Like I said, I didn't want the original document where I posted oneshots getting too long, so I started a new one. Although, I may have trouble filling it now that I'm creating other stories like Origins, Blast From the Past and Raising Fudge.

Anyway, this is another Christmas special, so I hope you enjoy! (Oh, and I know realistically, it wouldn't snow in the desert, but all of the Cars books I have make it snow around Christmas in Radiator Springs and if they don't care, then neither do I.)

Radiator Springs Winter Games

"I hereby declare the 2014 Radiator Springs Winter Games open!" Sheriff announced.

This prompted cheers from the crowd.

"Everybody, line up for the first event!" Sheriff barked. "Ice skating!"

So, everyone got ready. In Radiator Springs, there were many beloved traditions for holidays. One such occasion was the annual Christmas Day Winter Games. It came right after lunch (an assortment of everyone's traditional Christmas foods), which came right after singing Christmas carols together, which came right after… Well, you get the idea.

Fudge Rossi-Topolino grinned and adjusted the googles she kept on her face to prevent her glasses from flying off her face. The Radiator Springs Winter Games were one of her favourite annual events. Although she had been a little worried she wouldn't be allowed to compete. Her accident was almost two years ago, but her family had refused to let her race again in fear of her getting hurt. Time and time again throughout the year, Fudge and her family had had more or less the same argument:

"But I wanna be a racer! I can do this! Don't you trust me?!"

"This has nothing to do with trust, Fudge! No matter how much we trust you, the danger's always gonna be there! We care about you and can't watch you get hurt again!"

"It's not fair!"

"It's not fair that we wanna protect you?! Grow up, Fudge!"

Admittedly, Fudge did feel guilty for whining about it, but she couldn't help it. She knew her family meant well, but this was her life's dream! Did they really just expect her to shut up and be cool with the fact that they'd now forbidden her to follow her dream?

So, yeah. For that reason and the fact that nobody seemed to like her new friends Zara and Layla, there had been some tension between Fudge and her family lately.

The fourteen-year-old shook off her negative feelings. This was supposed to be a fun day with her family. She wasn't about to let the whole not-being-allowed-to-race-anymore thing ruin it for her. Even though Radiator Springs was most well known for racing, every now and then, her family liked to do a different athletic activity (such as an annual baseball game in the summer; annual football game on Thanksgiving and an annual bowling tournament). Besides, snow and all the fun associated with it and being with her family were three of Fudge's favourite things about Christmas. (The others were both giving and receiving presents; food and the inexplicable magic in the air that just wasn't there any other time of year.) So, it was nice to know she didn't have to miss out on all the fun.

Or so she thought.

"Are you sure it is a good idea for you?" Luigi questioned worriedly.

"I'll be fine!" Fudge insisted. "The accident was nearly two years ago! The doctors said stuff like this isn't going to hurt me anymore! They've even said I can race now!"

However, Luigi wasn't caving in that easily. "I just don't know…"

"Please!" Fudge begged. "I know I can't race anymore, but please don't make me miss out on this too!" Not only was it one of Fudge's favourite things about Christmas, but every year, after they'd all been working so hard on some kind of charity project throughout December (this year, they'd put together gift baskets for people in a retirement home), the Winter Games were always a fun way to blow off some steam.

"Well…" Luigi mused. "I suppose you will not be going at two hundred miles an hour in these games…" He thought about it while Fudge crossed her fingers. "Okay", he decided finally, prompting a loud cheer from his daughter. "But be careful. If anything happens, I will take you out."

"Okay!" Fudge agreed. "But nothing will happen, I promise! I'll be careful!" She gave her father a quick kiss. "Let's go! We don't wanna miss the first event!"

So, they lined up with the entire population of Radiator Springs with the exception of Lizzie. The elderly Model T couldn't stand the cold, which was understandable at her age, so she sheltered in her curio shop with a roaring fire. She was also supposed to be keeping an eye on Jennyfur, Fudge's cat, since Luigi didn't trust her not to scratch all of the furniture while they were gone. The fourteen-year-old could only hope the old car would remember.

"This is gonna be fun!" Fudge declared, readjusting her goggles once more. She was dressed in an aqua blue ski jacket with the fur-lined hood up; matching snow boots; light purple tracksuit pants; a navy blue winter hat, complete with earmuffs, decorated with ice blue snowflakes; matching gloves and a green, white and red scarf, resembling the Italian flag.

