Hey guys! This is gonna be a little special story based on my third favorite character, Noah and the movie The Polar Express! (As you may have guessed from the title). In this story, Noah is a 10 year old boy who goes on an adventure with other young kids to see the North Pole and meet Santa Clause himself! I hope to update ASAP for this story, but you know me. I probably won't. Anyway, enjoy!
I do not own Total Drama, nor do I own the Polar Express or its plot. I am merely substituting my favorite characters in their place.
Snow slowly fell from the midnight blue sky and landed on the already fluffy snow that covered the ground like icing on a cake. It was the night of Christmas Eve in the town Grand Rapids, and everyone was sound asleep. Well, almost everyone.
*Narrator*
"On Christmas Eve, many years ago…
I lay quietly in my bed.
I did not rustle the sheets.
I breathed slowly, and silently.
I was listening for a sound I was afraid I'd never hear.
The ringing bells, of Santa's sleigh."
*Narrator*
Noah listened intently, trying his hardest to make sure he could hear everything, even the slightest noise. He was, indeed listening for Santa's sleigh bells. For a while now, he had become skeptical if the big man had even existed. Often asking his parents questions, he decided to put the case to rest. But this Christmas Eve, he was keen on finding the truth. Out of boredom, Noah opened his eyes and sat up in his bed. Out the window, snowflakes were still raining down upon his window, giving the night a majestic look.
Slowly, to avoid any noise and wake up his parents, Noah climbed out of his bed and walked over to the window. Accidentally, he rested his hands on the heater, and he let out a small gasp as he retracted his hands away from the hot surface. Noah looked back towards the window, and wiped it off so he could see clearly. Outside, he could see the snowman that he and his little sister Lucy had made together the day before. All of the other houses along his street had their lights out, showing no signs of life.
Just then, Noah heard a noise. A small ringing noise. 'Can it be? Santa?' Noah wondered as he crept his way across the wooden floor, emitting small creaking noises as he did so. He only reached a few steps before his foot accidentally hit a baseball he had left around the room. The baseball rolled away from him, ricocheted off of a nearby toy truck, and hit a metal plate that was lying against the radiator. The second the baseball made contact, a small but loud enough noise rang throughout his room. Noah froze immediately.
He turned around to see what had made the noise. After seeing that it was only the tin plate, and that it was quiet now, Noah proceeded to move towards the door of his room. He opened his door quietly, and made his way to the stairwell. He climbed a few steps down until he could just make out the Christmas tree his family had set up. Beneath its needle-filled branches, was the barren floor. Devoid of any presents whatsoever. He then looked towards the fireplace, where the stockings were empty as well. 'Had the fat man decided to skip on his house this year? Or was he truly not real?' Noah wondered. Finally, his eyes rested on the platter of cookies and milk his sister had put out for Santa. They were untouched. Noah smirked, 'I thought so'.
While Noah was looking at the cookies, he barely noticed the ringing noise of the bells again. He turned towards the doorway leading to another room and saw a rather large looking shadow approaching from around the corner. Could this be? Could this really be Santa? Noah remained where he was, determined to find out the truth. Just then, the shadow spoke,
"All right. All right, Lucy, you had your water." The shadow then divided into a much thinner form, and a smaller form. Noah instantly realized that the shadow was just his father giving his little sister a piggy back ride. Noah cursed himself for being so naïve, and began running back upstairs. He couldn't allow himself to be seen by his parents.
"Now let's get you upstairs, and into bed." Noah heard his father say from downstairs.
"But…but…but…but I have to…" Lucy stuttered. Noah reached his room, and slowly closed the door behind him. Once shut, he peered through the keyhole to see what was going on from the other side. "He said Santa would have to fly faster than the speed of light to get to everyone's house in one night. And to hold everyone's presents, his sled would have to be bigger than an ocean liner!" His sister continued. Noah knew she was talking about him. Noah had told her his skeptical feelings on Santa's existence, and she was quick to protest against him, proclaiming that Santa was indeed, a real person.
