I know it hasn't been that long, but I had two reasons for updating now. One, the Cars FFN page hasn't been updated since last year. (Ha ha!) And two, I have something to say at the end of the chapter. But first, please enjoy! :)

Chapter 14- A Gecko, Some Coddling and Some Irony

Fillmore's POV

Dear Red, Sheriff and Lizzie,

It's been raining today, but that's all good, man. We still had a great day.

Apart from the rain, everything's been pretty much the same. Luigi still worries about Fudge. And Sarge has been driving us crazy, but I don't think he will anymore. I told you about my friend Andy, right? She's a pretty smart ten-year-old. She was the one who opened up his eyes.

See you soon.

Fillmore.

"Treetop Café again?" I suggested.

"Sure!" everyone agreed.

So, we started driving out of the arcade.

"Are you feeling okay, angel?" Luigi quizzed Fudge worriedly.

"I'm okay!" she assured him. "It hurts a little, though."

"Maybe I should carry you", Luigi mused, doing just that.

Not surprisingly, Sarge rolled his eyes in disgust. "Oh, for Peterbilt's sake!"

Luigi glared at him. "What is the matter now?!"

"How is coddling your daughter like that gonna help her?"

"How is making her walk when she is pain going to help her?" Luigi retorted.

"She's not in that much pain! She can walk!"

"But we are going to be doing a lot of walking after lunch! I don't want her to overdo it!"

Sarge rolled his eyes.

I was only half-listening. I was distracted by the vibrantly coloured flowers that were right outside the hotel. I had seen them before, but never while it was raining. It was so amazing to see droplets of rain slide down them. It added to their natural beauty.

I didn't realise just how long I'd been staring at them till I felt someone yank my tyre. Sarge. I should've known.

"As usual, everyone is waiting for you!" he snapped. "Why can't you ever be more considerate of anyone else's time?"

"Why can't you be more considerate of the fact that we're on vacation and I'm tryin' to enjoy it like a normal person, man?"

Sarge shook his hood. "Now, is everyone ready?"

Ramone rolled his eyes. "Yes, Sergeant Killjoy."


We were at the Treetop Café in five minutes. We could've taken a little longer. We were in no hurry and I wanted to look at some of the other plants in the rain, but Sarge was prodding me along. Anyway, I was kinda glad we got there when we did because guess who was there.

"Fillmore!" Karl and Sheila shouted.

I grinned. We had just seen Karl and the twins in the arcade, but it was always nice to see the Blumenthal-Dunns.

"Why don't you guys come on over and join us?"

They didn't have to ask us twice. We moved some tables together and sat down.

"So, where have you two ladies been this morning?" I wanted to know.

"Back to Tyreson's National Park", Andy replied. "It's so much better while it's raining. All kinds of animals come out that you wouldn't normally see."

I nodded in approval. "Sounds pretty groovy, man. Much better than the arcade."

"Is that where you spent the morning?" Andy questioned. When I nodded, she made a face. "I hate that place, especially laser tag."

"Same here, man. What's so fun, goin' around and shootin' each other?" I shook my front.

"Exactly!"

"For once, I agree with you, hippie", Sarge spoke up. "Something like that is not a game."

I smiled at him gratefully, remembering that even though he could be a bit of a grump, he really was my best friend.

"Well, if everyone's ready, what do you all want?" Sally ended our conversation.

Everyone except for me and Andy ordered vidlay, which was a local white fish cooked over a wood fire and served in a creamy coconut sauce with potatoes. They all seemed to have fallen in love with it since we've been here. Andy and I ordered food that no animal had to suffer to make: a delicious salad made with local fruits and vegetables. If only one I could bring some home with me. I could make a pretty groovy organic fuel with those ingredients.


After finishing lunch, I turned to Andy and her mother. "So, what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

"Going back to the arcade!" Wolfgang and Astrid shouted in unison.

"We were gonna go for a hike", Andy answered.

"That's exactly what we were gonna do, man!" I informed her. "Wanna go together?"

Sheila and Andy smiled. "Sure!"

"I'll come too", Karl added.

"But we wanted to go back to the arcade!" the twins whined.

"This is a family vacation!" Karl reminded them. "We're supposed to be doing things as a family!"

He was right. Me and my friends were supposed to be doing things together too, but it felt like we'd spent a lot of time on this vacation apart.