"Everyone, into position!" Sheriff called again. "The first event is about to begin!"


Event One: Ice Skating

"Glad to see you made it, soldier", Sarge greeted Fudge as she lined up along the edge of the frozen lake with everyone else. "We wouldn't want you to miss out."

"Luigi might", she responded. "He was going to make me 'cause he's still scared I'll get hurt."

"I forgot about that", Sarge informed her, frowning. "If your dads have let you participate, I won't say no, but maybe we should go easy on you."

"Don't even think about it", Fudge huffed, blowing out some ice cold air. The others had taken it easy on her far too much the previous year for the very few events she was allowed to be in. Granted, she'd been in a wheelchair at the time, but she could walk entirely on her own now.

Sarge raised an eye frame, but said nothing.

"Everyone ready?!" Sheriff's voice boomed out once again.

There was a loud chorus of yeses.

"On your marks!"

Fudge looked around at her competition seriously: Luigi, Guido, Sarge, Fillmore, Flo, Ramone, Red, Sheriff, Lightning, Mater and Sally. They all looked just as determined as she did.

"Get set…"

The human girl was hopelessly uncoordinated and knew she stood no chance of winning, but she just wanted to beat at least one of them. Oh, wouldn't she laugh if she could!

"GO!"

The twelve of them made a dash for the ice. Promptly, Fudge slipped, almost doing the splits and landing perfectly on her backside.

"Fudge! First one out!" Sheriff called out.

"One of these days, you'll make it past the two-second mark!" Lightning called out, laughing.

Fudge couldn't help feeling a little disappointed, but she knew she could never have won. She was too uncoordinated to even make it onto the ice without slipping.

Let's see if I can get off the ice without killing myself, Fudge thought, trying to stand up. However, every single time, she managed to get her footing, she'd lose it immediately. While everyone else was still skating, they would cast a glance over at her and watch with some amusement as the poor girl tried and failed to stand up.

Finally, she gave up and scooted across the ice on her backside. She looked totally ridiculous, but there was no way she could keep trying to stand up. Laughing, Guido came to her aid, not wanting her to get hurt as she attempted to navigate through the skating cars. The blue forklift scooped his daughter up and carried her off to the side, depositing her back on the ground.

"Grazie." Fudge gave his cold metal a quick kiss before he made his way back onto the ice.

So, Fudge stood there, watching the rest of her family take on the ice.

Most of the townsfolk were pretty good skaters. Of course, there were a few exceptions to that rule; Fudge being the most obvious. Lightning was another. He could barely stand and mostly spun around in circles. It was quite amusing to watch, really.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" he hollered as he spun out of control. He collided into Sally, who was one of the best skaters on the rink, and they both lost control, finally crashing into a pile of snow.

Fudge took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"I got it!" Mater called, rushing to their aid.

"McQueen, Sally, you're out!" Sheriff called.

"Thanks a lot, Stickers!" Sally's voice was part exasperation and part teasing. "I could've won if it wasn't for you!"

"I'm sorry!" Lightning cried, laughing a little.

Nine remained. Gradually, though, the criteria got stricter, meaning there were more eliminations. Sarge was the first one out when they had to demonstrate some tricks. He refused, not wanting to prance around on the ice.

"I bet if you tried, you'd have the grace of a ballerina, man", Fillmore teased.

Sarge glared. "Shut up, hippie!"

Guido and Luigi were the next ones to go, as while they could stand on the ice just fine, neither one of them could perform any tricks. When they tried to jump, both Italians lost their balance and went sliding across the ice.

Just like that, half the competitors were gone; it was down to the last six.

"Hey! Look at me!" Mater shouted as he shot across the ice. "I'm ice skatin' backwards!"

Luigi rolled his eyes. "Show-off!"

Silently, Lightning scooped up some snow and got to work shaping it into a ball.

Fudge knew right away what he was up to. "Ain't that cheating?" Though, she couldn't hide a smile.

"It'll be funny!" was Lightning's only response.

The fourteen-year-old laughed, wrapping her scarf tighter. "Well, I can't argue with that!"

So, Lightning decided not to wait any longer. He hurled the snowball and got a direct hit on Mater's windshield.

