I wasn't planning on posting this today, but since I was bored and I'm taking a break from writing this story to do some publishing, I figured I might as well. Enjoy! :)
Oh, and Guido's postcard would really be written in Italian, but it's in English here, for your benefit.
Chapter 8- A Journal, a Sunset and Some Dolphins
Guido's POV
Dear Uncle Topolino,
We are having a wonderful time in the Freewheeler Islands. The weather has been fantastic and there are so many fun things to do here.
Although, I think Luigi's far too worried about Fudge to enjoy any of it. What do you think I should do about it?
Well, I better go. We have a very busy evening: a sunset cruise and dinner in a fancy restaurant. I will call you tomorrow. Say hello to the family for me.
Ciao,
Guido
"Luigi!" I hissed.
He looked at me, his expression changing from anxious to innocent. "(What?)"
"(Don't you think you look just a little bit creepy?)" I quizzed him.
"(I am waiting for Fudge)", was his only response.
"(You are staring into the women's changing room!)" I pointed out. "(Everyone is going to get the wrong idea of what you're doing. Stop worrying about Fudge! She is not a baby and Sally is with her! Sally is very responsible and mature.)" But I know Luigi. He wasn't going to stop worrying. I grabbed his tyre. "(Let's wait over there)", I suggested, pointing to one of the brightly coloured umbrellas surrounding the snack bar. It was directly in front of the changing rooms, so Fudge would have no trouble finding us. It was also a few feet away, so Luigi wouldn't look like a pervert.
The umbrella was good enough for Luigi, so we waited there.
The three of us, plus Sally, McQueen and Ramone, had spent most of the day at Splash City, the water park on Sanchez Island. All ten of us had caught the ferry in the morning to go over to Sanchez Island and looked around the marketplace. Then, at around ten o'clock, we split up. The six of us went to Splash City while Flo, Mater, Sarge and Fillmore stayed at the market a little while longer. I think they had other plans afterwards, but I wasn't sure what they were.
Now, normally, Luigi hates things like theme parks and he most certainly does not love the water. In fact, at one point that day, while we were on a water slide, I thought he was going to be sick.
So, how did he end up going to Splash City? Well, it's pretty simple. He refused to leave Fudge. Not just because he's overprotective, but because of the date: January sixth. Exactly three years ago, Fudge was involved in a horrific racing accident. We had no idea whether or not she would survive or learn to walk again if she did. Fortunately, both of those things happened, but if Luigi is overprotective of Fudge any day of the year, you can't imagine what he's like on the anniversary of the day he almost lost her.
Besides, now that he didn't have a phone anymore, he didn't want her out of his sight .
"(There she is)", I noticed.
Luigi looked around frantically. "(Where?! Where?!)"
"(Right in front of us.)"
Sure enough, she was right next to us a second later.
"(Are you ready to go?)" Luigi quizzed her.
"Si", she confirmed.
Luigi grabbed hold of her and started leading her towards the exit.
"Luigi!" I cried. "(Fudge is not a baby! You don't have to hold on to her!)"
"(Excuse me if I want to keep my daughter safe!)" he retorted indignantly.
I sighed, feeling sorry for him. "(I know how you feel)", I assured him. "(I do. She is my daughter too.)" This day was hard on me as well and I liked to have my daughter close to me. I came up and held onto Fudge from the other side.
"Oh, no!" she gasped all of a sudden.
Luigi gasped too. "(What is it?!)"
I followed Fudge's gaze and saw four girls about her age. If I hadn't been so concerned about Fudge, I would've been amazed by the fact that one of them was a Ferrari.
I don't think Luigi even noticed that there was a Ferrari amongst the group because he asked Fudge, "(Do you know those girls? Have they not been friendly to you? If someone is bullying you, you talk to Papà, yes?)"
Fudge shook her head. I wasn't sure what she meant by that. Though, I noticed that she was digging throw her bag and pulled out her towel. She used that to cover her legs, confusing me even more. I think we were all relieved to see the girls go over to the snack bar and flirt with the young man behind the counter.
What made me feel even more relieved was the sight of Sally, McQueen and Ramone approaching us.
"Everyone's here!" Sally noted brightly. "So, are we all ready to go?"
We all confirmed that we were, so we headed for the exit. Fudge still had her towel over her legs.
"She was doing that in the changing room too", Sally whispered to me. "She faced the wall and kept the towel draped over her back the whole time she was getting changed."
Luigi nodded, concerned. "Something has been worrying her. I just can't figure out what it is."
I couldn't either. I just hoped it was nothing serious. And that she would talk to us soon.