"Your brother said that? He was just kidding you. He knows there's a Santa." His father said. Noah cringed. He was hoping his sister wouldn't press the issue.
"He said he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure if Santa was for real." Lucy continued.
"Of course Santa is real. He's as real as Christmas itself." Noah's father assured Lucy. Just then, Noah saw his mother's blue dress appear from the other side of the keyhole.
"But he won't come until you're sound asleep, young lady." He heard his mother say. Noah watched as she gave Lucy a kiss on the head and said, "Sweet dreams." Before she and Noah's father began to leave the room.
"Santa will be here before you know it. So go to sleep." His father said before turning out the lights. As he closed the door, he turned his back towards the keyhole Noah was peering through. There, hanging on the side of his father's pants, Noah spotted a red and white Santa hat, with a little bell attached to the top. Seeing this confirmed that Noah was right when he assumed that it was his father with Lucy. He knew it! Still, he wanted to know if Santa really was real.
Noah backed away from the keyhole, and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out the bottom drawer, and used it as a stepladder to reach the top drawer. (He only did this because of his short stature.) Noah opened the top drawer, and pulled out some papers that were inside. On the top of the pile of papers, was a red picture frame over a picture of a child pulling the beard off a fake Santa. He flipped past it and behind it was a newspaper. The headlines read: "SANTAS ON STRIKE". Upon seeing this, Noah smirked and nodded. 'I knew it! So Santa really isn't real…' Noah thought as he flipped to the last piece of paper in his hands. The last paper was a picture of a boy with a shocked face, holding a Santa suit with fake beard. On the bottom, it read, "The Discovery". Unsatisfied with the evidence he had, Noah wanted to make sure that he was right when he doubted Santa's existence. Grabbing his flashlight, Noah moved over to his bookstand filled with an assortment of books Noah loved to read. He found one of the encyclopedia's in his set that was labeled with the letters, N-O. Holding the flashlight with his cheek and shoulder, Noah looked through the encyclopedia until he found the right page. Moving down the page, he found what he was looking for.
The North Pole.
Reading the definition, he read the words, "Devoid of Life" aloud quietly to himself. Suddenly, Noah heard footsteps coming near his room. Shutting the encyclopedia, he turned off his flashlight, and dove into his bed. Quick as a flash, he covered himself with his sheets and blanket, making it seem as though he was sound asleep. Almost as soon as he was settled in his bed, Noah heard his parents peek through his door.
"He's gotta be asleep by now." His mother said. "He used to stay awake all night waiting for Santa." The couple approached his bed.
"I think those days are just about over…" His father replied.
"That would be sad if it were true." Noah heard his mother say. They were practically right next to him now.
"Yeah, an end to the magic." He heard his father say. Upon hearing the word magic, Noah opened his eyes. 'Magic? What magic…' He wondered. Maybe there really was a Santa and he was just overthinking things? No, no! There couldn't be! It was impossible.
"Merry Christmas sweetheart." Noah's mother bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek just as he closed his eyes. After she kissed him, Noah heard his parents begin to leave the room. Looking at the metal plate leaning against his radiator, he could see them looking at him in the doorway.
"See? He's out like a light. An express train couldn't wake him up now." With his father's last words, they left him in his room, alone with his thoughts. Noah turned in his bed uncomfortably, staring at the ceiling. There, he could see the shadow of the thick snow that continued to sprinkle upon his house. The only sound in the room was his clock that ticked away as time flew by. Noah stared at it for a moment before attempting to go back to sleep. Maybe he would figure it out next year…
Silence.
Noah was truly trying to fall asleep, but the silence told him to open his eyes. There was nothing. No noise at all. Noah looked at his alarm clock that should be ticking the time away. 'Odd…it's not ticking…' Noah wondered as he pulled it off the shelf. He pulled it up to his ear and listened intently, but no noise came from it.
Just then, the metal plate that was leaning next to his radiator started to vibrate, creating a small metal clang as it rattled against the radiator. He then turned his attention to the P-38 Lightning airplane model he had hanging from his ceiling. It rocked to and fro. Soon enough, his entire room was shaking slightly, as if a small earthquake was occurring. But nobody woke up. Surely this was a dream?
