As the sun peeked¹ over the mountains the next morning, Mater yawned, stretched, and drove out to the edge of the new road. Doc drove up next to him, and the two autos surveyed the blacktop. It reached into the horizon, as flat and even as a field of fresh snow.

 

"He's done," Mater said quietly. "He musta finished it while we were all sleepin'."

 

"Good riddance," Doc grumbled². As he drove away, he passed the rest of the townsfolk, who were gazing sadly at the road, thinking Lightning was gone.

 

"He's gone?" Flo asked.

 

"Well," Sarge said, trying to rally his friends and keep up a brave face, "we wouldn't want him to miss that race of his."

 

"Oh, dude," Ramone said to Sheriff, whose eyes were sparkling, "are you crying?"

 

"What?" Sheriff was choked up, but he didn't want the others to see what a big softy he was. "No, no, no!" he insisted. "I'm happy. I don't have to watch him every second of the day anymore. I'm glad he's gone."

 

Red burst into tears and drove away, knocking over Luigi's stack of tires—again.

 

"What's wrong with Red?" a voice asked. It was Lightning.

 

"Oh, he's just sad 'cause you left town," Mater explained, "and went to your big race to win the Piston³ Cup that you've always dreamed about your whole life and get that big ol' sponsor and that fancy helicopter you were talkin' about—"

 

"Lightning! There you are!" The townsfolk gathered around the race car, chattering⁴ happily.

 

"Wait a minute!" Mater said, the truth finally dawning on him. "Aw, I knew you wouldn't leave without saying good-bye." He gave Lightning a friendly punch with his tire.

 

"What are you doing here, son?" Sheriff demanded. "You're gonna miss your race. Now, don't worry, I'll give you a police escort, and we'll make up the time."

 

"Thank you, Sheriff," Lightning said gratefully. "Well, you know, I can't go just yet." He smiled playfully.

 

The town looked at one another in confusion. "Why not?" Sheriff asked.

 

"I'm not sure these tires can get me all the way to California," Lightning replied, glancing at Luigi and Guido.

 

"Pit stop?" Guido asked hopefully.

 

"Yeah," Lightning said. "Does anybody know what time Luigi's opens?"

 

"Oh-ho-ho!" Luigi said, laughing. "I can't believe it!" He quickly flipped⁵ over his CLOSED sign to read OPEN, and the two Italian cars rolled aside so that Lightning could come into their garage for a complete overhaul⁶. "Four new tires?" Luigi cried, thrilled. "Grazie, Mr. Lightning, grazie."

 

"Would you look at that?" Flo said as the townsfolk peered at Lightning through Luigi's freshly cleaned window.

 

"Our first real customer in years!" Luigi said as he secured Lightning in a lift. "I am filled with-a tears of ecstasy⁷, for this is a most glorious day of my life."

 

"All right, Luigi, give me the best set of black walls you got," Lightning ordered.

 

The lift dropped sharply down. "No, no, no, no," Luigi said as he made his way to a special curtained-off section of the store. "You don't-a know what you want. Black wall tires, they blend into the pavement, but these—" He whipped back the curtain. "Whitewall tires—they say, ‘Look at me! Here I am! Loooove me!'"

 

"All right," Lightning said mildly, "you're the expert. Oh, and don't forget the spare." And with that, Luigi and Guido got to work.

 

"Uh-huh-huh?" Luigi said with a grin as Lightning admired his new whitewalls in a three-way mirror. "What did Luigi tell you, eh?"

 

"Wow, you were right," Lightning admitted, smiling at his flashy new tires. "Better than a Ferrari, huh?"

 

Luigi's smile evaporated. "Eh, no."

 

Lightning decided⁸ he'd better check out all the stores in town. "Wow," he said as he tasted some of Fillmore's organic fuel. "This organic fuel is great! Why haven't I heard about it before?"

 

"It's a conspiracy⁹, man!" Fillmore shouted. "The oil companies got a grip on the government. They're feeding us a bunch of lies, man!"

 

"Okay," Lightning said slowly. "I'll take a case!"

 

Next, he went to Sarge's Surplus Hut and picked out some night-vision goggles¹⁰ for his drive to California. Then he chose a few Radiator¹¹ Springs bumper¹² stickers from Lizzie's memorabilia shop. At Ramone's, he got a snazzy new paint job—with a brand-new lightning bolt design. "Yeah!" Lightning said, laughing as he looked at the fresh paint. "Ka-chow!"

 

When Sally saw Lightning later that day, she couldn't believe his makeover. He was sparkling and detailed¹³ to perfection.

 

"Ka-pow!" Lightning said, showing off his new look. "What do you think? Radiator Springs looks pretty good on me."

 

Sally laughed. "I'll say!" She checked out his new paint job. "Ka-chow!" she said admiringly.

 

"You're gonna fit right in, in California," she continued, looking at him all the while.

 

Suddenly, Sally realized something. "Oh my goodness, it looks like you've helped everybody in town."

 

"Yeah, everybody except one… . ," Lightning said, cuing the town to light up their signs. One by one, the lights flickered¹⁴ on.

