I was sitting at home relaxing, listening to my music, bored out of my mind. I had done all that I needed to do for the day, and I couldn't really find anything else to do. My parents were not at home at the time. They had to go to the farm we have up in Oklahoma. I figured that they would not be home until late that evening. Just then I got a text from my mom confirming what I thought. It was close to 5 o'clock in the afternoon, so I went outside to feed the horses, which did not take very long at all. I was heading back inside when I got a crazy notion to go and drive for a while. I must be going crazy. Why would I want to go drive around now? Well, I haven't done something crazy for a while so maybe I will. I know, I'll text my parents so they know I am not at home and not to worry. Having made up my mind, I shot off a quick text to both my mom and dad.
"Hey there, old buddy. What do you say we go for a little drive, just you and me?" I said to my truck as I stepped out of the house. Corny, I know. I talk to my truck all the time, like he was alive. I kind of wished that he could talk back to me; I knew he must have a lot of stories to tell. But then, before I got him, he had spent most of his life in a garage. I walked around my truck, looking to see if I saw anything out of the ordinary. I loved the fact that he was a 1992 Dodge Dakota pickup truck. Not seeing anything abnormal, I then realized that it had been a while since I last checked the oil. I popped the hood, revealing the engine, and pulled out the dipstick for the oil.
"Oil level is good, so you don't need any more oil today," I mused as I closed the hood. I walked over the driver side and opened the door. Smiling as I listened to the 243-horsepower engine roar to life, I pulled out from the carport and headed out the gate. Seeing that I had a full tank, I decided to just drive around the back roads randomly. I plugged my iPhone in and set the music to shuffle. The sun was not close to the horizon, so I knew I had at least 3 hours of light left. I looked around a little bit as I drove along the back roads. The scenery was beautiful, miles upon miles of nothing but countryside. It was a warm summer afternoon, so I had rolled down the windows. I could see the heat from the sun that had beat down on the road, causing it to shimmer slightly.
"Where are we?" I muttered as I kept driving. I picked up my phone from the seat, and opened the maps app. I groaned when I saw that I had no signal on my phone.
"That's just great… I'm in the middle of God Knows Where with no signal on my phone and no clue of which way I went. Maybe I should just keep going until I find a blacktop road." I mumbled to myself, upset about being lost.
"Yeah, we should keep going to wherever we are going." A deep voice rang out. I looked around me in bewilderment, not sure where the voice was coming from. I locked the doors, nervous that there was a stranger near the truck. I dismissed the voice as a figment of my imagination. I kept driving, and after another 30 minutes or so, I came to a blacktop road.
"Yay! Now which way to take…" I wondered out loud as I pondered which way to take. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard the same deep voice from earlier.
"Maybe I can be of some help?"
"Wha- where is that voice coming from?" I whimpered, now freaked out.
"Why don't you step out?"
"Alright…" I said as I opened the door and stepped out. The door closed before I could even touch it. I jumped about 3 feet into the air, alarmed. I did not dare move another inch because I had a feeling that something was not right at all. I watched as my truck rolled backwards, turning so he was facing me. My jaw dropped at what I saw. Instead of just a windshield, I saw a pair of eyes looking right at me. He also seemed to have a mouth too. I just stood there; my mouth open and my eyes wide open in shock.
"Close your mouth before you catch a fly or something." He teased me, laughing. I clamped my mouth shut and put my hand over my mouth, not trusting my voice. After a few minutes, I finally was able to find my voice.
"Well… Looks like my wish came true finally. I now have a talking truck. Do you happen to have a name? I know I have called you Dodge for a while now, but I have always wondered if that was your true name or not."
"You have my name correct. What is yours? I never got the chance to find out what your name was." Dodge answered me.
"My name's Stormy Lane. Now… Do you have any idea where we could be?" I asked.
He thought for a moment, not sure. He shook his hood, indicating that he did not know. I groaned, not happy about the fact that we were lost.
"I guess we just need to pick a direction and get moving. How much gas do you have left?"
"More than ¾ of a tank. I'll be fine for a few hours. Erm… I'm not used to the concept that I can control myself now. It's kind of weird."
