DISCLAIMER: Several characters are intellectual property of Pixar Animation Studios. Some material from the film is used, although my own subtext has been added. The characters, town of Radiator Springs and story from the film are property of and owned by Disney/Pixar. Original storyline, materials expanding scene(s) from the film, and original characters are my own.
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The sun had just peaked over the line of trees far off in the hilly distance, suddenly bathing the quiet countryside in gentle golden warmth. Everything besides the long fingers of grass and patches of wildflowers swaying in the slithering breeze stood still, holding its place in the early dawn.
The scattered homes in the countryside were quick to rise that day, despite the pristine morning deserving of attention. Something else was on everybody's mind.
In fact, this certain 'thing' had been on everyone's mind in the whole province. Not just the province, but across the entire region and other regions across the country. For weeks, cars had been streaming in from every part of Italy, Europe, and even from across the Atlantic Ocean.
Couples, families, individuals, old and new cars, fast and slow cars, the countryside had been steadily overwhelmed, just as most of the population was used at the time of year, yet there seemed to be an much greater amount of excitement for the events later that day than many could remember. If you were going to be anywhere that day, it was here in Monza, Italy.
The big race had finally come. It wasn't the Grand Prix their city was known for worldwide, but more throngs of cars and such a palpable sense of anticipation had come out to the northern country in greater force than ever before.
Chapter 1
"Whooohoooo!"
A bright red and yellow car flew by the drive of a country home, the sun glinting off of its shiny body and silver sticker. Its engine revved as it approached another gradual hill, ready to speed on to the next set of curves on the narrow highway.
Two grey Fiats further up the road heard the yell and the engine, used to this sort of thing. It was probably some car trying to act like a racecar on all of the curves behind them, they thought. The pair kept up their leisurely pace, talking all the way.
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Lightning McQueen had been driving for over three straight hours on all of the highways in the Italian countryside. He loved every minute of it! The curves, the hills, all of the open road, and no Sheriff to keep from going too fast. So far, the day had been going better than any in a long while, with all of the last Piston Cup season still fresh on his mind. The new location and untravelled road was a welcome departure, to say the least.
"Hehe, yeah!" he said as he took the first turn of an uphill S-curve, the shoulder of the road becoming a cliff the further up he went. McQueen powered out of the first turn, taking in the great view he was getting also, and down the hill into the second turn.
You don't find anything like this in Radiator Springs!
Radiator Springs. He hadn't been gone for very long, but his trip was quickly pushing it out of the front of his mind. The next two weeks were going to be some of his toughest yet, but he didn't mind. He had never been to Europe before, and he was completely engrossed in all of the new things he was able to do.
A tight right curve up ahead made his tail end unstick for just a moment, but he steered himself straight in no time and finished the turn without a problem.
At the crest of another hill, he saw Milan far off in the distance, probably another hour's worth of driving to get to.
"Hmm. It's not too late I guess…. I could drive that last bit over again…Yeah." he thought out loud.
McQueen came to a quick stop and turned himself around, taking off quickly, heading back up the hill and around the last few miles of turns he had just tackled, making sure to rev his engine loudly each time he sped up.
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The sun had made its way directly overhead, and the road just wasn't getting old for Lightning. Every turn brought three more and every hill let him see huge stretches of the countryside, dotted with farms and houses and numerous small towns.
There were several places he would have loved to have taken Sally to, and just thinking about her starting pulling the seven months he had been with her into his thoughts. Actually, she was all he started to think about for a while.
I really wish she could have come, but…
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He saw her speeding ahead of him in the switchbacks of Ornament Valley on one of the drives they took between the racing seasons. Winter was coming around, and the sunsets had grown a deep pink-red. She led the way back up to one of the other lookouts over Carburetor County, through all of those S-curves, past the Wheel Well, and a few miles further than they had ever driven alone before.
"So are we actually going to L.A. this time?" Lightning asked, jokingly.
She slowed and laughed. "Yeah, of course we are."
Lightning smirked a bit and sped up beside her. He glanced over at her and then slowed again, under a small group of shrubs on the edge of the cliff. This part of the cliff extended far enough out past the road to where they both could park side by side, just like in front of the Wheel Well, but removed from the customers that were always around.
"Nice sunset, huh?" Lightning said.
"Yup." Sally moved a little further towards the edge of the cliff to see Radiator Springs nestled behind its signature landmass.
The sunlight was almost gone, but what was left bent smoothly around her curved sides and started to distract McQueen.
"Heh," he said, breaking the soft, silence of the few minutes they had been parked there.
"What?" Sally asked, noticing Lightning's slight quirkiness. She heard the sound of gravel scraping rubber. "Your wheels are shaking….Do you feel okay?" she asked him, getting concerned.
"Oh…yeah, I, uh." He noticed that his right tire was shaking a little bit. Nervousness on his part, of course. "I guess that rock I bumped in to loosened my shocks or something…" he replied.
"Yeah….okay," Sally said, turning towards him and smiling. "So that rock….Tell me more about it. We could ask those two road workers at the Cozy Cone to move it if you want."
"Oh, no, no, no. It was out in the desert. Far. Past Willy's Butte. I don't even remember why I was out there in the first place, actually…."
Sally chuckled and nudged Lightning's bumper playfully.