 

"They fixed¹⁵ their neon," Sally said quietly, taking in the beauty of the town.

 

"Just like in its heyday¹⁶, right?" Lightning said.

 

Sally sighed. "It's even better than I pictured it. Thank you."

 

Just then, Flo pulled onto the brand-new street. "Low and slow?" she said to Ramone.

 

"Oh, yeah," he agreed, and in the next moment, he and his wife were cruising down the strip. The two cars snuggled close, happier than they had been in years.

 

Lightning tried to take Sally for a cruise, but Lizzie stole him away.

 

"Lizzie!" Sally said in protest.

 

Mater was right there. "Miss Sally, may I have this cruise?" he asked.

 

Sally smiled. "Of course."

 

Lightning tried to dodge¹⁷ away from Lizzie, but she wouldn't let him escape her.

 

"I remember when Stanley first asked me to take a drive with him," she said, reminiscing.

 

Lightning was wondering how he could get to Sally when Mater towed him away. Lizzie happily continued to talk to herself.

 

"Hey!" Lightning said as he finally found himself next to Sally.

 

"Thanks, Mater," Sally said to the tow truck.

 

"Good evenin', you two." Mater gave Sally a broad wink¹⁸, then drove off backward.

 

Just as Lightning and Sally were about to start cruising, Flo pulled up to them. She was looking at the horizon.

 

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked.

 

A wall of headlights was coming straight in their direction.

 

"Customers?" Sally asked.

 

"Customers!" Flo cried, her voice edged with excitement. The town looked great. Maybe this was finally their big chance to get back on the map. "Customers, everybody, and a lot of 'em. You know what to do. Just like we rehearsed."

 

Suddenly, a helicopter roared overhead, sweeping¹⁹ a light across the town.

 

"It's the ghost light!" Mater cried. Terrified, he drove away.

 

"We have found Lightning!" blasted a voice from a PA system. "We have found Lightning!"

 

第二天，太阳早早地爬上山岗，板牙打了个哈欠，伸了伸懒腰从睡梦中醒来。他走出房门，来到修整一新的道路旁。蓝天博士站在一旁，和他一起检查路面。崭新的路面一眼望不到尽头，平坦得像刚刚被雪花覆盖的田野一样。

 

“他完成任务了，”板牙小声说，“他一定是趁我们都在睡觉的时候把路全部修好了。”

 

“终于解脱了。”博士嘟囔着说。离开的时候，博士从镇子里其他居民的身旁经过。想着麦坤已经离开，大家悲伤地凝视着路面。

 

“他走了吗？”芙蓉问。

 

“可能吧，”士官长回答说。他希望大家团结一致，勇敢面对麦坤的离开，“我们也不想让他因此错过比赛。”

 

“噢，老兄，你哭了？”雷蒙对警长说。警长的眼睛里闪烁着泪光。

 

“你说什么？”警长哽咽着说。他不想让别人知道他是个多愁善感的人。“不，不，你看错了！”他极力否定，“我是太高兴了，终于不用一天到晚盯着这家伙了，他走了我高兴还来不及呢。”

 

小红突然大哭起来，离开的时候不小心又把卡布刚刚摞起来的轮胎撞落在地。

 

“小红怎么了？”一个声音问。原来是麦坤。

 

“没什么，他以为你离开小镇了，所以很伤心。你还要去参加大赛，去赢你这辈子梦寐以求的活塞杯，拿汽油商的赞助。对了，还有你那天说的豪华直升机……”板牙解释着。

 

“闪电！原来你在这里！”小镇的居民们纷纷涌过来围在麦坤周围，大伙你一句我一句，高兴地讲个不停。

 

“等一下！”板牙恍然大悟，他朝着麦坤的轮胎击了一拳说，“哈哈，我就知道你不会不辞而别的。”

 

“孩子，你在这里做什么？”警长问。“你再不走就真的要错过比赛了。不过也不用担心，我会用警车护送你，这样能把时间弥补回来。”

 

“谢谢您，警长，”麦坤感激地说。接着，他顽皮地笑了笑：“不过，你是知道的，我现在还不能走。”

 

村民们满脸疑惑，大家你看着我我看着你。“为什么不能走？”警长问。

 

“我不确定我的轮胎能不能坚持到加利福尼亚。”麦坤一边回答，一边侧脸看了看旁边的卡布和奇诺。

 

“要进维修站吗？”奇诺渴望地问。

 

“当然，谁知道卡布的轮胎店几点营业？”麦坤说。

 

“天哪！我真是不敢相信！”卡布笑着说。他迅速把写着“暂停营业”的牌子翻到“营业中”的一面。一旁的两辆意大利车默契地退在一旁，以便麦坤可以进入车库进行彻底的检修。“四个轮胎都换新的？”卡布兴奋地问，“谢谢，闪电侠，太感谢了！”

 

“你们快看！”芙蓉激动地说。透过卡布清洗一新的玻璃窗，芙蓉和村民们迫不及待地注视着麦坤。

 

卡布将麦坤固定在升降台上后对旁边的奇诺说：“这几年来我们的第一位顾客！我激动得快哭了，这是我生命中最美好的一天！”

 