"I'm not used to the concept that you can talk now. But I'll gladly drive if you really want me to. I just don't want to hurt ya, buddy." I said as I walked over to the driver side.
"You won't hurt me. I trust you a lot. You're a safe driver," he replied as he opened the door. "In fact, you're like my big sister even though you're younger than I am."
I had to smile when he said I was like his big sister. I hopped back into the cab, and turned the engine on. Dodge suggested that we go to the right, and see where it went. I put the gear into drive, and released the parking brake. We took off, heading to wherever the road led.
After driving for over two hours, I finally saw a small town on the horizon. I had seen several signs indicating that we were on Route 66. Gradually the town got closer and closer. A billboard came into view and it said Welcome to Radiator Springs.
"Holy crap… We're in a parallel universe," I mumbled to myself, realizing that we were in the movie Cars. I had not seen the movie for a long time, so I did not really remember all of the characters from the movie. I was lost in my thoughts again when Dodge spoke up.
"Hey Stormy, I'm getting low on fuel. We need to get some gas now before we keep going."
"Actually, I think we should stop for the night. I don't want to keep driving in the dark. Let's see if this town has somewhere for us to stay." I replied, noticing that it was starting to get dark. I saw a small fuel station and pulled up to a pump. I was about to get out when the doors locked. Dodge did not want me to get out- not yet anyway. I could not hear what the others were saying, but after a few minutes, the door unlocked and opened.
"Come on out, Stormy. The others want to meet you. They have never seen anything like you before," Dodge said. I slowly stepped out and stood next to Dodge. The other cars stared at me and started to murmur amongst themselves.
"Howdy. I'm Stormy Lane," I introduced myself, waving as I did so.
"I'm Tow Mater, but you can call me Mater!" a rusty tow truck spoke up, wagging his towline like a big dog. I had to stifle a giggle because he was just too adorable. One by one the rest of the town residents introduced themselves.
"I'm just curious, but how did you meet Dodge?" Lightning, a red racecar, asked.
"Well, you see, in the world I am from, vehicles do not talk or move on their own like y'all do. Humans drive them. In my opinion, that sucks because I know that there is a story to every car or truck or SUV I see. Dodge here used to live in St. Louis, Missouri. For many years, he was kept in a garage, not being used much. He used to belong to my grandpa. 10 years ago, he decided to give me Dodge. I happily took him home. He was pretty much brand new when I got him; he had less than 60,000 miles on the odometer. I made sure he got the best of care that I could give him- just basic maintenance stuff. Then he ended up coming with me to college, hence the Texas A&M logo on his sides. Whenever I went home for breaks and stuff, he was my buddy. I always would talk to him, or play some music to pass the time. My parents thought that I was nuts because I talked to him like he was alive. Looks like that crazy notion paid off after all," I explained, grinning at the end.
"Wow. How can you put up with Stormy driving you, Dodge?" Doc, a cobalt blue Hudson Hornet, asked.
"Dunno. I guess you just get used to it after a while. But then, I have never driven myself before, so I wouldn't really know the difference. She is a very safe driver, I can tell you that much. She has saved us from quite a few accidents."
"Huh. So it doesn't hurt at all?"
"Not at all. It's kind of nice to have someone that travels with you all the time. Whenever she drives somewhere, she usually takes me. I get to see a lot of things during my travels. Sometimes, we do have some fun."
"Tractor tipping?" Mater asked excitedly.
"No, but that sure sounds like fun. We prefer to go off-roading. The last time it snowed, we went out on the back roads and slid around the corners."
"In fact, when I was younger, I had this four-wheeler I would take out into a field covered with snow and play around. That was how I learned to power slide and do donuts," I said, laughing at the memory of playing in the snow. "Being able to do that has paid off many times. Dodge and I have had a few close calls on the dirt roads when his back end broke free."
"So you like to play in the dirt?" Lightning asked.
"Yep." Dodge and I said at the same time. "JINX! DOUBLE JINX! TRIPLE JINX!"
