Harlan Gets Stuck in a Car Wash

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About Mr. Jim:

Hi! I'm Jim Jacob, a South Carolina based creator. I started as a podcaster by accident. Our first real episodes on the internet were me trying to find a solution to help tell my sons stories as I was traveling for work. I recorded some stories and hoped that by uploading them to a podcast app, my wife and kids could have easy access to listen. What started as a fix for our family’s bedtime routine interruption has grown into a worldwide audience with hundreds of thousands of listeners. My wife Jocelyn and I have 3 kids and love inspiring others towards greater imagination and curiosity.

Welcome to "Kids Short Stories," the unique podcast where your child's imagination becomes the star of the show! Dive into a world of adventure, mystery, and fun as Mr. Jim brings to life exhilarating tales inspired by story ideas submitted by kids from around the globe. Whether your child dreams up a story about space-traveling aliens, underwater adventures, or magical forests, "Kids Short Stories" transforms their creative sparks into captivating audio experiences.

Each episode of "Kids Short Stories" is a new journey, tailor-made for young listeners who love to explore, learn, and imagine. With a special emphasis on kids' stories, this podcast is not just entertainment—it's a platform where children's voices and ideas lead the narrative. Listen as kids' stories about heroes, mythical creatures, and everyday challenges come to life, fostering a love for storytelling and enhancing listening skills.

"Kids Short Stories" is more than just a podcast; it's a community where children are encouraged to be creative and where their stories are valued and celebrated. By focusing on kids' stories, we aim to inspire a generation of young thinkers, dreamers, and storytellers. Join Mr. Jim every week for a new, exciting kids' story that ignites imagination and brings joy and laughter into your child's world.

Parents and educators love "Kids Short Stories" for its commitment to delivering engaging, thoughtful, and age-appropriate content. Each kids' story is crafted with care, ensuring that it's not only entertaining but also educational. If you're looking for a podcast that enriches your child's day with fantastic kids' stories and a healthy dose of imagination, you've found the perfect listen with "Kids Short Stories."

Don't let your child's imaginative ideas stay untold! Tune in to "Kids Short Stories" and embark on a storytelling adventure where kids' stories come to life. Subscribe now and be part of a podcast that celebrates the power of children's creativity through mesmerizing kids' stories.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey friends, welcome back to Kitdshort Stories. I want to
make sure that you are on our next game show,
which is happening on Instagram Live. So follow our Kids
short Stories Instagram account. Our next game show happens on
February twenty first at one pm Eastern time. You will
win free merch by answering our trivia questions. I will
see you there. Today's story comes to us from Harlan.

(00:26):
He sent me an awesome idea for a story, and
you can't too. Just head over to kidshort stories dot com.
Send me your idea and maybe we'll turn it into
an awesome adventure. Are you guys ready for today's story?
Me too, Let's go. It was a beautiful day and
Harlan and his friends were playing outside. They were running

(00:47):
around the neighborhood, playing a massive game of hide and
seek across a whole bunch of different backyards and front
yards and all the different houses on their street. This
was pretty awesome. Have you ever played such an epic
game of iide and seek before? Those are some pretty
amazing games where you could take a pretty long time

(01:10):
to find everyone because there's so many different hiding spots. Well,
Harlan was the one that was finding everyone, and he
was very good at it. I see you over there, Camden,
he shouted. Camden was hiding behind some bushes. Elsie and
Kiva were the last ones to be hiding, and Harlan

(01:31):
was searching everywhere. All right, where have I not looked?
Harlan had checked what he thought was every hiding spot,
but the last place that he had ever expect was
up a tree. There was this old, gnarly tree that
was growing at the end of the street, and it

(01:53):
had all these really old big branches that people love
to go climbing on. But finally Harlan decided to check
that tree. There you are, I'll see Kiva. I see
you up there. Holy smokes, that was a good spot,
oh Man shouted at Kiva. They both climbed down and

(02:14):
Harlan had finally found everyone on the street. Harlan, come
on home, Okay, I'm coming. That was one of his
parents shouting for Harlan to come back home because they
were gonna go run out and do some errands. And
little did Harlan know how crazy this errand run would be.