At least we were all together now. We spent the afternoon, walking or driving around a nearby national park. Andy was right. There was so much natural beauty to take in now that the rain was out. I'd brought along my wildlife identification book and it was fun trying to find them all, just like we did when we were snorkelling the day before.

"Dad-gum!" Mater exclaimed. "Look at them blue birds! I ain't never seen birds that colour before!"

Andy and I raced through our books, each wanting to be the first to identify it. It didn't really matter who won or lost, though, man. It was just a game. We were having fun.

"It's a blue-winged Freewheeler flyer!" we announced practically in the same breath.

Everyone stared at us, but we were both laughing.

"Hey!" Mater called, peering into the bushes ahead of us. "What's this?"

"Dunno, man", I replied. "What's it look like?"

"It's some kind of lizard or gecko or somethin'", Mater began. "It's bright pink and it's got blue and orange spots."

McQueen looked too and added, "Its tongue is green and it's got two tails."

"Two tails?" Sarge repeated. "It doesn't have two tails."

"It might do, man", I disagreed.

Andy nodded. "The Green Island gecko has two tails, but it can't be one of those. They're pink with purple spots." She thumbed through her book, murmuring, "Pink with blue and orange spots... Pink with blue and orange spots..."

I flipped through mine too, but I couldn't find it. It must be in here somewhere, I reasoned. I better start over. So, I did.

After going through the book five times and still not seeing anything that matched the description, I stopped and stared at McQueen and Mater. "You just made that up, didn't you?"

"Yeah", Mater admitted.

He and McQueen exploded in a fit of laughter. This time, everyone laughed, except for Sarge, who just rolled his eyes.

"Good one, man!" I declared. "You had me fooled."

"Me too", Andy laughed. She was trying not to show it, but I think she was embarrassed.

"Quite an immature joke, if you ask me", Sarge muttered.

Ramone glared at him. "We didn't."

"It's all good, man", I assured Sarge. I happen to think that a sense of humour is a very important thing to have.

"Well, we probably won't see any pink geckos with blue and orange spots", Sally laughed, "but I'm sure there are lots of other interesting creatures left for us to explore."

"You're right", I agreed. "Let's keep goin'!"


We continued through the park, admiring the scenery. There was just so much natural beauty, man! You should see it. Everyone kept pointing out all kinds of plants and animals, but after McQueen and Mater's joke, Andy and I were tentative before opening our wildlife identification books.

"Let me see", Andy kept requesting.

It was just a nice, peaceful afternoon. No one even minded the rain that much. Well, at least, we didn't mind the getting wet part. Luigi was still concerned about Fudge, though.

"Are you sure you are still okay?" he would constantly ask Fudge worriedly.

"I'm fine", she would constantly assure him.

"Do you want to go back to the room now?"

Fudge shook her head. "Nah, I'm good."

"Okay, but I am going to have to carry you again." Just like that, Luigi scooped Fudge up onto his hood.

"Papà!" Fudge protested, but she still scrambled up to his roof.

"Fudge, you have already overdone it once on this vacation", Luigi reminded her. "I don't want you to do it again."

Sarge rolled his eyes. "Good Ford!"

I shrugged. "What? He's just bein' a good father, man. He's caring about his daughter." Personally, I thought Luigi needed to relax, but at least he cared, unlike Sarge, who was just being a killjoy.

"He's coddling his daughter, that's what he's doing!" Sarge corrected me. "How the hell is Fudge supposed to be independent if her papà does everything for her?"

Sarge had made this speech before, so I kinda tuned him out.

I didn't give it much thought until we were almost back in front of our building. I had just stopped because I saw one of the most beautiful creatures I had ever seen in my entire life. It was another creature resembling a gecko, but it was vehicular and had the most amazing brilliant blue and bright pink stripes. I was flipping back and forth through the identification book, but I was struggling to find it. I have no idea how long I'd been parked there, looking before Sarge yanked me away again.

"When are you gonna learn?!" he demanded. "Every time I turn around, you're stopping to smell the roses. Or some new native plant you've never seen before. In case you've forgotten, our dinner reservation is at six-thirty and we all need car washes first!"

"That's plenty of time, man", I assured him.

"Not when there are ten of us and only three car washes!" he countered. "I was worried you got lost! Now, I see that, as usual, you have no appreciation for my time or anyone else's." I think he was about to say more, but before he could, he groaned. "Oh, for the love of Chrysler! Luigi! Fudge can put her blasted aloe vera on herself!"

Nearby, Andy smiled at that.