Immediately, the tow truck started screaming. "Ahh! I can't see nothin'! I'm blind! I'M BLIND!" He skidded out of control before he flipped over onto his roof and crashed into the snow.

Sheriff groaned. "Oh, boy!"

By the time they'd rescued Mater, Sheriff decided to call it quits, stating that he was beginning to get pretty cold himself. So, that just left Red, Fillmore, Flo and Ramone.

"The final four", Fudge commented.

"Who d'you think's gonna win?" Lightning quizzed the others.

"Whoever you don't throw snowballs at!" Sally replied, to which Lightning just grinned.

Mater's eyes widened. "That was you?!"

Lightning laughed.

"I'll get ya back, buddy!" Mater swore. "When ya least expect it!"

That was when both Red and Fillmore started to lose their balance on the ice.

"You're out!" Sheriff shouted, gesturing to the sidelines.

And then there were two, husband and wife, both of whom were excellent skaters.

"Low and slow is the way to go", Ramone would always remark, "even on the ice and snow."

"It's gonna be pretty tough", Sheriff declared.

He was right. Not only were they both talented, but they always skated together. Everyone watched them glide across the ice so effortlessly, so gracefully. However, all of a sudden, Ramone just decided to stop.

"I don't think I can do this any longer", he informed Flo apologetically, feigning being out of breath. "I guess you win, baby!"

Everyone applauded the former show car, but it was more than obvious that Ramone had let her win. Flo wasn't exactly complaining, though; last year, she'd only just lost to Sally, so she was delighted to reclaim the title.

"Congratulations, Flo!" Sheriff called out. "Now, take your positions for the next event, everyone!"


Event Two: Uphill Snow Racing.

Very few of the town's residents chose to participate in the uphill snow racing event. There were two reasons for this. First of all, it was a pretty tough and physically demanding event, not nearly as fun as the others and hardly anybody could actually do it. Second of all, anybody who could do it stood no chance of beating the undefeated champion.

"Anyone brave enough to take this on this year?" Sarge quizzed his friends, knowing there wouldn't be many takers.

"I will!" Lightning volunteered bravely. He would do it every year to practise skills needed for racing, such as stamina and control.

"Dad-gum!" Mater shouted. "I'll try it!"

"What the hell, man?" Fillmore decided. "I'll give it a whirl!"

"Racers! Into position!" Sheriff ordered.

So, they did. All four of them lined up at the bottom of the hill.

"Rules are pretty self-explanatory", Sheriff informed them. "First one to the top wins and I don't think I need to tell you not to cheat. Luigi?"

Luigi stood in front of the racers with his Ferrari flag. "On your mark, get set… GO!"

Even though the race began, the racers weren't exactly off and running. Sarge powered ahead while the other three struggled in the snow.

"How does he do that?" Ramone wondered in amazement, watching the Jeep.

Lightning was driving up the hill at quite a steady pace. He was trailing far behind Sarge, but he was just glad he was doing that. If he could just finish this race, well, that would be good enough for him.

Meanwhile, Fillmore had barely moved from the starting line. However, Mater tried to copy Sarge, ploughing forward the best he could. He even managed to get about halfway up the hill.

"Hey!" the tow truck exclaimed excitedly. "I'm doin' it!"

Only, right at that moment, he lost control and started sliding back down.

"Look out below!" the tow truck hollered just seconds before crashing, sending up a powder of snow.

All of the spectators took a sip of their warm drinks before rescuing Mater.

By the time Mater was freed from the large snow pile, Sarge had reached the top of the hill. Everyone applauded, but nobody was surprised; not only was Sarge the undefeated champion, but he even won one year while competing with a sprained axle.

"Congratulations, Sarge! Now, time for everyone else to climb the hill for our next event!"

This was met by collective groans and grumbles. They couldn't even get out of climbing the hill, even if they weren't in the race. It took a long time with some stops and starts and the occasional rolling back down the hill, but eventually, everyone made it to the top.

"We really ought to install a ski lift on this hill!" Fudge wheezed as Guido helped her up the last little bit.

"Fudge, when we went skiing, you were too scared to jump off the ski lift", Luigi reminded his daughter.

"When have you been skiing?" Lightning wondered.