We met up with the four who didn't go to Splash City at the dock to take the ferry back to the resort.
"We had such a dad-gum great day!" Mater proclaimed excitedly. "After we done left the market, we found this craft place where you could even make your own stuff!"
"Without me?!" Ramone pretended to sound hurt.
"I was thinkin' of you the whole time, honey. We'll come back", Flo promised.
"Anyway, look what I done made!" Mater held something up triumphantly. It was a delicate-looking plate with lots of brightly coloured and deliberate patterns on it. I think we were all surprised and impressed that Mater could've made something like that. It was amazing enough that he didn't break it.
He must've known that was what we were all thinking because when Fudge asked, "Since when were you into art?", he got a little defensive.
"I can't be into art?!" It wasn't like Mater to talk like that, but something had been bothering him ever since we arrived (nobody was sure what), so maybe that had him on edge.
Of course, my daughter is very sensitive, so she got defensive too. "'Course you can! I'm not judging! I'm just surprised."
Thankfully, McQueen intervened just then. "It looks great, Mater! I'm sure Red, Sheriff and Lizzie would love to see it too when we get back home."
Then Sarge, Fillmore and Flo all showed off the ones they had made. They were all beautiful as well, but we weren't as astounded by their skill as we were by Mater's.
"Ferry's here", Ramone announced when they were done.
So, we all got on board and willed it to move faster. We had a very busy evening ahead of us and not a whole lot of time. We had the sunset cruise and then dinner in a fancy restaurant at the resort.
Flo and Ramone had done the cruise the night before and told us that it was an experience we couldn't miss while we were here. It sounded amazing! The previous night, Luigi, Fudge and I had been bowling, laser tag and to the arcade with a dinner of pizza and fries. (Fudge had especially loved a very easy claw game where you could win rubber ducks that looked like plenty of other things like cupcakes, astronauts, cowboys, members of a race car's pit crew. She had about fifteen ducks now.) It was fun; I'm not saying it wasn't, but that was something I could do anytime, anywhere. I was excited to do something that evening that I couldn't do back home. Besides, of all the evenings we would be in the Freewheeler Islands, I think this was the one where we all felt like being together. Fudge's accident was hard on all of us, but some more than others.
"Yes, Papà", were the first words out of Fudge's mouth when we entered our suite. She used them because Luigi had reminded her for the tenth time that she needed to take a shower right away because she had chlorine in her hair and the restaurant where we were going to have dinner was very upscale.
Obediently, she made a dash for the shower right away. While I waited for the shower to be free, I retreated to the room I was sharing with Luigi and read a book. Luigi went into Fudge's room to lay her outfit out on her bed. A couple of minutes passed and Luigi still hadn't come back into our room. It shouldn't have taken him that long to put a dress on a bed. Suspicious, I set my book down and rolled into Fudge's room.
I gasped when I saw what he was doing. He'd gone through Fudge's backpack and pulled out her journal.
"(That is Fudge's journal! You can't read that!)" I objected, aghast.
Luigi didn't even seem fazed. "(Why not?)"
"(A journal is private!)" I reminded him. "(I don't think Fudge is going to be happy if she finds out you're reading it! Why are you reading it?)"
"(I am worried about her, Guido. Something is upsetting her and I want to know what. I don't know what else to do.)"
"(You could not read her journal.)"
"(She will not talk to me! How else am I supposed to find out what is wrong? I have done this before.)"
"(Oh, well, that makes it okay)", I droned sarcastically.
He didn't answer; he just turned to a page in the journal. "(Listen to what she wrote on our first day here!)"
"(I am not going to listen!)" I told him. "(You shouldn't even be reading it!)"
I wasn't surprised that he ignored me. Most of the time, when Luigi gets these ideas in his head, he just doesn't let them go. "'The only things that kind of marred my first day here were that I spent most of it alone. Everyone else was busy doing other things. I hope the whole vacation isn't like this. Then there were these stupid girls who kept staring at my scars. One of them even asked me if I'd been in a fire! Idiots!'"
I'd been trying to make noise to drown out his words, but I'd heard them anyway and those last few sentences got my attention.
"(So, those girls we saw have been teasing her)", I murmured softly. Now, it made sense why Fudge kept covering her legs with pants, knee-high socks and towels!
Before Luigi could answer, the bathroom door flung open and I heard an outraged cry of, "(What are you doing?!)"
We both turned towards the bathroom. Fudge was standing in the doorway, wearing nothing but a towel that came down to her knees. She still had lots of shampoo in her hair, so I knew she'd stopped showering to stop Luigi. I also knew, from the look of absolute fury on her face, that we were busted.
