Cars to Humans

Chapter 9: You Found Mater!

(Lightning's POV)
"So, where are you from, in your world?" Scarlet asked.
Scarlet and I were sitting in a nearby coffee shop. She was sipping her coffee and asking me about my life. I was sitting across from her with a coffee in my hand, but I didn't take a drink yet. I was still trying to get used to human ways, and it's been difficult.
"Well, I'm from a small town in Arizona called Radiator Springs. I came there a few years ago." I said.
She nodded. "Nice. Do you have a wife? Kids?"
I laughed," No. I have a girlfriend, though. No kids."
"Alright. Um...you like your coffee?"
I shrugged,"I'm kind of scared to try it."
"Don't be afraid. It won't hurt you."
I looked at the coffee cup and took a sip. Then that sip turned into a drink.
"Wow! That's really good!" I said excitedly.
She laughed. "I told you it's good."
I smiled. She was always so nice to me. She looked over at me and smiled. "Maybe once you've learned the way of human life you won't want to go back."
My smile faded. I sadly looked down at the table. "Yeah....".
She looked at me concerned again. "I'm sorry Mr. McQ-"
"Stop! My name is Lightning! Not Mr. McQueen and not sir. I'm sorry I'm yelling, but I'm tired of everyone thinking I'm totally fine with this."
I stood and threw my coffee on the ground. "I'm sorry, but I want to go HOME! I'm tired of all this!" I turned and starting walking angrily away. I kept walking till I reached
the agency. I stopped outside the front doors and stared into the distance. I sighed and walked into the agency.
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I walked into Mr. Spark's office. Scarlet was quietly sitting in a seat across from his desk. I sat in the chair next to hers. "What's up?" I asked Mr. Spark.
He smiled. "We have found your friend."
I jumped out of my chair. "You found him?"
He nodded. "Yes. He was found in a forest. He's here as we speak. Would you like to see him?"
I nodded and Mr. Spark led me through the hall and into the laboratory, where I had been checked. Mater was lying on the medical examination bed. A woman was taking his blood and checking other fluids going to and from him.
I ran to the bedside. "Mater!"
Mater looked up at me and smiled his buck-tooth smile.
"Buddy! Where've you been?" he asked me.
I just kept smiling,"Right here buddy. Where were you? Didn't the guards take you too?"
Mater squinted his eyes and looked in the distance. "It was purty strange. I saw them guards and I remember blackin' out an stuff, but I woke up in the forest. I kept on walkin' until I started comin' across dead bodies. I was purty scared, but everywhere I looked there was them dead bodies. I then started hallucinatin' and thinkin' I was in a desert. I kept seeing Radiator Springs and the folks that live there. It was really weird. Then them there guys from the SIA saved me."
I was shocked. Poor Mater. He had gone through so much, yet he was laying here being tested on.
After a few hours, Mater had fallen asleep, and I was told to leave and let him rest. I obeyed and slowly walked to my room. Once I was there, I plopped onto my bed. Today had been such a long, yet exciting, day.
So many thoughts were racing through my head. My rude behavior towards Scarlet, Mater being found, and the weird place Mater had been sent to. I kept thinking of what Mater had told me. The forest. Dead bodies. Hallucinations. Desert. Wait a minute.
My dream! I had a dream that resembled Mater's predicament exactly. I couldn't believe it. I dreamt what Mater had gone through. What did this mean? Am I a psychic, or was it just a coincidence? Whatever it was, it was pretty strange.
I sighed and decided to get ready for bed. I would tell Mr. Spark tomorrow. Hopefully, my dream wasn't anything that could seriously jeopardize our ability to get home.