"What?!" Sarge demanded. "You think it's funny?"

In an instant, Andy's smile faded. "No. No! I'm sorry. It's just... Well... You do see the irony here, don't you?"

"Irony?" Sarge repeated, frowning. "What irony?"

"You know, the way you're treating Fillmore..."

Ramone's eyes widened. "She's right, man!" he realised. "You're always complaining that Luigi coddles Fudge and now, here you are, coddling Fillmore! You are such a hypocrite, man!"

"How the heck am I supposed to be independent if you do everything for me?" I teased.

Sarge opened his mouth to protest. Then he closed it. I guess even he couldn't deny it.


Sarge was strangely quiet for the rest of the day. He didn't say a word as we waited for the car wash. I know because I joined him in his room for a while (making sure I didn't bring anything with me, so I couldn't make a mess). He just parked there, looking through a book, but I could tell he wasn't reading it.

"You okay, man?" I asked him worriedly.

He just nodded absently and rolled off to get a car wash.

When we met up with everyone else to see if they were ready to go, we found Luigi brushing Fudge's hair. I knew Sarge wanted to say something, but he didn't.

He didn't say much during dinner either. In fact, the only time he spoke was to give our waiter his order. I seemed to be the only one who noticed, though. Even though Sarge wasn't saying anything, the meal wasn't exactly eaten in awkward silence. Mater was talking nonstop.

"Kin you believe it's my birthday tomorrow?!" he kept quizzing us excitedly. "This is my last dinner as a fifty-eight-year-old! For my next dinner, I'll be a fifty-nine-year-old!"

That was the kind of thing Fudge used to say when she was little.

"Well, hopefully, you'll get better weather for your birthday tomorrow", Flo commented. The rain had since stopped, but the ground and the plants and everything were all still wet.

"Well, the weather report says that we should expect sunshine and blue skies tomorrow", Sally reported.

"Yay!" some of the others cheered.

"It should be fun!" Fudge declared. "A birthday in the islands!"

"Yeah", McQueen agreed, "and I got a surprise for you tomorrow, buddy."

"Really?" Mater was intrigued. "What is it?"

McQueen laughed. "If I tell you, it won't be a surprise, will it?"

"Tell me later", Fudge requested.

"That's not gonna happen", McQueen informed her, ruffling her hair. "You're the biggest blabbermouth there is!"

"Hey!" Fudge cried indignantly. "I'm not that bad!"

"You kept telling us Doc's secret", Ramone reminded her.

"But you still didn't realise I was serious!" Fudge countered. "Besides, I wasn't the one who let it slip where you and Aunt Flo were going for your anniversary trip." She glared at Ramone. "Or the one who told Lightning about his surprise party." This time, she looked at Mater. "So, give me a little credit."

Most of us laughed. Sarge didn't. I tried to- I tried to join in on the conversation too- but I was worried about Sarge.


I made sure to talk to him before I turned in for the night.

"Hey, man. I know what Andy said was bothering you-" I began.

"Bothering me?" Sarge repeated. "Why would it bother me?"

But I knew Sarge. I knew it really was. I hadn't seen him this worked up since his meltdown over my mess. "Maybe you should talk about it."

Sarge let out a weird laugh. "What is there to talk about? I've been coddling you, but I'm not gonna do it anymore. You wanna waste everyone's time by staring at plants? You go ahead and you do that, Fillmore. I don't care anymore!" He laughed again. "I don't care!"

Then he closed the door.

I just parked there, staring at the closed door. I was still confused and worried about Sarge, but I wasn't about to knock. If only he would just talk to me on his own. Why did he cut himself off? Why could he never just let the love in?

Luigi, Guido and Fudge appeared behind me, frowning in confusion. None of them had heard what Andy had said. They were completely oblivious.

"What was that about?" Luigi wondered.

I shrugged. "Don't know, man."

"Uncle Sarge has been acting weird on this vacation", Fudge commented.

"Fudge!" Luigi scolded.

"No, she's right, man!" I agreed. "He has. I just hope he's gonna be okay."

Poor Sarge! XD I bet he wasn't expecting that, especially not from a ten-year-old.

Oh, and again, the local fish, vidlay, is something I just made up.

Okay, what I wanted to say is that, lately, I've been considering putting OCs in the Planes movies. It's not definite, but I do want to know what you guys think about that. I already have rough ideas for OCs (see OC page of my forum) and would like your opinion on those too. I appreciate any comments on this (and on the chapter, of course).