"(Fudge, I'm sorry-)" I began.
"(It's not your fault. I heard you tell Papà not to)", she interjected. She didn't exactly sound cheerful, but I knew she was angry at me. She kept blinking because she wasn't wearing her glasses as she shifted her glare towards Luigi. "(Why were you reading my journal, Papà?! That's an invasion of my privacy!)"
"(Fudge, I was worried about you! Something was wrong, but you wouldn't tell me what! I just wanted to know. Were those girls teasing you because of your scars?)"
"(I think you know the answer to that)", she muttered bitterly.
"(Why did you not tell me?)"
Fudge shrugged.
(It sounds like you were upset about this.)" Luigi pointed to the journal. "(I could have helped you.)"
"It's not a big deal", Fudge mumbled, abruptly switching from Italian to English. She and Luigi did that all the time when they talked to each other, so we hardly noticed.
"That's right. It's not", Luigi agreed, also talking in English. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about. You have a beautiful body."
"Oh, my God!" Fudge exclaimed in disgust. She slapped one hand on her forehead despairingly, keeping the other one on the towel.
"What?" Luigi questioned innocently. "I am just saying-"
"Yeah, well, don't just say!"
I sighed. Fudge often acts young for her age. Sometimes, we forget that she's fifteen now. This was the most teenager I had ever seen her act. I didn't exactly blame her, though. It was obvious that this conversation was embarrassing for her. Still, I couldn't help feeling sorry for parents of other teenagers who dealt with this more often than I did.
"I don't understand. I just don't want you to feel embarrassed by your scars or-"
"Can we not have this conversation?!" Fudge cut him off desperately.
"All I am saying is that you are beautiful to me!" Luigi insisted.
"I know that, but not everyone sees me through rose-tinted glasses like you do!" Fudge countered indignantly.
"(That's enough, both of you)", I intervened. My voice was quiet, but it must have been effective somehow because they both shut up. "(Fudge, get back in the shower. We can talk about this later. Otherwise, we will end up missing the cruise. Luigi, put the journal away. And don't go looking through it again.)"
They both followed my instructions, which was good, but I felt exhausted. The last thing we needed was another argument.
"I was only trying to help", Luigi muttered, a little annoyed, once the shower was running again.
"(I know you were)", I assured him sympathetically. (But I think Fudge is going to have to solve this problem for herself. You can't make her see herself through your eyes.)"
"(I suppose you are right)", Luigi realised, albeit reluctantly. I knew he hated not being able to help Fudge. I felt the same way.
Fortunately, the argument was over quickly. When Fudge returned from the shower, Luigi grabbed her hairbrush and started going through Fudge's dark curls. I headed for the bathroom to get a car wash, but I could hear everything they were saying.
They were silent for a while, but then I heard Luigi sigh. "(Fudge, I am sorry. I did not mean to upset you. I just want to make sure you are okay.)"
"(You shouldn't have read my journal)", Fudge pointed out, but she didn't seem angry anymore.
"(I know. I am sorry. You know I was just trying to help, yes?)"
"Si."
"(And you know Papà loves you very much, yes?)"
"Si."
"(Well, next time, talk to Papà, okay?)"
"(Okay. I love you, Papà. And I'm sorry too. I guess I overreacted. If someone had to read my journal, it's probably a good thing it was you.)"
I heard Luigi give her a kiss. "(I love you too, angel. And we have a wonderful evening planned. Can we just forget about what just happened and enjoy ourselves tonight?)"
"(I guess we could do that)", Fudge giggled.
Luigi laughed too and gave her another kiss. "(You are going to look so beautiful! You always do.)"
I smiled. Finally, two people who had argued had made up. I hoped Sarge and Fillmore and Luigi and Ramone would make up soon too.
When I came out of the car wash, I was amazed. My daughter looked very beautiful and so grownup. She was wearing a black silk dress with colourful flowers printed all over it and silver flats. Luigi had even put a fake pink flower in her hair. She was so beautiful in that dress that I didn't even notice her scars. Now, she was sitting gingerly, trying not to mess up her outfit, with the giant stuffed dolphin I won at the arcade tucked under her arm. She wasn't doing anything and looked quite bored.
Although, of course, Fudge is always beautiful to me. She is my daughter, after all. For a brief moment, I could not help wondering what she looked like to the girls who teased her. Then I realised that it didn't matter. All that mattered was what Luigi and I thought of her and what she thought of herself. I was concerned about the latter.