Pencils rolled around and off his desk, pictures rocked back and forth on the walls, and the lamp nearly fell of his dresser. As if on cue, his radiator spurted out a jet of steam, with a noise almost similar to the sound of a train whistle.
A bright light suddenly filled his room, originating from the window. Noah hopped out of his bed, and felt his room vibrating. Even in his room, Noah could hear what sounded like a train passing through, its metal wheels grinding on the tracks as it came to a halt. 'What the heck is happening?' he wondered. Even though Noah was not usually the curious type, Noah quickly ran over to his bedpost, grabbed his blue robe, and threw it on over his yellow pajamas. His quick movements, however, tore a small hole in the robe's right pocket as he pulled it off the post. Noah slipped on his shoes, and rand downstairs and threw open the front door, totally forgetting about his parents and sister. Outside, was a large cloud of mist surrounding the entire street, from as far as he could see. Noah stepped down his front steps, dumbfounded at the sight before him, and approached the mist cautiously.
When the mist dissipated, Noah was shocked to see a gigantic black locomotive sitting in front of his house, in the middle of the street. 'How on this earth did this thing get in front of my house? There aren't even any tracks!' Noah wondered as he stared at the train. Its passenger cars were mainly greenish blue, with red outlining the windows. The locomotive itself was entirely black, and on the side of the coal car, it read:
THE POLAR EXPRESS
"All aboooooaaarrdd." A voice shouted from behind him. Noah spun around and squinted to see who had said that.
"All aboooooaaarrdd?" The voice came again, in a more questioning manner. Noah decided that he couldn't make out who it was from this distance, and moved towards the shadowy figure. As he neared, he began to make out who this person was. It was a conductor, wearing a blue cap, matched by a blue suit. He was wearing glasses, and looked around in his mid-50s. He had one hand in his pocket, holding a stopwatch, and his other hand held a lantern in front of him. Noah approached the man cautiously.
"Well? You coming?" The man asked expectantly. Noah stared at him for a moment, not knowing what to say.
"To where?" He asked. He at least wanted to know where he was going before stepping on.
"Why, to the North Pole of course! THIS IS THE POLAR EXPRESS!" The man practically shouted. Noah stared at him dubiously.
"The North Pole?" He said flatly as though he didn't believe him. The man looked rather agitated at Noah's response and said,
"I see." Before rolling his head. He then asked Noah to hold the lantern for him. Noah held onto the lantern as the conductor produced a clipboard. He showed it to Noah and pointed out his name. "Is this you?" He asked. Noah nodded. 'Who is this guy? And how does he know my name?' Noah wondered as the man continued,
"It says here, no picture with the department store Santa this year, no LETTER to Santa this year, and you made your sister put out the milk and cookies for Santa. Sounds to me like this is your crucial year, if I were you, I would think about climbing on board." The man said, leaning towards Noah. Noah frowned,
"Aside from getting into vehicles from strangers, what do you mean, crucial year?" Noah asked. The conductor was about to respond when he checked his watch.
"Oooh! Look at the time! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon kid I've got a schedule to keep." He said, obviously in a rush. Noah took two steps back and shook his head.
"Um…no thanks. I'm good." He said somewhat timidly. Was he making the right choice here? What if this really was his crucial moment, and he was messing it up! (Whatever his crucial moment was anyway). The conductor frowned before saying,
"Suit yourself." With that, he began climbing on board the train. Noah could hear the locomotive start to drive away, and he stood there, debating on whether or not he should climb aboard. With a mighty blow of the whistle, the train started moving at a slow pace. As Noah watched the train begin to leave, he heard one of the windows of the passenger cars open up.