“你说得对！卡布，把你们最好的黑胶轮胎拿出来！”麦坤开始下订单了。

 

升降台快速降了下来。“不不不，你不知道你需要什么样的轮胎，我知道，黑色的轮胎在路面上一点儿也不出众，但是这些轮胎……”卡布一边说一边走到商店的一侧，他拉开一个原本关上的挂帘说，“看这些白胎壁轮胎！哈哈，你听到了吗？他们好像正在说‘看我！我在这里！爱我吧！’”

 

“好吧，你是专家。对了，别忘了给我装一副备用轮胎。”麦坤微笑着说。三人达成一致以后，卡布和奇诺开始了他们的工作——换轮胎！

 

麦坤对着三向镜欣赏着新换上的白胎壁轮胎。“嗯哼？”卡布咧开嘴笑着对麦坤说，“哈哈，我说的没错吧？是不是超帅！”

 

麦坤微笑着欣赏着自己闪亮的新轮胎：“哇，你说得很对，”他承认道，“看上去比法拉利帅多了，是不？”

 

卡布收起笑脸：“呃，不是。”

 

麦坤决定把小镇的商店挨个逛一遍。他尝了一口辉哥的有机汽油，忍不住说：“哇！这油这么棒，怎么从来没听过呢？”

 

“老兄，这是个阴谋！”辉哥咆哮着，“石油公司控制了政府，他们欺骗了我们，给我们喝的都是垃圾！”

 

“原来是这样，快给我来一箱！”麦坤拉着长腔说。

 

接着，麦坤来到士官长的汽配店挑了几副夜视镜，以便在去往加利福尼亚的路上使用。然后，他又去荔枝婆的古董店挑选了几款水箱温泉镇的保险杠彩贴。在雷蒙的店里，他为自己刷上一个时髦的新涂装——一道崭新的闪电！麦坤看着自己的“新装”，笑着朝大伙说：“太帅了，咔——嚓！”

 

当天晚些时候，莎莉见到了焕然一新的麦坤，外形上的巨大变化让莎莉惊讶不已——麦坤魅力四射，近乎完美！

 

“咔——嚓！”麦坤对着莎莉展示着自己的新形象。“怎么样？水箱温泉镇对我挺友好的。”

 

莎莉上下打量着麦坤的新涂装，笑了笑：“当然！咔——嚓！”

 

“你一定会赶上加利福尼亚的比赛并夺冠的！”莎莉接着说，她的眼睛从未离开麦坤。

 

忽然，莎莉似乎意识到了什么。“哦，我的天，你给镇上的每个人都帮了大忙！”

 

“是，不过，还有一个人没有……”麦坤一边说一边暗示小镇的伙伴们点亮他们的挂牌。一盏接着一盏，五彩斑斓的灯闪烁起来。

 

莎莉欣赏着小镇的美景。她悄声地对麦坤说：“他们把霓虹灯都修好了。”

 

“和小镇热闹繁荣的时候一样，对吗？”麦坤说。

 

莎莉感叹：“比我想象的还要漂亮，谢谢你！”

 

这时，芙蓉走上崭新的马路，对雷蒙说：“放低身子慢慢走？”

 

“哦，好的！”话音刚落，他们顺着马路驶向远方。夫妻俩依偎在一起，比以前更快乐。

 

麦坤想邀请莎莉一起散步，不巧自己却被荔枝婆牵走了。

 

“荔枝婆！”莎莉表示抗议。

 

板牙正好在旁边。他走过来问：“莎莉小姐，我可以和你一起散个步吗？”

 

莎莉微笑着说：“当然可以。”

 

麦坤试着甩开荔枝婆，但荔枝婆不会轻易让他走掉。

 

“我现在还记得斯坦利第一次约我去兜风……”，荔枝婆陷入了回忆中。

 

当麦坤想着如何才能回到莎莉身边的时候，板牙将他从荔枝婆身旁拖了过去。荔枝婆没有发觉，仍然开心地自说自话。

 

麦坤总算和莎莉走在一起了，他迫不及待地跟莎莉打招 呼：“嗨！”

 

“板牙，谢谢你。”莎莉对拖车说。

 

“两位，晚安！”板牙对莎莉微笑着眨了眨眼睛，然后倒行着告辞了。

 

正当麦坤和莎莉准备去兜风时，芙蓉突然跑到他们面前。她的眼睛盯着地平线。

 

“那是什么？难道是我猜的那个？”芙蓉问。

 

一排照明灯围成一堵墙径直朝他们飞来。

 

“顾客？”莎莉惊讶地问。

 

“顾客！”芙蓉激动地尖叫起来。小镇一下子沸腾了。他们的机会终于来了，水箱温泉镇又可以重新在地图上出现了。“乡亲们，来客人了！而且还很多！大家都知道该怎么做，跟我们平时演练的一样！”

 

突然，一架直升机轰鸣着在大伙头顶盘旋，直升机的灯扫射着小镇。

 

“是鬼灯！”板牙大叫一声。他惊恐万分，四处逃窜。

 

“我们已经找到麦坤了！”广播里传来声音，“我们已经找到麦坤了！”

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