"About two years ago", Fudge replied. "When we went to Italy, we spent a weekend at a ski resort in Austria."

"Dad-gum!" Mater exclaimed. "You went skiing in Australia?"

Fudge laughed. "No. Austria."

Mater looked confused.

"We can give Mater a geography lesson later", Sheriff intervened. "But for now, everybody better take their positions if they wanna be in the next event."

"Well, we did climb this painful hill, so we better make it worth it", Fudge decided, leaving the boys behind to get into position.


Event Three: Downhill Snow Racing

Fudge knew that this event was right up her alley, but Luigi had been reluctant to let her compete. Sure, he knew she couldn't get as badly hurt as she did in the accident, but they weren't supposed to be encouraging her racing. The fourteen-year-old had begged and pleaded, insisting that this was the most fun event. Besides, everyone knew she wasn't allowed to race anymore. (After she'd told Cal it was fine, Lightning made sure all of the Piston Cup racers knew that Fudge wasn't allowed to race and she knew it.)

Finally, Luigi sighed. "If I see you racing again after this, you will not be doing this next year."

"I won't! I promise! Thank you!" She gave him a quick kiss before plonking her sled back down on the ground, showering everyone with snow.

She got on it just in time as Sheriff shouted, "GO!"

Everyone kicked off their sleds and started making their way down the hill. Since the hill was both tall and steep, it was a pain in the bumper climbing up it, but awesome coming down. The racers went down really fast and caught some serious air. It definitely made the exhausting, difficult climb worth it.

Fudge laughed with delight as she practically flew down the hill. She'd really missed the thrill of racing. It wasn't quite the same as moving two hundred miles an hour, but this was still so much fun. Plus, being the smallest and the lightest, she knew she had the advantage. Moreover, she applied quite a few skills she'd learned from racing to control her sled.

So, not surprisingly, the human girl was in the lead for a large portion of the race. However, about a third of the way down the hill, Mater slipped on a patch of ice and came tumbling down the hill. Fudge tried to push her sled to make it go faster, fearing that Mater would catch up.

At one point, she turned around to see where Mater was. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a mistake. For the split second that her eyes were on Mater instead of the track in front of her, Fudge's sled hit a rock, tilting it upwards and sending Fudge airborne.

"Whoa! I'm flying!" she hollered as she went flying through the air. However, she was drawn back to reality very quickly. "No! I'm not flying! Oof!" she exclaimed as she crashed into a large pile of snow.

I better take a sip of my oil, Lightning made a mental note to himself.

"Fudgie!" Luigi yelped, trying to come to a stop, so he could rush to help his daughter.

However, Fudge had already wriggled her way out of the snow pile. "I'm okay!" the fourteen-year-old assured everyone. "That was awesome!"

"Are you sure?" Luigi called back.

"Yep", she insisted, brushing some snow out of her chocolate-brown hair. "I've been thrown off the roof of a race car and then run over! If that didn't kill me, then this wasn't going to!"

By then, everyone else had come to a stop at the finish line and Fudge ran up to them.

"All the more reason for you to be careful", Sheriff pointed out.

"Just a moment of distraction could be dangerous when you're racing", Lightning reminded her, taking a sip of his hot oil.

"I know, I know!" the human girl acknowledged. "That would've been worse if the snow hadn't been there." She flashed a sudden grin. "It was fun, though!"

"Hey, Fudge!" Lightning called out abruptly. "You landed across the finish line! You won!"

It was true. The snow pile was just across the finish line.

"Yay!" Fudge cheered, overjoyed to have one not just any event, but her favourite event. She didn't care if she came dead last in everything now! Still, she was determined to do the best she could. "Let's do that again!"

"If we have time, we will later", Sheriff promised. "For now, we've still got events to run."


Event Four: Snow Jumping

"Snow jumping?" Lightning repeated. "That's not an event in our Winter Games… is it?"

"No", Sheriff confirmed. "It is not."

"Fudge!" Luigi shouted.

Too late. His daughter dove headfirst into the same pile of snow she'd crashed into during the sledding race.

Just about everyone sighed and rolled their eyes before taking another sip of hot oil. Guido grabbed her out of there.

"Whoa! That's cold!" Fudge exclaimed with great glee, shaking herself. Although she was much more used to hot weather, she loved the cold as well.

"My turn!" Mater shouted.