"Who's up for a little bit of dirt racing?" Lightning called out as he pulled away from the gas station. A loud round of cheers went up as Doc, Mater, Strip, Sally, Dodge and I pulled out, following Lightning. I looked around in awe at the landscape. I would love to live here forever, I thought to myself. Little did I know that would come true for me later.
We arrived at the dirt track, and we all decided that only two would be allowed on the track at a time. The races were going to be 5 laps each. Dodge and I were going to race Strip, Lightning was going up against Doc, and Sally was going to race Mater. I grinned as I walked out in front of Lightning and Doc, who were trash talking to each other.
"You two done trash talking?" I asked. They both nodded, grinning like fools. I laughed as I backed up a few steps.
"Gentlemen, start your engines!" Both engines turned over with a loud roar that sent chills down my spine. "On your marks... Get set... GO!"
They both took off, leaving me covered with a cloud of dust. I scampered off the track and over to Dodge, who was chatting with the sky blue Plymouth Superbird. I hopped on Dodge's back bumper, and then clambered on to the roof, settling myself on the top of his cab. I looked up and saw that Doc was barely holding on to his lead. They approached the turn, and I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head. They were both sliding around the turn. Lightning passed Doc on the inside, and pulled away, winning the race by one car length.
"Your turn," Doc called up to Strip, Dodge, and me. I jumped down and got into the cab. Dodge and I made our way over to the chain that marked the start/finish line. I gulped as I mentally braced myself for the race.
"Good luck you two," Strip said, pulling up next to us.
"Thank you. Good luck to you, too," Dodge replied.
"Gentlemen and lady, start your engines!" Doc called out. I turned the key, listening to Dodge's engine roar to life. I could hear various whistles from the sidelines, but I didn't care. I needed to focus on driving so I don't crash.
"On your marks... Get set..." Doc counted down, raising his tire in the air. I had one foot on the brake and the other one on the gas, getting ready to let the brake off and goose it. "GO!"
I pressed on the gas hard, feeling Dodge's tires spin for a moment before catching and launching us forward. Once we got moving, I realized that Dodge had lowered himself on his shocks, and knew that he would not let us flip over. As we approached the far turn of the track, I glanced in the mirrors. I saw that Strip was roughly two car lengths behind us. Grinning, I pushed Dodge even harder. I could see the tight turn coming up, and tapped the brakes slightly, throwing his weight forward so his back tires could break free. I started to turn, and as we started to go left, I stepped on the gas again, making his back tires break loose. I quickly turned the steering wheel to the right hard. I let out a loud whoop as we were sliding around the turn. We kept going, and it was only a few minutes before it was the final lap. Strip was still behind us, having a little bit of trouble keeping up. As we came out of the final turn, I floored it and we ended up winning the race. I managed to stop Dodge before we went too far down the track. I leaned out the window, a big ol' grin plastered on my face.
"That was some crazy driving. Never seen anyone do that well for his or her first time on this track," Doc looked at me with a surprised look on his face. Lightning was just staring at me with his mouth slightly open.
"Close your mouth before you eat a fly or dust, Lightning," I teased. This caused everyone to burst out laughing. Lightning clamped his mouth shut, and just glared at me. I could see that he was struggling to contain his laughter, but he couldn't for very long. Finally, he started to laugh. After he calmed down, we all went to the sidelines and watched Sally and Mater race. I had to laugh when Mater turned around and started to race backwards midway through the race.
"He's nuts! I would freak out if I tried to go that fast backwards!" Dodge cried out in shock.
"He is the best backward driver here in Radiator Springs. He taught me how to race backwards, but I can't beat him. He's just that good," Lightning snickered. "Looks like he won the race."
Sure enough, Mater had indeed won the race. I was going to hop in Dodge's driver side, but changed my mind.
"Dodge, you're going to have to learn how to move on your own. There may come times when I am not around to drive. I'll walk back to town on my own," I said as I closed Dodge's door. He looked at me with a 'are you serious?' expression. "Don't give me that look, otherwise I'll take the belt off of your engine. We don't want that to happen, do we?"
