Thomas, Percy and The Dragon
One morning at Tidmouth Sheds, Thomas was getting ready to work alongside his driver, Anthia. "Hey! Hey, Thomas!" Thomas turned his glance with an expression of surprise, before he showed a bright smile when he saw Percy pulling up beside him.
"Oh, morning, Percy. What's up?" Thomas asked. Percy then started to cheerfully laugh to himself for a few seconds while Thomas stared at him in surprise before the small green engine turned his glance to Thomas. "I just thought of a really good joke, and I thought you might like to hear it." Percy said. Thomas showed a big smile, looking forward to hearing this.
"All right, let's think. What do you get when you cross a blue tank engine, a small green engine and one mischievous prank?" Percy asked. Thomas's smile quickly faded as he realised where Percy was going with this. "We get my ghost engine prank, of course!" Percy cheerfully finished not noticing Thomas's expression of annoyance before he started to burst into laughter. Thomas simply growled under his breath before heading off while Percy simply watched trying to stifle his laughing. Thomas and Percy were both really close friends, but sometimes Percy liked to tease Thomas about being scared, and it was something Thomas didn't really enjoy that much.
That night, Thomas was sound asleep in the sheds, but Percy, who was in the berth next to him, was still wide awake and looking for someone to talk to and, since Thomas happened to be the closest next to him, he figured that he wouldn't mind. "Psst. Psst! Thomas. Hey, Thomas, wake up!" Percy whispered, keeping his voice down as he was trying to make sure he wouldn't wake the other engines up.
Thomas slowly opened his eyes and looked around for a few seconds, before turning his glance to see Percy looking at him with a big smile and let out a sigh of annoyance while slowly rolling his eyes. "What do you want, Percy?" Thomas asked; he wasn't feeling very in the mood for one of Percy's midnight rambles.
"Are you dreaming about the time you thought I was a ghost?" Percy innocently asked. Thomas's eyes quickly shot open hearing this and he showed an expression of annoyance at this question. "Certainly not! Besides, I was only pretending to be scared. I really knew it was you." Thomas replied.
Percy simply showed a big smile as he continued. "I hope the guard leaves the light on for you tonight." Percy cheekily commented. Thomas simply stared in silence before showing an expression of puzzlement. "Why? I quite like the dark, to be honest." Thomas replied. Percy showed a big smile as he was pretending to be surprised by this comment; he obviously wasn't convinced by Thomas saying that.
"Really? That is surprising. I always thought you would be afraid of the dark. I wonder why..." Percy cheekily said, showed a cheeky grin in the process. Thomas rolled his eyes, deciding not to pay any more attention to Percy's teasing, and simply decided to head back to sleep instead.
The next morning, as it was just him in the sheds, Thomas was expressing his frustrations about Percy's teasing to Anthia as the two were waiting for Sir Topham Hatt. "I mean, he's been doing this for the past few weeks! And he doesn't even seem to realise that I would prefer to forget about it by now. Honestly, I just wish there was a way for me to get him to stop." Thomas complained, looking down with an expression of dismay.
Anthia had been listening to Thomas during the few minutes he had been talking, and then she simply showed a comforting smile. "Oh, don't worry. Percy doesn't mean anything harmful by it; he's just trying to have a bit of fun with you. He's trying to make light of the situation and have a laugh about it now that it's passed." Anthia explained. Thomas didn't seem convinced as he simply looked down with an expression of dismay, trying to figure out how he could help Percy see that he didn't enjoy the teasing he was getting. Anthia could tell that Thomas didn't seem to believe her, so she walked over to him while he turned his glance in surprise to her. "Hey, it's all right. I'm sure that he'll realise that his teasing is upsetting you and he'll stop. After all, Percy will be sure to notice something like that, won't he?" Anthia asked, showing a confident smile to show how assured she was that Percy would stop his teasing soon. Thomas was silent as he listening to this before he slowly showed a bright smile.
"Yeah...I think you might be right." Thomas simply replied. The two then brightly smiled at each other, and then they turned their glances with matching expressions of surprise as they saw a blue car pull up in front of them; it was Sir Topham Hatt. "Good morning, Sir!" Thomas cheerfully greeted with a big smile; this was always his favourite part of the morning.