"NO!" everyone hollered before he could do it.

"Quit foolin' around!" Sheriff ordered. "Find teams for the next event! Four teams of three!"


Event Five: Snow Person Building

Luigi, Guido and Fudge wanted to be on a team together, of course. So did Lightning and Sally and Mater insisted on joining them. Flo and Ramone wanted to be together just like Sarge and Fillmore (well, Fillmore more than Sarge). So, Sheriff joined Sarge and Fillmore while Red became part of Flo and Ramone's team.

"You know the rules!" Sheriff called out. "You got twenty minutes to make a snow person- man, woman, human, car, whatever- with your teams. Best snow person, as judged by everyone, wins. Any supplies you might need are in that box." He nodded towards a box full of carrots and old winter clothes. "Everybody ready?"

"Yep", eleven voices confirmed.

"So, let's go!"

Everyone made a dash for the best snow and immediately launched into debate as to what kind of snow person they should make.

Five minutes into the competition, everyone had more or less figured out what their plan was and had gotten started with the exception of one team: Lightning and Mater were still arguing over whether to make a tow truck or a race car. Meanwhile, Luigi, Guido and Fudge were rolling up large balls of snow, which wasn't an easy task, considering that all three of them were quite small. Sarge, Fillmore and Sheriff had already made the base of their snowman and Ramone was adding all kinds of over the top details to their snow cars' tyres.

"We'd better pick something now if we want to win!" Sally insisted.

For the next fifteen minutes, there was mostly silence as everyone concentrated seriously on what they were doing. However, every now and then, there were voices heard:

"What are you doin'?! You're puttin' the nose on its butt!"

"I have never seen such a creepy smile in my life."

"Do you think I got the hood ornament right?"

"Do we even need a hood ornament? No one else is bothering with stuff like that."

"We want ours to be the best, don't we?"

"Why don't you actually do something productive? We need more snow!"

"Time's up!" Sheriff barked at the sound of a sharp ringing. "Everyone, step away from your snow people!"

Everyone did as Sheriff said. Well, almost everyone.

"Ramone!" Sheriff called out again. "Didn't you hear me? Time's up!"

The Lowrider didn't seem to hear. He was too busy trying to make sure the grille was perfect and the pinstripe looked real.

Flo sighed. "Once he gets goin' with his art, he forgets about everythin' else."

"Ramone's team is disqualified!" Sheriff announced while Flo and Red looked disappointed. Ramone came back to Earth at that point and looked beyond crushed. "Everyone, pick your favourite from the remainin' three. And remember, you can't vote for your own."

So, everyone eyed their friends' work critically. Fudge tilted her head from side to side and squinted, as if she were studying masterpieces in a fine art gallery. Then she would hum in thought, stroking her chin, much to the amusement of her family. Ramone made comments full of art jargon that nobody else understood.

They all admired the simplicity of Sarge, Fillmore and Sheriff's creation: just a snowman with a face and wearing Fudge's old winter hat and jacket. They felt sorry for Luigi, Guido and Fudge as they hadn't had time to finish putting a face on their snow girl, who was supposed to have a resemblance to Fudge. Lightning, Sally and Mater's creation made them all laugh. It was a race car, complete with lightning bolts and the number ninety-five, but it also came complete with buck teeth, a tow hook and a pinstripe tattoo Sally had added without either of the boys noticing. Although they couldn't vote for it, there was no doubt that everyone was impressed with Ramone's efforts. The attention to detail was quite amazing.

The voting was to be done anonymously. The RS gang were pretty friendly and accepting, so it wasn't likely that many arguments would break out, but just in case, everyone agreed it was better if nobody knew who had voted for whom (the others would just have to trust each other not to vote for their own, but if there was any suspicious activity, there would be an investigation). Behind a tree, Sheriff had written the numbers one, two, three and four in the snow and everyone picked up a small pebble and placed it by the number they thought was the best. Only this year, he'd gotten rid of the number three as they had been disqualified. So, one by one, everyone took their pebble and placed it by the number.

"Nine, ten, eleven, twelve!" Sheriff counted. "All right! Votes are in, everyone. Gather 'round for the results."

The townsfolk were more or less gathered, so that wasn't hard.

"By a score of six to three to three, the winner of the 2014 Winter Games Snow Person Building Competition is… Team four: McQueen, Sally and Mater!"