Lightning smiled back, his gaze focusing on the reddish sunlight reflecting all down her sides and off of her hood and shining into her eyes. The green of her eyes and the pinkish-red of the waning sunlight drew him in. He chuckled.
Sally was looking back at him. She had a slight grin on her face as well. "Yeah…. me too," she said, looking back at him.
He waited a moment, glancing out towards Ornament Valley and back at her, moved forward and gently kissed her, letting his nervousness go.
They turned back out towards the sunset, nestled closely, bumper to bumper, until the stars came out.
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Lightning let out a slow sigh.
But I just have to focus for now…. I'll be back as soon as I can, but I have to focus hard on these races…Soon.
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It was somewhere around three o'clock in the afternoon when Lightning passed a small family of Alfa Romeo coupes, swerving out of the way as he came around a blind turn going much faster than they were. The father honked and yelled something in Italian, but Lightning was already well on his way.
….Whoops. I wish I could stop...
"Sorry!" he yelled, hoping they heard him. They didn't, because he was getting close to a half-mile away from them already.
The fences and driveways and trees he had grown accustomed to seeing whiz by just to his sides were becoming less and less common along this stretch of the road. There were also less curves to take than he'd have liked, but he was sure that Milan was not far away by then.
It was only an hour away when I saw it….oh. That was four hours ago!
McQueen was definitely lost.
He slowed down to the speed limit as he started to mentally backtrack his route over the last few hours. Anxiety began creeping up on him as he realized his memories were only of the turns and hills and many panoramic views instead of anything to do with where he actually was.
Lightning sped up, now hoping to find somebody to give him directions, in English.
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He had already stopped at a small café to get a quart of oil and refueled in one of the towns, but he still hadn't seen that many cars around as he thought there should have been.
"Humph," he said, passing another cluster of business along the highway, only two or three cars in the entire town so far, none of which he could get understandable directions from.
I knew I should have just stayed on the Motorway! I could have taken the back roads when I didn't have to get somewhere on time….
He drove on to the next town, the clouds painted a light yellow and orange in the approaching dusk.
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"Hello? Is anyone here?"
Wow…. are theyall going to this race?
" Hello? No one?" Lightning asked of the empty buildings around him.
He had seen a road sign for Via Monza further down Highway SP14, which he had been on a good two hours after finding his way back to the larger roads, wondering and hoping that he had gotten lost in the right direction.
Lightning was getting closer, but had only made it to one of the larger towns near Milan, Seggiano. Nobody seemed to be around, only closed doors and empty streets. It sort of reminded him of….
"Ciao, state cercando qualcuno?"
Lightning turned around quickly in surprise.
"Whoa! Hey…yeah…. can you?..." was all he could get out. He was just happy to see another car!
"Ah, parlate inglese…. Are you looking for someone?"
"Oh good, you speak English too…. Phew, you don't know how hard it's been to find someone out here today and who speaks English."
"Si, but I do not know a…. big amount," he responded.
"No, no, no, that's fine. I'm trying to find the Motorway. I'm on my way to Monza, but I... yeah, well I took a detour today to get out in the country, but I got lost."
The small Fiat Siena that had found McQueen listened intently, but had a slight look of confusion on his face.
He interrupted Lightning. "Aye, uh…. Slow down. Slow down. Hard to understand."
"Oh, oh…. Sorry," he said. "I'm trying to get back to the Motorway. I'm heading to Monza. I'm lost. How do I get to the Motorway?" he said, keeping his pace steadier that time.
I wish I'd have known I'd be in Italy sooner…. Luigi and Guido could have helped me out a little with the Italian.
The Fiat paused in thought a few moments, but looked as if he had the answer McQueen had just spent two and a half hours searching for.
"Si, si. You go back to highway…. SP14, yes? Yes. And just go. You'll get to the Motorway soon," the car finally said.
"Wait a minute, which way do I go? Right, right?"
Another pause.
"Yes. Si. Alla destra. To the right. Ten minutes, and you are there!"
"Ten minutes?" he said.
Wow, ten minutes! Yes! I won't miss my first race after all….
The silver Siena smiled.
"Thank you….Grazie," McQueen said.
"Prego," he said back to him, waiting a bit and then driving off past McQueen, into the empty town and out of sight.
Lightning turned himself around and peeled out, heading back to the highway, relieved and ready for a good night's rest in Milan.
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He couldn't help but be reminded of Radiator Springs when he had driven through those empty towns a few hours ago. Nothing was broken down, but everything was closed, no car in sight for miles around. It wasn't desert, but it was deserted.
Lightning had made it to a small motel near the Motorway with just a little light left in the sky, still without headlights for night driving. He could have already been in Monza if he didn't have to stop that night, but the rest was welcome. He had driven himself hard and had plenty of fun, so the extra twenty minutes of driving in the morning were more of a warm-up rather than the last leg of the 11 or so hours he had been on the road.
He let out a long yawn, ready to go to sleep.
Well, it's not the Cozy Cone, but what can you do?
The traffic on the Motorway went on its way, a dull mix of wind and engine noise. Lightning yawned again, switching off the little room's lights and closing his eyes.
As he went to sleep, he let the freshly recalled memories of Radiator Springs flow freely into his dreams.