"Hey! Hey you! C'mon! Hurry!" He heard a feminine voice call. Noah looked up and saw a girl with dark brown hair calling for him to climb aboard the train. 'Should I go? What about mom and dad?' Noah continued to ponder what he should do. "Hurry! C'mon we're going to the North Pole!" The girl shouted again. The train was picking up speed. If he didn't go now, he would miss the train. Noah twiddled his thumbs, before he realized, 'This would prove if Santa was real…wouldn't it?' he just had to know. With a sudden burst of energy, Noah ran through the snow towards the stairwell of the nearest passenger car. He reached his hands out towards the metal railing, as the train continued to pick up speed. With a stretch of his arm, he grabbed onto the railing and pulled himself onto the train.
Surprised in even himself, Noah watched as his neighborhood began to fly by as the train was now almost at full speed. He had climbed aboard the Polar Express, and was now on his way to the North Pole himself. Noah was quite proud of himself for gathering the courage to climb aboard. Then, Noah heard someone clearing their throat behind him. Noah turned and saw the conductor open a green door with a porthole that leads to the inside of the passenger car. He gestured for Noah to go in. Noah climbed up the rest of the stairs on the train car, and stepped inside the passenger car, away from the cold.
Inside was total pandemonium. Children around his age were roughhousing and playing around the car. The conductor closed the door behind Noah. Noah slowly walked through the isle as the children chanted some sort of song. He looked in each row of seats until he found some seats with nobody in it. He happily took his seat next to the window, and made himself comfortable. As he let his eyes wander the room, they landed on the girl that shouted for him to climb aboard the train. She was sitting across from him, and was actually staring right at him. She was wearing some slippers and pink pajamas. Noah stared back at her for a moment, and saw her smile. He then turned back towards the seat in front of him and decided to look somewhere else for a little while. But, from the corner of his eye, he could see the girl still staring at him. 'Does she want something?' he wondered. Before he could ask her, a boy jumped up from the seat in front of him. The boy was also wearing yellow pajamas, and had auburn hair and glasses.
"Hey. Hey you. Yeah you. Do you know what kind of train this is?" He asked and straightened his glasses.
"Excuse me. Are you talking to me?" Noah asked.
"Of course I'm talking to you, Gosh! I said, do you know what kind of train this is? Do you?" The boy persisted. Noah was about to respond with some snarky remark when he heard the girl from across the aisle speak up,
"Of course. It's a magic train." She said before staring back at Noah. "We're going to the north pole." She said, almost as if she was bragging it to him.
"Yeah, I know it's a magic train. Actually, it's a Baldwin 2-8-4 S3-Class steam locomotive built in 1931 at the Baldwin Locomotive Works. It weighs, 456,100 pounds and…" Noah tuned him out. Listening to this boy was starting to give him a headache. Instead, he turned back to the girl from across the aisle and leaned over to her.
"Are we really going to the north pole?" he asked skeptically. The girl couldn't help herself from smiling as she nodded. Obviously, she was extremely excited to be seeing the North pole. Noah himself couldn't explain how 'happy' he was to see it too. All he wanted was to know if Santa was real or not. That was all.
"I'm Noah." He said. "And you are…?" he asked looking at her.
"Courtney. Hi." She said smiling at him. Before they could continue with their conversation, the annoying boy from before spoke up,
"Hey look guys! Herpolsheimer's! Herpolsheimer's!" He said again excitedly. All of the children cheered and rushed over to one side of the train to look at the magnificent store. The store bestowed many toys of all kinds before the children, practically trying to suck them in to buy things.
"Wow look at all of those presents! I wish I could have that many!" The annoying boy said staring at the store in awe.
"It's so Christmassy and cozy and beautiful!" Courtney said from beside Noah. Noah, however, was not paying attention to her, as he was staring at a moving Santa from behind the glass walls. Could it be him? Could this be the real Santa delivering presents? Noah stared at the figure moving back and forth. As he stared, he noticed a gear from behind the figure's back, and realized it was just an animatronic. Puckering his lips, Noah shook his head in disappointment.