The three of them cheered as everyone else applauded. Lightning flashed his lucky sticker. "KA-CHOW!" he yelled.

"Congratulations! Now, each team find another team to work with! It's time for the final event!"


Event Six: Snowball Fighting

Lightning, Sally and Mater decided to team up with Sarge, Fillmore and Sheriff. That left Luigi, Guido and Fudge to join forces with Ramone, Flo and Red. Neither Luigi nor Ramone was exactly thrilled by that. The two of them had a friendly rivalry and so, they'd wanted to be on opposite sides.

After Sheriff had gone over the rules, the teams took cover on opposite sides of the hill to stock up on snowballs and create a battle plan. Then they had to plant their flags. The way the snowball fight worked was that each team planted a flag on their side of the hill. Whichever team seized the other team's flag first would be the winners.

In a matter of minutes, everyone was ready and they heard that all-important word: "GO!"

Nobody hesitated to obey. As soon as the word left Sheriff's mouth, the twelve residents of Radiator Springs were pelting each other with snowballs. Just about everyone was shouting as they did; the only one who wasn't was the shy and quiet Red.

It was absolute chaos. Snowballs were flying every which way. Cars ducked for cover. Fudge charged around, shrieking with laughter, daring anybody to get her, which they did.

Sarge decided to brave the assault and make a move for the flag. That made him a target for the other team who launched most of their snowballs at him. Sheriff tried to take advantage of this and make a dash for the flag, but luckily, eagle-eyed Red noticed and launched a round of ammunition on him.

Fudge also thought it was time to be brave. She charged forward, making a beeline towards the opposing team's flag. Lightning and Mater noticed and hit her with everything they had.

"You ain't gettin' our flag!" Mater hollered as he and his best friend pelted Fudge with one snowball after the other.

However, Fudge wasn't about to give up that easily. After her accident, she'd learned to be a lot stronger and more resilient. She'd had to walk with much more painful things to put up with than a couple of snowballs. I am unstoppable! the teenager thought to herself as she sprinted as fast as she could, feeling like a soldier on the front line. The snowballs slowed her down a little bit, but not much. Every once in a while, she would turn back to see where Sarge and Sheriff were. Both of them were advancing on the other flag. She had to be quick. I am going to grab that flag, win the fight for my team and become a hero!

Unfortunately, that was when it happened. Another thing that has changed about Fudge since the accident is that she couldn't really run anymore and definitely not for prolonged periods of time. So, right when she was nearing the flag, one of her knees kind of buckled. Then the other one. The human girl went down. It all seemed to be happening in slow motion. Everyone stared curiously and nervously as Fudge collapsed to the ground. Luckily, once again, the snow was right there to break her fall.

"Oof!" she couldn't help exclaiming.

"Fudgie!" Luigi shouted. "Are you okay?!"

Fudge didn't answer. Not with words, anyway. Her only response was to hold something up triumphantly: the flag! Immediately, Luigi, Guido, Ramone, Flo and Red launched into cheers. Sarge and Sheriff looked a little disappointed, but they were proud of Fudge.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Luigi questioned worriedly once again as Guido helped Fudge stagger to her feet.

"I'll be fine", she assured him. She was grinning broadly and panting quite heavily. "I think I just need to sit down for a few minutes."

"You do that", Sheriff instructed her. "We need to prepare for the medal ceremony anyway."


Medal Ceremony

About ten minutes later, everyone was gathered around a small table where Sarge and Sheriff had lain out the medals. Everyone was pretty excited, even though it wasn't a big deal. The main purpose of these winter games (basically the only purpose) was to have fun.

"The winner of the ice skatin' for 2014 is… Flo!" Sheriff announced.

The townsfolk applauded as Flo drove forward to receive her shiny gold medal.

"The winner of the uphill snow racin' for 2014 is… Sarge!" Sheriff announced.

The townsfolk applauded as Sarge drove forward to receive his shiny gold medal.

"The winner of the downhill snow racin' for 2014 is… Fudge!" Sheriff announced.

The townsfolk applauded as Fudge walked forward to receive her shiny gold medal.

"The winners of the snow person buildin' for 2014 are… McQueen, Sally and Mater!" Sheriff announced.

