Cars

It Can't Be!

Ruby laid in her bed, panting and twisting in her sheets. Ruby moaned as her dream turned into a nightmare. She was racing against Chick and The King in the final lap. The bull, Frank, appeared out of nowhere and trampled on Chick's car, flattening it down. The King and Ruby swerved to avoid the angry bull, only to lose as the bull crossed the line. "NOOOO!"

Ruby opens her eyes, panting hard. The alarm on the stand next to her was beeping loud. Jumping out of bed, Ruby grabbed her wrappings and wig, "I gotta get outta here!" She quickly wrapped her chest and slipped the wig on her head.

She opened the motel door and ran down the road; her lungs started to burn as her legs took long strides. The wrappings are too tight. Spotting Ramone and Sarge, Ruby cleared her throat, deepening it. The two men greeted her, "Mornin' Lightning!" Ramone waved.

Coughing, Ruby waved back. "Did you run all the way here, soldier?" Sarge questioned. Ruby, now Lightning, nodded.

"Where's the Sheriff?"

"Don't know, man. Ask Doc; he might be in the clinic." Ramone theorized.

Lightning waved to them as a thank you and ran to Doc's office.

SLAM!

"Hey, have you seen the Sheriff?" Lightning bursts into the clinic, stopping suddenly and quickly averts his eyes to the floor, "Oh! Oh, my gosh." The Sheriff was lying on the table as Doc examined his thigh.

"Hey, what are you doin'?" Doc yelled.

"Get a good peek, city boy?" Sheriff asked.

With his eyes still down on the ground, Lightning answered with a stutter, "I just need my daily food ration from the Sheriff."

Doc slams down his medical tools and sharply turns to face Lightning, "Wait for him at Flo's. Get outta here."

Lightning snapped his head up and glared at Doc, "I've been trying to get outta here for three days!" Lightning swiftly turned to the door and walked out, "Hope you enjoyed the show!" The Sheriff called out as the door closed behind Lightning.

Seeing a can by her foot, Ruby kicked it and watched it fly in the air and into Doc's garage. A loud crash in the garage alerted her that something might have broken. Making her way into the garage, she opens the door, ignoring the stay-out sign, and walks inside.

"Whoa, Doc. Time to clean out the garage, buddy, come on." Taking a good look around the garage told Ruby enough to know that things needed to be cleaned and thrown out. Ruby stopped as something familiar caught her eye. Walking up to the object, Ruby knew right away what it was, a Piston Cup.

"What? He has a Piston Cup? Oh, my gosh." Stepping closer, Ruby sees two more, "Three Piston Cups?" Then, leaning forward, Ruby sees what is on the cups, 'Hudson Hornet Champion of all time, 1951, 1952, 1953'. Ruby's eyes widened in shock. "I-it can't be!" She whispered.

"Sign says stay out."

Ruby gasps, turning to the garage door; Doc stands there with his arms crossed, an angry scowl plastered on his face.

"Dad!" Ruby thought to herself, "It's Dad!"

"You have three Piston Cups. How could you have..." Before Ruby/Lightning could finish talking, Doc grabbed his arm and pushed him out the garage, "I knew you couldn't drive. I didn't know you couldn't read."

Turning quickly, Lightning faced Doc, "You're the Hudson Hornet!" For nine, almost TEN years, Ruby's father has been here!

"Wait at Flo's, like I told ya!" Doc barked.

"Of course. I can't believe I didn't see it before. You're The Fabulous Hudson Hornet! Oh, we gotta talk." Lightning desperately wanted to tell him who he was, "You gotta show me your tricks. Please."