Upon seeing me, Luigi made a dash for the car wash and in a few minutes, we looked pretty good and were ready.
The others were all down by the dock when we got there. We were the last ones there (which made sense because it took longer for Fudge to get ready than the rest of us; nobody else had to worry about hair and clothes), but fortunately, we weren't late. We could tell that Sarge wasn't happy about waiting for us, but since we weren't actually late, he couldn't say anything. I hoped that this evening would be enjoyable and we wouldn't have any arguments like at the bonfire the other night.
I didn't think it was very likely until the two gleaming white yachts showed up. We were all so in awe that we all just shut up. I had been on the ferries to get around the islands and I had been on enormous ships on my journey to America and the time we went on a Caribbean cruise a few months after Fudge's accident. But never have I been on a luxury yacht! This was going to be spectacular, I just knew it.
The two yachts introduced themselves as Casey and Grace and started dividing the people on the dock into two halves, so that there would be even numbers. I hoped my friends could all stay together because I felt bad that we were not spending much time together while we were here. Thankfully, we all ended up in the same group and Grace took us.
"Let's go round the other side", Ramone suggested, noticing Sir Tobias Proudwheel on the yacht as well. He was sipping from a glass and making a hideous face.
Nobody had any objections, so we all headed to the other side of the yacht as she pulled out of the dock. Fudge waved to the people on the dock, even though we didn't know any of them. Mater turned to McQueen and asked how we knew these yachts were safe. I noticed Sarge and Fillmore tried to stay as far apart from each other as possible. Luigi and Ramone were doing the same. I didn't really mind (much). At least it looked like we could all be together without any arguments. Perhaps we could have an enjoyable evening after all.
The sky was painted orange, pink and purple as we headed out into the ocean, which shone in the light of the setting sun. The dock had disappeared from view and all we could see were the water; a couple of small islands in the distances and the silhouettes of windsurfers. It was just amazing!
"Wow!" Fudge exclaimed from beside me, equally impressed.
I looked at the faces of my friends around me. They were all marvelling at the view as well and I was relieved that they had all forgotten about their various arguments, at least for the time being.
Abruptly, the peace and quiet was interrupted by someone on the other side of the yacht shouting in what sounded like Chinese. A buzz of excitement swept across the boat as everyone hurried over to one particular spot.
Mater looked around frantically. "What's goin' on?!" he demanded. Judging by his anxious expression and tone, he thought something terrible was happening, like we were sinking.
"Dolphins!" a green Ford with an Australian accent cried.
In a flash, my friends and I were following the crowd and sure enough, there they were. They, too, were nothing more than dark silhouettes, but there was no mistaking that they were dolphins as they leapt up out of the water in graceful arcs.
"Wow!" Fudge repeated, her eyes wide in delight.
I smiled and gave her a kiss.
"Dolphins can't hurt people, can they?" I heard Mater ask worriedly from behind me.
"Not that I know of, buddy", McQueen replied.
I had forgotten about Mater. While Fudge had been feeling embarrassed about her body, something had been bothering Mater too. Or, rather, everything. Nobody was sure where this nervous Mater had come from, but, like Fudge, he wouldn't talk about it. I hoped he would soon.
In the meantime, at least everyone else seemed relaxed, even Sarge. He seemed as mesmerised by the view as everyone else and his body language just appeared much less tense.
Fillmore was smirking at him triumphantly. "I knew it! I knew you were capable of relaxing, man!"
Sarge rolled his eyes. "Shut up, hippie", he muttered, but it was obvious that he was muffling a laugh.
Finally, everyone was relaxed (well, except for Mater). I could only hope that this laidback mood could last for the rest of the vacation.
Unfortunately, that was when a formal-looking black and white forklift appeared, offering around glasses of champagne. McQueen and Ramone grabbed two each and gave one to their partners. Fillmore took one and practically shoved it in Sarge's face, insisting that he needed. Even Mater took one when McQueen told him that he thought he should. None of that was terrible. In fact, it still seemed relaxed and the two who were talked into having champagne didn't much convincing.
However, when the forklift offered the tray of glasses to Fudge, Luigi saw red.
"Does she look old enough to drink to you?!" he demanded.
The forklift was obviously flustered. "My mistake, sir."
"No. I asked you a question. Does my daughter look old enough to drink to you?!"
By then, everyone was staring at us. Fudge looked like she wanted the wind to whisk her as far away from the situation as possible. A little part of me felt the same way.
"For your information, my daughter is fifteen years old!" Luigi continued. "Do you always provide alcohol for fifteen-year-olds?!"
