This is based on the Cars story of the same name. This was supposed to be Sally's story, but she doesn't appear in it as much as I thought she should. Oh, well. I kind of figured she'd want to talk about the reopening of the Wheel Well, so they do.

All's Well at the Wheel Well

2006

"Hi! I was wondering if there were any rooms at the Cozy Cone Motel available?"

"Yes; you're in luck. We just had a cancellation, so I think we have one- Excuse me. Sorry; I'm getting another call."

"Are there any rooms available at the Cozy Cone Motel next Saturday?"

"No, I'm sorry. Those sold out weeks ago."

"Well, is there any other accommodation available nearby?"

Sally thought about that. There was a motel in Ashgrove, but that was two and a half hours away. Hardly a day trip. (After all, they decided not to send Fudge to school there because it would be too much. The travel time would almost be as long as the school day.) Still, Sally felt like she ought to try.

"I'll take it!" the customer on the phone announced.

So, Sally gave him the number of the motel in Ashgrove and he hung up. Before she could get back to her first customer, someone else called in and snapped up the last available cone. When she finally got back to the first customer, he wasn't happy.

The Porsche was relieved to be saved by a familiar red race car in the doorway.

"Hey, Sally", he greeted her casually.

Immediately, Sally felt better. It had been a few weeks since Lightning McQueen had announced that Radiator Springs was going to become his permanent home. The townsfolk were so happy, they celebrated for a week. Sally was especially happy. Although she and Lightning weren't officially dating just yet, there was a spark between them that nobody could deny.

Sally sighed. "Hey, Stickers."

"How's it going?"

She sighed again. "The phone won't stop ringing. Ever since you moved here, everyone wants to stay in town."

Lightning grinned. "Well, that's good, right?"

"It is", she assured him. "Except for one thing: all of the cones here are booked for weeks."

Lightning's grin vanished. "Oh. Right." He hadn't thought of that. "Do you want me to move out?" He was staying at the Cozy Cone Motel because he didn't have a permanent home in Radiator Springs just yet.

"Oh, no, Stickers. You don't have to do that", Sally insisted. She smiled. "I think I know what I wanna do."

"What?" Lightning wondered.

"I think we should reopen the Wheel Well."

Just like that, Lightning's grin came back. "You do?"

"Yeah", the Porsche confirmed. "It'll be good for business here in town. Besides", she added, "I've always loved that place. It deserves to have a second life."

"If that's what you want to do, then I think you should do it". Lightning informed her.

"We're reopening the Wheel Well!" Sally exclaimed excitedly.

"We're reopening the Wheel Well", Lightning echoed, just as excitedly.

They were so excited, they felt like hugging, but they didn't. Neither of them wanted to make the other one uncomfortable.

"Let's go tell everyone the good news!" Lightning suggested.

"Yeah!"


A few hours later, everyone was gathered at Flo's for dinner. There were some tourists hanging around, but that didn't deter Sally. If anything, they'd be happy to hear the news.

"What's goin' on, Miss Sally?" Sheriff wondered. "You look very happy."

"Well, we have some news!" Sally announced.

"What is it?!" everyone questioned eagerly.

Sally took a deep breath. "As I'm sure you all know, Radiator Springs has become a lot busier these last few weeks, thanks to a certain someone." Guess who she was looking directly at! "The rooms at the Cozy Cone have been booked for weeks. So... We decided... to reopen the Wheel Well!"

Initially, this announcement was met with silence.

"You serious about this?" Doc asked finally.

Sally just nodded. Now, she was a bit nervous. Nobody had said anything. Did they not like the idea?

Doc sighed. "Sally. I don't know how to say this, but..." Sally's heart rate jumped up. "That is the best idea I've heard in a long time!"

Sally broke out into a huge grin. "Really?!"

"Yes!" everyone chorused. Well, all of the adults did, anyway; only five-year-old Fudge remained quiet.

"Is it really a better idea than my moving here?" Lightning wondered, only half serious.

"Doc, you took about twenty years off my life doing that!" Sally joked.

Doc just chuckled. "But seriously, this will be great for business around here."

"Does that mean there'll be more people here?!" Fudge spoke up.