"Tickets. Tickets please." The conductor spoke from the front of the aisle. He clipped his hole puncher rapidly before checking some children's tickets. After checking the other children, he moved over to where Noah was sitting. "Ticket please." He said expectantly. Noah was confused. He didn't know he had to have a ticket. Nobody gave him one. What was he supposed to do, pull one out of thin air? Noah shook his head, worrying that the conductor would be mad. Instead, he asked, "Try your pocket." Noah put his hand in his right pocket, but his fingers almost went right through, because of the whole he had created earlier. "Try your other pocket." The conductor looked slightly annoyed by now, so Noah quickly checked his other pocket.
To his upmost surprise, he felt something glossy and flat in his pocket. Slowly, he retracted his hand and pulled out a huge golden ticket from his pocket. On it, it read: Polar Express, Round Trip in elegant golden letters. 'I didn't have that in there before! I know it!' Noah thought, completely confused. Noah handed the ticket to the conductor who accepted it gratefully.
"Thank you sir." He said before clipping the ticket with his hole puncher. As he did so, many small pieces of plastic flew in the air as he punched away. One piece landed on his lip, which he spat out with some disgust.
"Thank you sir." He said as he finished punching the holes in. He then turned his attention to the annoying boy, and walked away. Noah stared at his ticked and read the letters, B and E on either side of his ticket. 'What the heck is this supposed to mean?' Noah wondered.
"Boy that guy sure likes to show off his ticket punch. Look what that wise guy punched on my ticket. L-E, What the heck does that mean?" The boy asked slightly irritating Noah. Suddenly, the loudspeakers in the train came to life with the voice of the conductor.
"Next stop, 11344 Edbrooke." The annoying boy turned away from Noah and looked rather excited. He returned to his seat and stared out the window,
"We're heading for the other side of the tracks! Awesome!" he said. Noah stared out his window and saw a house pull up from the side of the train. It looked poor, abandoned, and in bad shape. Noah was surprised they even stopped next to it. Both Noah and the annoying boy opened up their windows to see what was happening. Outside, the conductor was speaking to a little boy, a little shorter than Noah, with chestnut brown hair, wearing tan pajamas and black boots.
"Well you coming?" The conductor asked him. The annoying boy turned to Noah and waved his hand.
"Eh, it's just another pickup. That's weird; I thought you were supposed to be the last one." Noah heard him say. Meanwhile, the conductor continued to speak with the boy outside.
"Why to the North Pole of course, THIS IS THE POLAR EXPRESS!" he shouted. Noah watched as the boy shook his head and stepped back, obviously declining the conductor's offer. "Suit yourself." The conductor said, much alike he did with Noah. The conductor climbed aboard the train, and signaled to the engineers to start the train. Just like he had signaled them to do, the train started moving onwards to the North Pole. Noah watched as his car passed the boy, and he waved to him. For some reason, he pitied the boy. He looked sad for some unknown reason.
Just then, the boy started running after the train, with his hand outstretched. Noah turned to the others,
"Um, hey that kid wants to get on, so are we gonna stop the train…or…" Noah said looking at the others. Courtney joined him at the window after they the rest of them shrugged; he turned back towards the boy who was starting to fall behind. "C'mon dude, you gotta run faster than that." He said, trying to sound encouraging (instead it came out as more of a taunt). The boy acknowledged Noah's chant, but lost his footing. He tripped into the snow with a poof and landed on his face. Courtney turned towards the others.
"We've got to stop the train!" She said worriedly.
"I don't know how to-"
"Pull the emergency brake!" The annoying boy shouted pointing towards a red handle on the wall of the train car. Noah ran over to it and pulled down upon it with all his might.
The train came to a sudden halt, sending sparks flying as its wheels grinded on the iron tracks beneath it. Inside the train car, everyone fell down because of the sudden halt. Noah fell on his back, Courtney fell down upon her rear, and the annoying boy fell down on his face, knocking off his glasses. When the train came to a complete stop, Noah saw the boy with brown hair climb aboard. He could see his face through the porthole in the green door at the end of the passenger car. Instead of joining them however, the boy merely turned in the opposite direction and entered the caboose. Noah turned towards Courtney, to see her reaction, but all he got in return was a shrug.
"Who in the blazes applied that emergency brake?!" The conductor yelled as he flung open the door to their car.