The townsfolk applauded as Lightning, Mater and Sally drove forward to receive their shiny gold medals.

"And finally, the winners of the snowball fight for 2014 are… Red, Flo, Ramone, Luigi, Guido and Fudge!" Sheriff announced.

The townsfolk applauded as the six of them came forward to receive their shiny gold medals.

"Yeah!" Fudge cheered. "I'm the hero! I won it for our team!"

Everyone laughed.

"Way to be modest, Fudge!" Sarge chuckled.

"What? It's true!" Fudge pointed out.

That made them all laugh even more.

"It's not bragging if it's true", Lightning conceded.

"Well, this was fun!" the fourteen-year-old proclaimed more seriously.

"Yeah", her family agreed.

"I already can't wait fer next year!" Mater declared.

"Yeah, me neither", Fudge agreed.

"You know, we don't have to wait till next year", Lightning pointed out with a grin.

Fudge lit up. "Really?"

"Really."

Without another word, Fudge sprinted off and dove headfirst into the snowpile again.

"(I got it!)" Guido called out as everyone else sipped their drinks.


Later:

The residents of Radiator Springs managed to get in seven more runs down the hill and they'd had a blast. Eventually, they decided to call it quits because it was getting colder and they were getting tireder every time they climbed the hill.

So, reluctantly, they decided to head back to town. Flo had whipped up some more hot oil and hot chocolate for everyone and they all sat around comfortably, talking. After the busy day they'd had, they were all tired, but happy.

Fudge, with two gold medals draped around her neck, smiled as she took a cautious sip of her hot chocolate. She didn't really care much for hot drinks. She never had tea or coffee and the only times she ever drank hot chocolate were during the winter or in her therapist's office. However, it was just what she wanted to be drinking at that moment.

"This is what I love about Christmas!" she declared happily.

"What is?" Lightning wondered curiously.

"Having fun with you guys!" she clarified. "Being with my family is the most important thing on days like today. Oh, that reminds me!" she exclaimed abruptly. "I better call Sammy later." Sammy was in Thomasville. Even though she didn't really celebrate Christmas (she wasn't one for sentimental moments and she was atheist), Fudge wanted to talk to her on the big day. "I love you guys!"

Everyone smiled; Fudge hadn't been the same since the accident. It had made her much more appreciative of life. It was sad to think a young girl had had such a shocking wake-up call that early on in life. At her age, it should be natural for her to take life for granted.

When Fudge got up to go the bathroom, Lightning grabbed her arm.

"Hey, Fudge-O!" He grinned with a hushed whisper. "I think you're forgetting the most important thing about Christmas!" He held up something in his tyre.

Fudge grinned. Another beloved Christmas tradition! "Yes! Be right back!"

The human girl came out of the bathroom a minute later to find her family busy and loud as usual at this time on Christmas.

"Hot plate comin' through!"

"Wash your tyres! Dinner's ready in about five minutes!"

"Ooh! Love the tablecloth! Is it new?!"

"Who wants what to drink?"

Fudge ducked and weaved her way around her family carrying big platters and the good china. She called, "I'll have a cherry Coke, thanks, Sheriff!", on her way past.

Lightning was just approaching the tow truck, still holding something in his tyre. "Hey, Mater. I know we did all the presents this morning, but I got something else for you."

"Dad-gum!" Mater exclaimed excitedly. "Thanks, buddy! You is the best friend anybody's ever had!"

Immediately, the tow truck unwrapped the present his best friend had just given him. However, his face fell when he found another layer of wrapping paper.

"Is dis another one o' dem unwrapping games?" Mater questioned as he unwrapped that layer only to find another layer of wrapping paper.

Lightning laughed and nodded.

Fudge laughed too. "You fall for it every year!"

Sheriff smiled. "All in all, another great Christmas in Radiator Springs!"

In case it wasn't obvious, the characters sipping their hot chocolate or oil was supposed to be a drinking game (without the alcohol). They take a drink every time someone crashes into a pile of snow! XD

The unwrapping game has been a thing in my family, but I really wish I could have fun like this in the snow, but it doesn't snow where I live. We had snow where I used to live, but not enough to do any of this stuff. :(

My third and final Christmas special is gonna be part of the Blast From the Past collection, so look out for that next week.

Let me know your thoughts on this one!