Everyone turned to look at the five-year-old girl. She didn't understand just how important the tourism was to the town. She didn't know that they'd been barely getting by her entire life since her family had kept her innocent and oblivious to their problems. She just accepted life in Radiator Springs as all she knew. Now, the new tourism and activity was nothing but one big change to her. Plus, her family didn't have as much time for her as they used to. She didn't like it one bit. Besides, after learning that she was abandoned by her mother, her feeling that she was unwanted was a very sensitive topic for Fudge.

"Yes. This is a good thing, sweetie", Sally promised. "We'll have more money, so we can get you great presents for your birthday." Fudge's birthday was in a few weeks.

"Why can't you get me presents without all the people?" Remember, she was oblivious to the problems they'd been having. Her family rarely talked about money in front of her.

"And it will be good for you to spend time with some other humans", Luigi added, not wanting to say that Fudge needed more exposure to humans in order to stay in Radiator Springs. Otherwise, social workers were transferring her to an orphanage in Wisconsin.

Fudge knew about that, but she made a face. "Those humans are mean! They wouldn't let me play with them! They said I was a weirdo!"

"Well, you are not a weirdo!" Luigi promised her. "It may take some time, but you will find some friends."

Fudge didn't look convinced, but before an argument could arise, Doc stepped in.

"So, what do you say we aim for three weeks from today?" he suggested.

"Three weeks?" Lightning repeated. "Can we do that?"

"Hot rod, if you can repair the road ahead of schedule when you didn't get it right the first time, then anything is possible."

"We can do it!" the townsfolk cheered.

"We'll be the most popular town in Carburetor County!" Sally vowed.

"And I was looking forward to taking it slow around here", Lightning remarked, but he was kidding.


In order to get the motel opened in three weeks, the RS gang needed to do a lot of work. For one thing, the building needed all kinds of inspections. A building inspector, an electrician, a plumber and an exterminator had to come to Radiator Springs to make sure everything was up to code before the town could do anything. There were a few things that needed fixing up, but once that was done and they were given the all-clear, they could start for real.


Just about everyone in town helped to get the motel ready for the big opening day. Sally oversaw everything that everyone did. Ramone had one of the biggest jobs of all: designing and decorating the motel. He painted each room with a different style.

"Then cars will want to return to check out the different looks", he explained.

"Great idea, Ramone!" Sally had agreed appreciatively. "It would be boring if all the rooms were exactly the same!"

So, Ramone thought up dozens of designs, one for each motel room. Sally's favourite was a room overlooking the valley, which had been painted like the town of Radiator Springs at night. All of the stores were glowing with neon.

"Ramone!" Sally gasped when she saw it. "This is just fantastic! My two favourite views are in one room!"

The Lowrider grinned. "I knew you'd like it."

Fudge appeared in the doorway and peered into the room. "Hey! I have a painting like this in my room!"

Ramone's grin shifted to the human girl. "You sure do. I remember painting that for you when you got your own room."

"Yeah, when you liked me", Fudge muttered bitterly.

"Hey!" Ramone cried defensively. "I still like you!"

Fudge shook her head, unconvinced.


While Ramone decorated the inside of the motel, Red spruced up the outside. Once Mater had towed some old shrubs out of the way, Red was able to plant new flowers. He watered them once a day and drove up to the Wheel Well twice more every day to make sure everything was perfect.

"Pretty flowers!" Fudge remarked, reaching out towards one of them.

Red gasped and yanked her hand away. "Fudge, don't touch!" He wasn't mad at her; he just didn't want her playing with those flowers. Everything just had to be perfect.

"Fine!" Fudge shouted. "I know you don't want me here, so I'll go!" She tried to sprint off back home, but Luigi called her back. So, she returned, muttering about, "You don't care", and, "Just want me to be sad."


Most of the storeowners were contributing by creating pamphlets, other ads and even gift baskets to advertise the services available in Radiator Springs. Well, the gift baskets would only be for the first guests of each room, but everyone thought it was a very good idea.

"Cupcakes!" Fudge exclaimed happily, wandering into Flo's V8 Café to discover the sweet treats. Boy, did that frosting look delicious! She picked up the one that looked the most delicious and was just about to take a bite when...

"Fudge!" Flo called from the kitchen. "Put that back! Those are not for you!"

"Then who are they for?!" Fudge demanded, pouting.

"They're for the gift baskets", the former show car explained. "Remember? For when we reopen the Wheel Well?"

"Can I please just have one?!" Fudge begged. "I could be a taste tester!" That was Fudge's favourite job when Flo was cooking.

