of the regular doors in between the large garage doors. Clara panned after her with the camera for a moment before shutting off the camera and pattering around the large garage busily. She set up lights on tripods, she set up smaller cameras on tripods, she set up smaller cameras and lights on higher locations such as on top of shelves and behind the openable windows of the second-floor office and editing room over the storage rooms, toilets and nap rooms, all the while helped by Susanne Merkeley, the dark brown-furred mouse woman who had given herself Siamese cat markings with permanent forest-green fur dye and who was one of the other main camera women of the company. They both were helped by several others as well.
Down in the garage, the activity kept on keeping on. People walking in and out; other employees returning from smaller towing or recovery jobs, returning from errands or returning from picking up parts and materials. The mid-sized pink 1966 DAF 2600 truck with the large lift boom on the back pulling into the first bay of the garage. The three Beaumont children and the raccoon woman Clara working on their vehicles; Tom helping Clara with removing the hood from the Chevrolet pickup truck, both Tom and Sonja helping their younger sister Marion removing the rear axle and front suspension from the small VW Caddy pickup, Marion helping Sonja by holding the front and rear bumpers in turns as Sonja unbolted and removed them.
That was one of the main beautiful things of the Take Five Race. It cleaned up the country, it brought people together, and it often was a close and happy family affair. Florence had already said that.
It bears repeating.