Dodge just booked it back to town, not wanting to suffer from my infamous temper. Usually it takes a lot to make me mad, but for some reason Dodge had managed to press the wrong button. I just glared at the direction that he had taken off. Lightning pulled up next to me on my right side and opened his door. I looked at him in slight confusion.
"Ever driven a racecar before?" he asked. I shook my head. I had never driven a racecar before. "Hop in. I'll let you drive."
I looked at him with surprise. "Are you sure? I don't want to hurt ya."
"Yep."
"Alright." I said as I stepped into Lightning's cab. I looked around me at the controls. Thank you Lord for having my dad teach me how to drive a manual.
"Do you know how to drive a manual?" Lightning asked nervously. He had forgotten that he was not an automatic like some of the others. I just grinned as I depressed the clutch.
"You're about to find out," I answered as I turned his engine on. I heard him gulp nervously. " I am not a crazy driver, don't worry."
I released the parking brake and we started moving. I could feel the power that was waiting to be released when needed, and I was tempted to go around the track a lap or two. I guess Lightning somehow picked up on the mental battle I was having, because he spoke up again.
"You okay? You look like you're having a hard time making you mind up about something."
"I am… I want to go around the track one or two times, but yet I know we need to go back to town."
"I'm guessing you can feel how much power my engine has?"
"Yep."
Lightning looked around for a few seconds. "Let go of the controls for a second."
I let go and he moved over to the starting line. I was confused for a few minutes.
"Alright. Now it's your turn."
"Huh? My turn for what?" I asked, still confused as to why Lightning had moved back to the starting line.
"You said you could feel how much power my engine has. And that you couldn't decide whether to go around the track or go back to town."
My eyes widened for a few seconds when I realized that he was letting me drive around the track. I put one hand on the wheel and the other on the gear shifter. Taking a deep breath, I mentally braced myself for the takeoff.
"Here we go." I muttered to myself.
I threw the shifter into first, and then stepped on the gas. As Lightning charged forward, I was pinned to the seat. I had never felt anything like this before. Grinning, I changed into second, then third, then fourth, and then fifth gear as we approached the first turn. We shot around the second turn, and as we flew along the straightaway, I glanced down at the speedometer. My brain registered that we were going close to 200 MPH. Still grinning, I saw that the third turn was coming up. Right before we entered the turn, I tapped on the brakes quickly, causing most of Lightning's weight to transfer to his front wheels. I turned to the left hard, and as his front tires held the ground, I goosed the gas. This caused his back wheels to come free and swing to the right. When I knew his back end was far enough, I spun the steering wheel to the right as far as they would go. Lightning whooped as we slid around the fourth turn, and I was laughing.
"YEE-HAW!" I hollered as we stopped near the finish line. The adrenaline was still running through my system, causing my heart to race. I couldn't stop shaking, but it was because of the thrill from rocketing around the track at close to 200 MPH.
"I think I'm going to let you drive now, I'm still shaking from the excitement. Let's not say a word about this to the others, agreed?"
"Agreed. I don't want anyone to find out that you were driving me. Geez… That sounded so wrong." Lightning groaned.
"I'll say. That sounded so wrong. Let's go back to town before the others start to worry about us," I said between laughing spells. I let go of the controls, relaxing into the seat. Suddenly, I felt very tired. Lightning pulled up to a fuel pump, and parked. I did not want to get out of the cab just yet, partly because the others would freak out and partly because I was tired. A few minutes later, Lightning opened his door up. I groaned inwardly because I needed to get out and the others were still there.
"Not a good idea with the others still there," I hissed softly.
"They made me 'fess up. They know."
"Urgh… Fine, I'll get out now," I moaned as I got out.
"Do you and Dodge have a place to stay?" Lightning asked.
"No."
"You two can have Cone number two at the Cozy Cone over there," Sally offered.
"Okay, and thank you so much," I said as we walked/drove over to the hotel. Sally gave me the key to the room, and I hollered good night to everyone. I walked over to Dodge, who was waiting for me by the door. I was so tired I just walked in and flopped down on a couch and was out like a light not even 5 minutes later.