(02:36):
Do you like going out with your parents to do
some errands? Yeay? Errands are It's a word for like
maybe going grocery shopping or running to the store and
picking up something, or you know, you just never know
what your parents errand list might have. As Harlan jumped
into the car, off they drove. All right, Harlan. The

(03:00):
first thing that we got to do, we got to
bring our car to the car wash. And it's very dirty. Yes,
I love the car wash, said Harlan. Have you ever
been in a car wash before? They are pretty fun
when all the hoses and the water and the bubbles
are spraying, and it can be a little noisy, but

(03:21):
it's it's almost like a roller coaster ride. As the
car pulled into the car wash station, they drove inside
and there the water began spraying. All kinds of crazy
noises were all around the car. Harlan loved watching everything spraying,

(03:45):
and it was like being inside of a robot machine,
watching everything automatically do its different jobs. But then something
terrible happened. All of a sudden, the car turned off,
and as Harlan's parents tried to turn the car back on,
it wouldn't start. Oh no, Harlan, I think we ran

(04:09):
out of gas. What are we gonna do. We're stuck
inside this car wash. How are we gonna get more gas?
Shouted Harlan. Holy smokes, what would you do if you
were stuck inside of a car that was inside of
a car wash and he ran out of gas? Do
you have any ideas? The only idea that I can

(04:32):
think of is that you'd have to get out of
the car and like walk over to the gas station,
but you'd get sprayed with everything. Oh, that is a
serious problem. As their car was now just sitting in
the middle of this car wash that was spraying all
this soap and water everywhere, Harlan knew what they had

(04:54):
to do. Guys, I think we have to get out
of the car and walk over to the gas station
over there. Harlan, what are you talking about? Will get
completely soaked and full of soap, said his dad. I know,
but there's no other way. We have to do this. Okay,
I'm going with you, said his dad. Harlan and his

(05:16):
dad both plugged their noses and squinted their eyes and
held their breath. They felt like they were jumping into
the ocean, but it wasn't an ocean. It was a
bubbly spraying tornado miss of a car wash, all right, one, two, three,

(05:38):
And just like that, they quickly opened the door and
jumped out of the car, and then slammed the door
shut so that none of the water would get in
the car sh run. All the spraying of water and
soap completely soaked Harlan and his dad. You should have

(05:59):
seen them as they came running out of the car wash.
They looked like pink soap monsters. From head to toe.
They were filled and covered with this puffy, pink soap.
As they stood there in shock of what just happened,
staring at each other, they instantly started to laugh. Look

(06:22):
at you, Harlan, said his dad. I feel like a giant, pink,
fluffy monster, said Harlan as he wiped the soap off
of his face with his two hands. He finally was
able to breathe normally again, but as he looked down
at his arms and the rest of his body, he
didn't know exactly what to do. The two of them

(06:44):
started walking over to the gas station to fill up
a little tank of gas to put in their car,
and people started screaming, Ah, HiT's a monster. Everyone at
the gas station was absolutely terrified, and I would be
too if it looked like a giant pink monster was
walking towards me. Harlan and his dad waved their arms

(07:07):
and said, no, we're people, We're not monsters. Everybody were
just covered in soap. We got stuck in the car wash.
All the people screaming instantly turned to laughing, and they
grabbed some paper towels and some rags to help Harlan
and his dad wipe themselves off. Oh, thank you, thank you.

(07:27):
Harlan grabbed a towel and started wiping the soap off
of his body. His dad filled up a container with
gas that they would bring over to their car. All right, Harlan,
let's get back to the car wash and maybe rense
ourselves off a little bit. As they got back to
the car wash, they told their mom to put the
car in neutral and then they would be able to
push the car out the rest of the way without

(07:48):
it having to turn on. Because you don't want to
fill up a car with gas In the midst a
tornado of soap and water sprang everywhere. You don't want
that to get in your car's gas tank. As they
pushed the car out of the car wash, Ah, it
was like going through a big shower. It rinsed off
all that pink soap off of both of them. Their
mom was laughing hysterically from inside of the car. She

(08:11):
had watched the whole thing and couldn't help but just laugh.
How are you soap monsters doing, she shouted? Ah, very
very not funny, said his dad. That was awesome, said Harlan.
Let's do it again. No, nope, nope, nope, nope nope. Well,
what are we gonna do about all these errands that

(08:33):
we gotta do? Yeah, We're not gonna be doing those
errands right now, said his mom. We definitely need to
get home and get some dry clothes first. Carln's dad
filled up the car with gas, and they shook us
much of the water off of themselves before they got
in the car and drove home. Holy smokes, that is

(08:53):
not how they expected their day of errands would go. Right. Well,
if that ever happens to me, are you now we
know what to do. We know how to survive being
stuck in a car wash, and that may be the
end of the adventure. But that was a very helpful
lesson just in case that ever happens to me or

(09:14):
you great job, you listened all the way to the end,
and you know what toometer is. It's time for Kid
shout Out. I want to say hey to Sterling from California,
Olivia from Brazil, Thatcher from Louisiana, Conrad from North Carolina,

(09:38):
Wyatt and Charlie from Oregon, Brandon from Washington, and Winter
from Vancouver, British Columbia. I am so glad that you're
all on the Kid Short Stories family and on our
spy team. We could not stop Doctor Stinkybreath and his
crew without you. My friends. Well, don't forget about our
game show. On February twenty first, follow Kid short Stories Instagram.

(10:00):
I will see you there by