"Good morning to you too, both of you. I would like you two to go the harbour tonight. You need to collect something unusual." Sir Topham Hatt explained. Thomas and Anthia both turning their glances to each other with matching expressions of surprise before they looked back at Sir Topham Hatt.
"Um...what sort of something would that be?" Anthia asked. Sir Topham Hatt simply showed a smile before he replied "You'll have to wait and see." As he turned to leave, Thomas and Anthia both looked at each other wondering the same thing; what was it that they had to collect?
A little later as the two were making their way to the Harbour, Anthia was looking up scratching her head as she was looking at Thomas from his cab. "I wonder what it is that Sir Topham Hatt wants us to get. Whatever it is, I'll bet it's something really special." Anthia commented. Thomas had his glance to Anthia as he was listening to her and then he showed a bright smile.
"I guess we'll find out when we get there." Thomas commented. Anthia nodded in agreement; that seemed to be the case to her. As the two turned their attention back to the track in front of them, Thomas noticed that Percy was on the track beside him and then he showed a big smile as he blew his whistle. "Hey, Percy!" Thomas called.
Percy turned his glance to see Thomas coming and showed a bright smile, seeing that Thomas was feeling more cheerful after his teasing last night. "Hello, Thomas. Where are you heading off to today?" Percy asked.
"Sir Topham Hatt wants me to collect something from the harbour. Alicia and I don't know what it is, though." Thomas replied. "Whatever it is, I have a feeling it'll be something special. We'll see you later!" Anthia called as she and Thomas headed past Percy while he watched with a bright smile before cheerfully blowing his whistle as the two puffed off ahead.
"That sounds great! Take care, you two! And make sure to tell me about it when you get back!" Percy called. A little later, Percy was busy shunting trucks into a siding, but he wasn't focused on that; he was thinking about how Thomas had reacted to his teasing the other day. "I can't believe I didn't notice how upset Thomas was about it. I was just trying to have a good laugh about the prank, but all I've done is make Thomas feel worse..." Percy sighed as he looked down in sadness. After a few seconds to think about what he was going to do, Percy turned his glance up with a firm expression on his face having made his decision. "When Thomas gets back from his delivery, I'll apologize for my behaviour towards him. It wasn't right for me to make fun of him like that, and I know he deserves better from me." Percy confirmed.
He then looked up as Henry puffed past with his goods trains, and the signalman switched the points and Percy waited until Henry had gone past. However, trouble quickly came as the signalman came out from the signal box. "The points are jammed, and I can't switch them back! The workmen will repair them in the morning." The signalman called. Percy showed an expression of worry hearing this, and then he looked down as his driver and fireman turned their attention to him.
"I'm sorry, Percy. But you will have to stay here for the night." Percy's driver said. Percy simply stared in surprise before he asked "But where are you going?"
"Home for tea." The driver simply replied. Percy could only stare with his mouth wide open and a speechless expression on his face.
As the day passed by, Percy watched as the other engines went home to the sheds until it was only him at the siding. By that time, night had fallen and Percy was looking around feeling really lonely. "Oh, it really is dark out here..." Percy silently commented as he looked to see the full moon in the sky and nothing but the silence around him. Just then, a loud shriek could suddenly be heard and Percy nearly felt like he would jump off the rails in fright. "W-what was that?!" Percy gasped, looking around in worry. He didn't realise that it was only an owl hooting as it sat on a tree branch nearby. Percy then looked down with an expression of sadness. "Oh, I wish Thomas was here..." Percy sadly sighed; he could really use Thomas's support right about now.
Meanwhile with Thomas, he and Anthia were at the harbour waiting for their mystery load to arrive. The two had a large flatbed set up in front of Thomas for their load to be placed on it. "I hope that load doesn't take too long; I can't wait to find out what it is." Thomas commented as he and Anthia looked at each other with smiles of excitement.
"Neither can I. And speaking of said load, here it comes now!" Anthia said, pointing up for Thomas to look. The two turned their glances up to see that the load in question, which was slowly being lowered onto the flatbed...was a giant Chinese Dragon!
"Woah!" Anthia gasped, nearly jumping back from fright.