"No. I have just enough there, but maybe I can make some more later, if I have time. Put that one back."

Fudge was so mad that instead of putting the cupcake back, she threw it on the floor and ran off.

"I'm not making any more for you later then!" Flo shouted after her.


Lightning was the main source of funding. He was loaded, what with being a famous race car and all. Even though the project was far from cheap, it hadn't put a dent in his bank balance either. He kept asking Sally if there were any other jobs he could do to help, but she insisted, "You've done more than enough to help. We wouldn't even be opening the Wheel Well Motel if it wasn't for you."

He just gave a modest smile in response.

One night, Sally and Lightning were inside the Cozy Cone, going through some catalogues and scrolling through websites, trying to find some furniture for the motel rooms, mostly for the humans, who would need beds. One of the rooms, which adjoined to a larger room, had been created into a kid's land. They were going to put Fudge's old crib and one of her old beds in there. Obviously, they needed more, though.

"Stickers? What do you think of these?" Sally showed him a queen sized bed.

"I think that would be perfect!"

"You think?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't know for sure", he admitted with a laugh. "I'm not a human."

Sally smiled. "Me neither."

"We need a human's opinions on some of these things."

"I'm a human!" a small voice spoke up.

The stock car and Porsche looked up to find Fudge standing in the doorway.

"Do you want my opinion?" the little girl pressed.

"Sure", Sally replied. She didn't think a five-year-old was the best person to be asking, but she was glad Fudge was finally getting involved in the project, instead of pouting and throwing tantrums.

"Don't open the stupid motel!"

"Fudge!" Sally sounded hurt. She understood things had been difficult for Fudge lately, but this was a project she was both excited and passionate about. She wasn't about to let anybody get away with calling it stupid; not even a five-year-old.

"See?!" Fudge jeered. "You don't care! Nobody cares about Fudgie!"

"This isn't about you!" Sally countered. "This is about the town!"

"But I don't want any more people here!" Fudge shouted. "Nobody wants me around anymore! You like all the new people, but you don't like me anymore!"

"That's not true!" Sally insisted.

"Then why are you yelling at me?!"

"Because you're being rude!" the Porsche informed her.

Fudge just screamed in frustration and stormed off.

Sally sighed. "I'm sorry", she apologised to Lightning. "I know she's upset and I know she's only five, but she's starting to get on my nerves a little bit."

He nodded. "I know. She'll come around."

Sally sighed again. "I hope so."

Then they went back to work.


2009

"Are we just gonna talk about what a pain I was?!" Fudge demanded, annoyed.

Everyone laughed.

"Okay", Sally agreed. "Let's start talking about some of the other stuff."


2006

A bit later, once all of the beds and some other furniture had been ordered, Lightning and Sally headed up to the Wheel Well to see how things were going. Red was checking on his flowers. Guido and Luigi were creating a display to advertise their store. Ramone was inside, painting one of the rooms with a desert theme.

"Things look great around here!" Sally declared.

"Are you sure you don't need me to do anything else?" Lightning questioned.

"Stickers, you don't have to do that. You've already done more than enough."

Still, Lightning knew that this was very important to Sally; he just wished he could come up with something that would make the day special for her... But what?

He decided to go for a drive; maybe that would help him think, but by the time he got back to Radiator Springs, nothing had come to him yet. He looked around the town to see the very few residents around hard at work. Those who weren't helping out at the Wheel Well were preparing their stores for the rush of customers the weekend when the Wheel Well reopened. One of these residents was Lizzie and Lightning decided to greet her.

"Hey, Lizzie."

"What?" She looked around to see who had spoken. "Oh, hello, Lightning."

"It's pretty exciting to see the Wheel Well come together", he remarked.

"What?" she repeated. Then she seemed to understand. "Oh, yes. Oh, my Stanley would love to see the town today. Why, the Wheel Well was one of his favourite spots."

The Model T slapped a bumper sticker on Lightning and it was back to work. Lightning went over to an old hubcap to read the sticker in his reflection: ALL'S WELL AT THE WHEEL WELL. He smiled; Lizzie always had the perfect sticker.

That got him thinking about what Sally had said, about how they wouldn't be reopening the Wheel Well at all if it weren't for him. He thought about how much the town had changed so much since his arrival.

"All because of a little racing", he murmured in disbelief.

