It all started when my good friend Chevrolet added me to a brand new, bright red, 2016 Corvette! Those were truly the days. My 3 buddies and I, Tim, Tom, and Travis, traveled everywhere together. We were practically inseparable. Whether we were at the carwash, going on a long ride, or even at the repair shop getting a nail removed and patched, we were always right there with one another. But as we traveled more and more miles we started to age and wear out. It was a gloomy Saturday morning when we said goodbye to Corvette. We all knew we’d miss her, but knew it was our time to retire. As Corvette pulled out of the repair shop, I couldn’t help but wonder what was next for us? Where would we go?
On a random Monday morning, I woke up in a place I didn’t recognize. For the past few days, we slept at the repair shop, but this place definitely wasn’t the shop. There were other tires everywhere, and I didn’t recognize any of them. I began to worry and was afraid that me and my buddies would be separated. I kept calling their names, and finally, Tim and Travis responded, but Tom was nowhere to be found. When I eventually reached Tim, he told me that Tom was taken away. If you remember from earlier, I talked about how we were all aging and wearing down, but Tom was actually in pretty good shape. Tim explained to me that Tom was getting a second life! Since he was in such good condition, he got shipped out to be reused by another car! Initially, I was pretty upset when I heard this, I mean Tom was my best friend. But I remembered that Tom LOVED to be driven, and this was best for him! So, me, Tim, and Travis decided to take on this next adventure together, but where were we? We searched for clues to see where exactly we were, but the only thing I saw was a sign that said, “Liberty Tire Recycling.”
Well, what’s Liberty Tire Recycling? As I continued to look around, I saw a bunch of human men in hard hats grabbing the tires and putting them into this machine that started chopping…them… all…up…! This is where I got really freaked out! I screamed, I cried, I even tried running away (before realizing I was a tire and couldn’t run) and nothing seemed to work. When Tim, Travis, and I got closer to the scary machine, we looked at each other and said our last goodbyes. As my tire body neared the machine I kept thinking about Tom and how one day I hoped we would meet again. As I went under the machine and started getting chopped into small little pieces, I realized that this didn’t hurt at all. It felt like I was being tickled all over. Tim, Travis, and I couldn’t help but become so overly joyed at the fact that maybe it wasn’t over for all of us. After we were made into small pieces, we went into another machine that dyed us all bright blue! After that, they put us in a big ole bag with a bunch of other chopped-up tires! Now Tim, Travis, and I are all little red rubber pieces being delivered to a new place, but where else would we go?
When we finally arrived at our new location, it seemed so bright and happy! We were all dumped off into a big pile and spread across the ground, around a giant playground! Now, every day, Travis, Tim, and I keep children from getting injured on playgrounds, and are told we have a fall protection height of 14 feet! So, although we may not be cruising on roads anymore, I think playing with children every day is WAY better! But, as days went by, we all still thought about Tom and wondered where he was. Then, about 3 weeks after being on the playground, more men came out and started doing tons of construction right next to us. Turns out, they were building another playground! When the playground was finished, and they had put down more rubber mulch, I heard a familiar voice. IT WAS TOM! Tom said that after he left us, he went on to drive many miles for an older Corvette in Mexico! He explained how when he finally wore down, he also got sent to Liberty Tire Recycling. He said they also chopped him into pieces, dyed him bright blue, and sent him here! I was so excited that we were finally all back together and recycled for a whole new purpose!
Now, it’s been about 6 years since we arrived on that playground, and we are still as bright as ever! Can’t wait to spend another 6 years protecting kids and keeping our bright color!