A ship's horn blared out, causing me to jump out of her chair in alarm and fall on the floor.
"Oof! Well, I guess that's one way to wake up in style..." She muttered grimly.
I groaned as she clambered up and then allowed myself a stretch and then I pulled out my phone and checked it for the current time.
"Hm, almost 1-Well, I'd best get off and get going. My holiday's just begun!"
I went to my room and grabbed my bags. On one of them swung a shiny blue plastic tag bearing the name Haley Andersen.
...
As I disembarked, the smell of the sea hit my nose and I almost gagged- I'm not by the sea that much, so I'm not used to the smell.
"Right I guess my train is over there...whoa, hold the phone, is that a steam locomotive? But I thought only heritage railways had them!" I said in disbelief.
Waiting down below, a large and long blue tender engine with what appeared to be the number 4 on his tender, waiting with a long line of Express coaches.
"Well, that's my train-the 15:04 Express from Brendam to Knapford. I do hope my dear cousin Cheryl remembered to meet me there." I mutter sarcastically, checking my schedule that my aunt Dorothy e-mailed my mother last week.
Slowly I make my way down the gangway- until a burly man bumped into me and the shock caused me to drop my bag over the gangway into the ocean below.
"Sorry!" And he soon melted into the crowd boarding the large Express train waiting there, almost basking in impatience.
"Well he can't be that sorry. Oh now my clothes are ruined!" I groan, remembering that my bag was open.
Suddenly from beside me I hear a gruff, grumpy voice.
"Uh tourists- they never know how to keep their bags in place."
I looked up to see much to my astonishment that a crane was talking! He had a name plate that read Cranky.
"Wait- you can talk?" I ask.
"Of course I can! This is Sodor- the land of the talking trains and whatnot!"
'Well, I'll have a lot of fun with this' I smirk. "It looks like Mum was right about this- I will encounter something different. Thanks for rescuing my belongings, by the way." I add as he drops my stuff beside me.
"You're welcome, Missy," the crane said. "Oh, and my name's Cranky-what's yours?"
"Haley Andersen." I reply.