Then his eyes widened. That was it! He had an idea! He knew the perfect thing he could do for Sally! A race car couldn't paint rooms, sells stickers or create advertisements, but he could make the grand opening ceremony a big deal by performing a trick or two, get everyone talking about it. He raced off to tell Sally his idea.

"I think that's a great idea!" Sally exclaimed. "The more publicity the town gets, the better!"

Lightning grinned. "Right! Well, I better start practising then."


So, he made a beeline towards Willy's Butte. Unfortunately, before he could get started, something- or rather, someone- attracted his attention.

"Hey, Fudge-O!" he called out.

"Go away!" Fudge shouted back. She had her back to him.

"I can't!" he informed her. "I gotta practise! What's up?"

"Everything's different!"

He came closer to her. "Yeah?"

"Yeah! Ever since you came, nothing's been the same!"

"Would you rather I wasn't here?"

Fudge shook her head. "No! I just wish there wasn't people everywhere!"

Lightning sighed. "Fudge, you understand that having these people here is a good thing."

"No!" she repeated. "Nobody wants me anymore!"

"That's not true!"

"Then why don't they play with me?"

"Look, it's true everyone's a bit busier now", Lightning admitted, "but that doesn't mean they don't like you anymore, all right?"

Fudge still wasn't convinced.

"And besides, you know what happens if you don't spend time around humans?" Lightning hated reminding her, but she needed to see that the sudden increase in tourism was a good thing.

Fudge's eyes filled with tears, but, to her credit, she didn't shed them.

"So, will you try to keep an open mind about this?" Lightning asked her.

The five-year-old was silent for a long time. Finally, she muttered, "I'll think about it."

Lightning smiled. "Well, I guess that's better than nothing."

"Can I help you practise?" Fudge requested eagerly. She was also a little nervous, fearing she'd be told no.

"Sure", Lightning answered with a grin. "You know what to do?"

Fudge nodded seriously. Lightning and Doc had been teaching her about racing and she'd already learned a lot.

"Come on!" Lightning made his way to the dirt track and practise was underway.

Fudge cheered up considerably as she helped Lightning, calling out tips and encouragement. Not that Lightning needed the help, but it helped her learn.

Mater came by to watch Lightning practise. "You is up to somethin', buddy!" he observed.

Lightning just grinned.


Finally, the big day arrived. It was amazing, really. Everyone had pulled together and gotten the Wheel Well ready to open within the three-week deadline. The entire town, a handful of tourists and several members of the press gathered at the motel for the grand reopening ceremony.

"Ladies and gentlecars", Sally began her speech, "it is my great privilege to welcome you all to the Wheel Well Motel, once again open to all of the travellers passing through Radiator Springs." She flipped a sign that read GRAND REOPENING.

The crowd cheered. Well, Fudge didn't, but everyone else did.

"And now, Lightning McQueen would like to give you all an official Wheel Well welcome."

Lightning rolled up next to Sally, tilted all the way up on his right side and drove around on his two right wheels.

The crowd went wild for that. This time, Fudge did too.


Finally, after Sally had finished her speech about how great this was for the town of Radiator Springs, she officially declared the motel open. This was also met with loud cheers from everyone except Fudge. The ceremony ended when Sally invited everyone inside for a tour.

"This day has been better than I could have ever hoped for!" Sally proclaimed to Lightning when she met up with him. "You must care about this town a lot!"

Lightning grinned. "Getting lost here was the best thing that's ever happened to me. This town is my home."

Sally smiled. "I'm glad." Then she looked down and added, "Nice sticker, Stickers!"

Lightning laughed.

"Sally! Sally!" Fudge came flying out of nowhere and jumped onto the Porsche's hood.

"What is it, sweetie?" she questioned.

"I've just seen the motel! It's good!"

Sally's smile grew even bigger. "Really?"

"Uh-huh!" Then she slid off Sally's hood and onto Lightning's. "I'm so glad you came here!"

"What about the other humans?" Lightning wondered. "Are you glad they're here too?"

Fudge shook her head. "No."

Lightning and Sally laughed.

"She'll get used to it", the former assured the latter once again as Fudge ran off to get her hands on one of Flo's cupcakes.

Sally just nodded. Fudge was only five; she still needed time to adjust.

Other than that, it was safe to say that all was well at the Wheel Well. And in Radiator Springs.