I think the cruising scene is my favourite part of the first movie and I love Fudge in it as well, so I hope you all love this chapter as much as I do!
Chapter 20- Magical Moments
One by one, the neon lights of each of the town's stores flickered on, bringing colour and life to Radiator Springs for the first time in a long time. Little Fudge had never seen anything like it before (except for in a painting of the town at night, which Ramone had created to decorate her new bedroom, but that didn't count). So, even though the surprise was really meant for Sally, it was a treat for her as well.
"E bellissima!" Fudge exclaimed in amazement.
"Do you like it, Fudge?" Luigi questioned.
She nodded, jumping up and down and flapping her arms like a bird. "Yeah! Yeah! It's amazing! It's like a rainbow! I love it!"
Sally gasped. "They fixed their neon!"
"Fudgie?" Luigi turned to his daughter. "Don't you have a job to do too?"
"Oh, yeah!" In one swift move, Fudge flicked on her bubble machine, allowing a stream of bubbles to fly across town.
Luigi smiled. "That is better!"
"Pretty!" Fudge yelled excitedly.
"Low and slow?" Flo asked Ramone.
"Oh, yeah, baby!" Ramone answered.
So, they started cruising down Main Street, laughing and whooping.
Pretty soon, everyone joined in. Only Fudge couldn't really cruise because she was a human, so instead, she ran around Main Street, dancing, chasing the bubbles, laughing and just having the time of her life.
Lightning and Sally were the only ones there who were not cruising. (Doc wasn't cruising either, but he wasn't there.) They were having a moment to themselves first.
Lightning turned to Sally. "Just like in its heyday, right?"
The Porsche sighed happily. "It's even better than I pictured it. Thank you."
"Magic!" Fudge hollered in delight, spinning around in circles and pawing at the bubbles that were floating down Main Street. "It's like magic!" She laughed like crazy.
Sally chuckled softly. "I think her smile lights up this town more than any of these lights."
Lightning hummed in agreement, but couldn't bring himself to say anything. He still had his talk with Luigi on his mind.
"Are you okay?" Sally asked worriedly.
Lightning broke his gaze away as Fudge stumbled a little bit, but Guido caught her before she could fall. The little Italian forklift picked his daughter up and spun her around as he held her close to him, making her giggle like crazy.
"Yeah!" Lightning lied. "Yeah..."
"What's wrong?" Sally wanted to know.
"Luigi told me about Fudge... How she has to go soon..."
Sally paused, lowering her hood sadly. The only words that came out of her mouth were, "Let's not talk about that right now. This is a celebration. Fudge isn't thinking about it and neither should we."
Lightning smiled at her. "Right... Well... Shall we cruise?"
"Oh, thank you, dear!" Lizzie exclaimed, jumping in and leading Lightning away from Sally. "I'd love to!"
"No, no, no!" Lightning tried to correct her.
"Lizzie!" Sally cried in disbelief.
"I remember when Stanley first asked me to take a drive with him", the elderly Model T began one of her infamous really long stories.
Fudge noticed what had happened and laughed hysterically.
Mater drove up to Sally. "Hey, Miss Sally", he greeted her. "May I have this cruise?"
Sally chuckled. "Of course, Mater."
They were about to drive off down Main Street, but Sheriff stopped them with an, "Uh-uh-uh", and a gesture to the traffic lights above them.
They stared up at it. Sally couldn't believe that the light in front of her was green! And a bunch of tractors rolled past.
Mater managed to get through and approached Fudge.
"Hi, Mater!" she greeted the tow truck.
"Howdy, Fudge!" He grinned at her. "I need your help with somethin'!"
"What?!" she questioned, excited to have a job to do.
"We gotta save McQueen!"
She looked to Lightning, who was up at the other end of town. "He got kidnapped by Lizzie!" the five-year-old shouted.
"Yeah. And we gotta save 'im!"
"Let's go!" Fudge leapt into Mater's truck bed and he drove off.
"And again and I said, 'No!'" Lizzie was telling Lightning. "And he asked me again and I said, 'No!'"
Lightning turned around and mouthed, Help me! Help me!
Sally laughed. So did Fudge.
"But oh, he was a persistent little bugger for a two-cylinder", Lizzie went on. "Finally, I said, 'All right. One little drive...'"
Lightning turned around to try and locate Sally, seeing if he could get back to her without Lizzie noticing him leaving. But out of nowhere, a tow hook lashed onto him and towed him through town. Mater laughed. Fudge clapped and cheered.
"Don't worry! We're here to save you!" Fudge announced.
Mater dropped Lightning off in front of Sally.
"Hey!" the race car exclaimed happily.
"Thanks, Mater!" Sally called.
"Hey! I helped!" Fudge shouted as Mater drove backwards down the road.
"Thanks, Fudge!" Sally and Lightning chorused.
Mater grinned and winked. "Good evenin', you two!"
"Miss-un accunpish!" Fudge cheered. That was supposed to be mission accomplished, but that was very hard for a five-year-old to say.
Fudge leapt out of his truck bed and ran down the road, chasing the bubbles.
"Bubbles!" she cheered. "Bubbles!"
She ran back to her fathers, who took her and danced with her. Guido also tossed her in the air again.
"Babbo!" she squealed joyfully. "Babbo!"
"Havin' fun, Fudge?" Ramone questioned as he and Flo drove past.
"Yeah! Yeah, yeah!" She had the biggest smile on her face.
Everyone except Sally and Lightning crowded around the excited child.
"This is fun!" Fudge declared, grabbing at the bubbles again.
The others smiled and all took turns dancing with her. All she could do was laugh. She had the biggest smile on her face. For the rest of them, especially Luigi and Guido, it was a very happy-sad moment. They struggled not to cry.
"Where's Uncle Doc?" Fudge wondered when Sarge stopped spinning her around. "He's missing all the fun."
Everyone looked around.
"I don't know, baby", Luigi responded.
"Well, he's missing all the fun!" Fudge repeated. She took off down the road. "Maybe I should go and find him!"
But before Fudge could find Doc, it happened. Things got chaotic and confusing and the night took a very dramatic turn...
I thought that the bubbles would be a nice touch. Like, just imagine it! I think it would be pretty cool in the scene!