"He did!" The annoying boy said pointing towards Noah. Noah rolled his eyes at the boy, 'Typical' he thought. His mood changed from annoyed to slightly nervous, though, when the conductor pointed towards him and said,
"You." Noah stood silent as the man approached him. "In case you didn't know, that cord is for emergency purposes only. And in case you weren't aware, tonight is Christmas Eve," The conductor said as he waved to the engineers through the window to start the train going again. "And," he continued, "In case you hadn't noticed, this train is on a very tight schedule. Now young man, Christmas may not be important to some people (he was referring to Noah), but it is important to the rest of us!"
"Uh…" Noah said, unable to gather his words.
"He was just trying to stop the train so that kid could get on!" Courtney said from the side, pointing to the car with the kid in it. The conductor looked through the porthole then back at Courtney for a moment before turning back to Noah.
"I see…young man. Is that what happened?" Noah shook his head 'yes' furiously and looked at Courtney as if saying 'thank you'. "Well…let me remind you, we are on a very tight schedule, and I've never been late before, and I am certainly not going to be late tonight! Now everybody, take your seats, please!" He instructed. The children did as they were told. "Thank you." He said calmly. He then took the speaker to the intercom and spoke, "Your attention, please. Are there any Polar Express passengers in need of refreshment?" he asked. Just as soon as he finished, everyone's hands (including Noah's) rose in the air. "I thought so." He said smiling, before he opened the green door.
What happened next was all a breeze to Noah, but it was quite enjoyable. As soon as he had opened the door, around 8 waiters all sporting mustaches pranced out. They quickly turned some of the rows of seats around so that they were facing each other like a dinner table. Then, they each took a white towel and draped it over the air. Noah could hardly believe his eyes when it suddenly landed on an invisible table. Just as he thought it couldn't get any weirder, it did. They started singing.
"Hot, Hot!"
"Oh we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"Hey we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"Say we got it!"
"Hot chocolate!"
Noah watched as a pair of chefs emerged and started sending out cups and dishes to ever table for every kid as they passed down the aisle.
"Hot, hot!"
"Oh, we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"So we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"Yo we got it!"
"Hot chocolate!"
"Here we've only got one rule!"
"Never ever let it cool!"
"Keep it cooking in the pot!"
"Then you got,"
"Hot chocolate!"
This time, the pair of chefs returned, with what looked like a metal tub of hot chocolate. They began squirting it out to all of the children, each squirt landing in its designated cup with unbelievable accuracy.
"Hot, hot!"
"Oh, we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"Hey, we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"Say, we got it!"
"Hot chocolate!"
Noah had already finished his cup when they started coming back around, giving people even more to drink. Noah couldn't help himself. It was just too good. Meanwhile, Courtney had saved a cup underneath her seat, and was starting her second cup. She too loved the sweet beverage.
"Hot, hot!"
"Oh, we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"So we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"Yo we got it!"
"Hot chocolate!"
"Here we've only got one rule!"
"Never ever let it cool!"
"Keep it cooking in the pot!"
"Then you got,"
"Hot chocolate!"
The conductor, who was singing along, slid down the aisle while he was singing. He then stood back up and began to backtrack along with the waiters and chefs. As they were doing this, the waiters collected everyone's cups and tossed them to the chefs, who stacked them neatly.
"Hot, hot!"
"Hey we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"Oh we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"Yeah we got it!"
"Hot, hot!"
"Yeah we got it!"
And almost as soon as it had started, the dancing waiters and chefs had rearranged the seats to their normal positions and had cleaned up all of the dishes. Then, they disappeared behind the green door, along with the conductor, leaving the satisfied children alone in the passenger car.
Ok so there's the first chapter. I really hope this is ok, like you know; I'm not plagiarizing or something like that. I'm just subbing my favorite characters for those of this movie. Anyway, it's obviously mostly to script, but I hope you like it. Btw, even though I am a supporter of Nourtney, it will NOT be happening in this fic. This is because they are ten, lol, so yeah. It's practically off the table. The closest they'll get is friends. Anyway, see you tomorrow! Adios!