RalliART [Prologue]

>You are Anonymous
>You are nineteen years old
>Your home—well, I guess you could call it that—is New Zealand. You called it home for thirteen years, but you no longer have much of a connection to it anymore, just a word to put next to birthplace.
>You travel too much to have a place to call home. Endless hotel rooms, nameless faces... The only constant that you have had since you were thirteen is your mother and your dog Maya.
>When you first started following your father to all his rally events, your mother had been... reluctant, to say the least. In fact, she only agreed to you following him around because she was able to come as well.
>Four years… four whole years of following your father around. He taught you everything you know. You'd even started competing (despite your mother’s objections) in junior races at sixteen. You were good, very good; taught by one of the best in the world, in fact. Things were going perfectly. Your life had never been better.
>Then it happened.
>You remember the moment vividly, who you were talking to, what you were talking about, where you were sitting, what you had eaten for lunch an hour earlier. You also remember the gasps... Gasps that turned into screams.
>In the blink of an eye your father was snuffed out of the world.
>They never recovered his body. They said the fire had totally vaporized the insides of the car.
>You hadn't handled it well. A huge chunk of your life, ripped away with no warning.
>But you remembered something your father had said to you.
>"Son... you asked me why I race. I live and breathe rally, it flows through my veins, it exists in my heart and my soul, and I can see it does in yours too. I live by it and I'll die by it."
>There was only one thing you wanted to do, to honour your dad and his legacy.
>But after this incident, your mother… she had other ideas.
>She tried to stop you, tried to keep you from following in your father’s footsteps. She didn't want to lose you. "The only thing left in her life that made it worth living" as she put it.
>You admit that last line really pulled at your heart strings.  But this… this is what you wanted to do, in your heart and your soul you knew, just like your father said, and try as she might, you think that she knew this too.
>Your father had left everything he had to the both of you.
>His team was more than happy to stay and follow you.
>They were all your dad’s friends, and they had always commented on how much you were like your father.
>Some of the sponsors didn't even mind sticking around.
>You had followed the junior rally championship around the globe. Sweden, Greece, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Cyprus.
>You damn near won it too. 2 points... 2 more fucking points and you would have won… but you can’t help that the race officials are blind fucks.
>Then came your 18th birthday; and with it an invitation. Ford wanted you to drive for them in the WRC, World Rally Championship. This was the big leagues. No more junior racing. This was the real deal.


>The season went well, 10th place overall. No one expected the newbie to do well, “…Just riding on the reputation of your father” they had said.
>You know you probably shouldn’t… but… you really enjoyed the look on some of the naysayer's faces when you whooped their asses in the standings. Teach them for running their mouths.
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>Current Day.
>The second season was well underway and, if anything, you were doing better than the first year.
>You are currently doing an overnight haul of your main race car between stages. You know you have a truck that transports all the cars from stage to stage but this was something you and your father always did. It was somewhat of a tradition you two had.
>‘It clears your mind, it helps you get in touch with the machine behind you. That link is critical on race day. It can be the difference between finishing a stage and crashing on the first corner.’
>Your father’s words of wisdom… Just some of many that he had passed on to you.
>In fact, you’re pretty sure everything your father had said to you belonged in a book of famous quotes.
>Letting out a soft sigh, you look over to the passenger seat and see a white ball of fidgeting fur, Maya, your only company on these trips now.
>Her dark blue eyes meet your own.
>She could always tell when something was bothering you.
“Hey girl, you finally awake?”
>M: “*yawn*”
“Yeah, I’m tired too. But we can’t just stop here. Where would we sleep?”
>She shuffles about in the seat and lays her head on your lap, closing her eyes again.
>You stroke Maya’s head before bringing your attention back to the road.
>You feel your eyelids getting heavy with every passing moment.
>As if on cue the GPS on your dash chimes in. “ETA: 3 hours to your destination.”
>Ok fuck this shit, you’d rather arrive tomorrow then wake up in a hospital because you fell asleep at the wheel.
>You pull off into a clearing in the woods, lay your seat down flat, and relax as sleep overtakes you, forcing your eyes shut.