"Luigi!" I whispered loudly. "(You are starting to sound like Sir Tobias Proudwheel!)"
"(No I am not!)" he countered defensively. "(Sir Proudwheel is a stuck-up snob! I am a father concerned about his daughter!)"
"(Fudge wasn't going to have the champagne anyway)", I assured him and she shook her head to show that she wouldn't. "(You know she is scared of alcohol. Besides, she is old enough to make her own decisions.)"
For a moment, Fudge looked sort of defensive herself (most likely because I'd said she was scared of alcohol), but chose not to say anything.
"(Are you suggesting that we let our underage daughter drink alcohol?!)" he asked, horrified.
"(Of course not)", I replied. "(I am just suggesting that we let her say no.)"
The forklift was quick to flee while this was going on. Luigi let him go, but was shaking his hood in irritation.
Thankfully, that was the only uncomfortable moment on the cruise. Once we got past that, the experience was just fantastic. Ramone took plenty of photos of the scenery, promising to give us all copies when we got home. We all knew that he was planning on recreating them as paintings as well. The dolphins came much closer to the yacht and some people were leaning in to touch them. We watched as someone from the other boat leaned in so far that they actually fell overboard and had to be rescued by a waiter, who grabbed a long stick with a hook attached. I thought we would never stop laughing.
"(That reminds me of the time you fell into the fountain the first time you visited Carsoli)", Luigi informed Fudge, laughing. "(Do you remember that?)"
"(No, but that does sound like something I would do)", she acknowledged.
Even though it was quite funny (luckily, the gentleman was all right), the dolphins were the true stars of the show. They loved jumping out of the water for us. One time, they did jump a little too close to the yacht, spraying most of the people on it with water.
"Fudge, are you wet?" Luigi wondered.
"A little", she admitted. "Not too much. And anyway, it's only water."
"Hey! Let's get a picture of all of us!" Ramone suggested. "Excuse me!" He waved to get the attention of a couple of old RVs. I recognised them from the adults only pool a few days before. "D'you mind getting a photo of all of us?"
"Sure!" the gentleman agreed affably.
With Ramone's help, the RVs were able to pose everyone just right.
"Okay, smile!" the male RV instructed.
So, we did. As the camera clicked, we heard a whoosh behind us. The dolphins were jumping again. That was sure to make the photo look even better.
"Perfect!" the RV declared, satisfied.
"Oh, Harvey!" the female RV, presumably his wife, gushed. "Isn't it just perfect?!"
"Sure is, Winnie."
When we gathered around to look at the photo, I saw that I was right. The photo turned out incredible.
"Thanks, man!" Ramone grinned at the RV.
"No problem", he assured us. "Now, would you mind getting one of us?"
I let Ramone take care of that. I just wanted to enjoy the view, especially since we were starting to head back.
All too soon, we were back on the dock and the cruise, the best part of the vacation, so far, was over.
"That was incredible!" McQueen proclaimed and we all agreed. Even Mater, although he'd been quiet throughout most of the cruise and didn't sound quite so sure now as the rest of us.
"I got plenty of photos", Ramone added as he and I helped Fudge down from the dock. "I promise I'll send them to all of you. I'm also gonna send them to Red and Sheriff later tonight."
"Be sure to ask how Jennyfur is", Fudge instructed him.
"Why don't you ask how Jennyfur is?" he countered, but he was teasing.
"I did. This morning. I want to make sure she's still okay."
Ramone rolled his eyes, but he was laughing. He grabbed Fudge playfully. "You and that cat, chica! Why don't you stop worrying and just enjoy paradise?"
"Well, I hope you're all hungry", Flo announced abruptly, "'cause our dinner reservation's in fifteen minutes and it's an eight minute drive to the restaurant."
We were all hungry, so Fudge climbed up onto Luigi's roof and we headed off to the restaurant.
"Why don't you stop worrying and just enjoy paradise?" was what Ramone had told my daughter. I hadn't thought any of us could do that, but now, I was starting to think that maybe there was some hope after all.
Yeah, so that was mainly just a filler.
And if you've seen Planes: Fire and Rescue, you'd know who Harvey and Winnie are. I pretty much only did that, so there was a little bit of crossover between Cars and Planes. They were originally supposed to play a slightly bigger role in the story, but I've been struggling to juggle plotlines as it is, so they probably won't now.
Please review.
P.S. I got some new oneshots coming soon. I've got one I'll post on Monday and a Halloween special, which I'll post on, well, Halloween.
P.P.S. That's funny right there.
P.P... There's a few more pages of P.S.s here. XD Mater reference!
