Another request from tate310, this time it's "Granpuff" from Season 4. Enjoy and comment.
One winter's night, when the cold wind blew, the engines found it hard to sleep. James was out delivering coal to all the stations.
Just then, Toby had an idea.
"What I think we need to get to sleep, is a good story!"
"Yes!" added Percy. "A mysterious story should help us get to sleep."
"But." said Duck, "it must have a happy ending."
"My driver told me a story once." said Thomas. "So everyone listen."
Everyone listened as Thomas began.
Once upon a time, there were three little engines who lived in their own little shed, on their own little railway.
Their names were Duke, Stewart, and Falcon. Duke was the oldest, and was named after the Duke of Sodor. He was proud of this, and loved to keep the other engines in order. Whenever they did anything wrong, he would say "That wouldn't impress the Duke!"
Other engines came and went, but Duke outlasted them all. Stewart and Falcon used to call him "Granpuff" They were fond of him at first, but they eventually got tired of hearing about his great adventures.
Sometimes they would tease him with a song.
"Engines come, engines go, but Granpuff stays, 'cause he is old!"
This always made Duke cross.
"You little naughty engines!" he would say. "Why do you keep singing that song?!"
"Because we're young and you're old!"
"Do you want to end up like Smudger?!"
"Who's Smudger?" they asked.
"Smudger was a show-off. He was very rough with the cars and came off the rails all the time! I warned him to be careful, but he took no notice!"
One day, I came to see him. He was derailed and very cross.
"Who cares about a few spills!"
"I do! And if you keep it up, you'll be locked up!"
Smudger laughed, but promised to behave.
But he kept derailing. Finally manager came to make him useful. Smudger didn't laugh then, as the manager told him that if he derailed once more, he would be turned into a generator, which would be much more useful.
"But did he derail?"
"Yes he did. As soon as he set off, he derailed, and fell down a hill. The manager was cross.
"Did he get turned into a generator?"
"Oh yes he did, and he's running behind our shed. As far as he's concerned, he'll never move again!"
After hearing the story, Stewart and Falcon became really useful engines, and Duke became very pleased. This stayed the same for many years, until hard times came. First, the mine closed, followed by the hills, and finally, the railway.
People came to buy the engines. Stewart and Falcon were sold, but sadly, Duke wasn't. They thought he was too old.
"Cheer up Granpuff!" called Stewart. "We'll find you a new railway and you can come help us out!"
It was sadly not to be, Months went by, and still, nobody wanted to buy Duke.
The last straw came when Duke's driver and fireman received new jobs, They oiled and greased him one last time, and put him to sleep soundly.
"Oh well, I'll just sleep. That will pass the time!"
Years went by. The old railroad tracks were taken out, and green grass grew where the railway tracks once stood.
But the shed still stood, right where it was. Nobody knew that inside, was an engine.
"Well Percy, did you like that story?" asked Thomas
"That's not a happy story, let alone mysterious!" cried Percy.
"Soon enough, you'll find out. Now go to sleep Percy." whispered Thomas.
Percy wanted to know what would happen to Duke next, but that's another story.