"Cinders and ashes! It's a dragon!" Thomas cried, showing an expression of alarm with his mouth open wide in shock. After a few seconds to recover from the initial shock, the two could tell that there was something not right about the dragon. "Wait a second...that doesn't look like a real dragon to me." Thomas commented, as his shock was quickly replaced with puzzlement.
"It's not hard to see why. It's actually made out of paper! And it's for the parade tomorrow." Anthia explained, showing a bright smile as she recognized the dragon; she initially didn't remember what it was for after the fright she got from seeing it. Thomas stared in surprise for a few seconds before he showed a bright smile and let out a sigh of relief upon hearing that the dragon wasn't a real one.
After the Chinese Dragon was placed on Thomas's flatbed, lights were placed all around it for protection and he and Anthia set off with the dragon in front of them. "Wow, doesn't it look so cool with all the lights on it? I don't think anyone on the island would be able to miss it." Anthia happily commented as she and Thomas stared at the dragon with matching smiles of awe.
Meanwhile, Percy was sound asleep at his siding and he didn't realise that Thomas was approaching. As Percy was sound asleep, Thomas went past him blowing off steam and startling him awake, prompting him to see the Chinese Dragon, but not Thomas behind it, which caused him to immediately squeeze his eyes shut. "Help! I'm not going to open my eyes until my driver comes!" Percy wailed, shaking in fear all the while.
The next morning, the points to the siding had been mended and Percy arrived back at Knapford Junction, where he saw Gordon about to leave with the express. "You'll never believe what I saw last night!" Percy gasped, with an expression of worry written all over his face.
Gordon turned his glance to see Percy before showing an expression of annoyance; he didn't really feel in the mood for Percy's nonsense. "I'm a really busy engine. I don't have time for your games!" Gordon retorted. However, Percy didn't seem to care as he wanted to tell Gordon this, as crazy as he thought it would seem to be.
"I saw a huge dragon! It had lights covered all over it and it had sharp teeth, too!" Percy explained. Gordon stared in disbelief before he snorted.
"You've been in the sun too long. Your dome has cracked!" Gordon retorted. Percy watched with an expression of annoyance as Gordon left before snapping back "Yeah? Well...you're one to talk about cracked domes!"
Later when Percy told Henry, James and Duck about what he saw, Henry and James couldn't help themselves laughing while Duck simply watched the scene in appal. "Look out, Percy, or the dragon might gobble you up!" James teased, showing a big cheeky grin. As Percy looked down in sadness, Duck showed an expression of anger; he wasn't going to stand for seeing Percy get teased like this.
"Shut up, James! This isn't helping Percy at all!" Duck snapped. James didn't seem to take any notice though, because he simply left laughing to himself all the while. Once James had left, Duck puffed over to Percy showing a gentle smile. "Percy, dragons aren't real. I'm sure you probably just imagined it." Duck softly said. However, that didn't seem to help matters for Percy because he left while Duck watched in concern.
As Percy was heading down the track, he was thinking about all of this. "No one believes me. Maybe I did imagine the dragon after all." Percy sadly commented to himself. However, as he went over the bridge, he didn't notice Thomas on the track below with the Chinese Dragon in tow.
Sometime later, as Percy was at a station, he was looking around to make sure that the dragon wasn't around...only to find it appear on the track beside him! "Help! There it is again! Save me!" Percy shrieked, staring in alarm while his eyes spun around frantically. However, he was met with a surprise when he saw Thomas come with a big smile on his face. "Thomas?!" Percy blurted, showing an expression of surprise as he was trying to figure out what was going on.
"It's all right, Percy. This dragon isn't real; it's made out of paper. It was the load I had to collect from the harbour last night." Thomas explained. Anthia poked her head out from Thomas's cab with a matching smile and she jumped out onto the platform noticing Percy's expression of disbelief on his face.
"That's right. This was for the parade today. But I don't blame you for being startled of it; we got a bit of a shock when we saw it too!" Anthia added. Percy was silent to register what he was hearing and then, when he had a closer look at the dragon, he could see that it was actually made out of paper, just like what Thomas said.
"Hey...you're right. How did I think that it was real?" Percy asked, slowly showing a bright smile before he burst into laughter. Thomas couldn't help himself laughing with Percy; he felt a bit silly for thinking the same thing. After a few seconds, the two engines calmed down before turning their glances back to each other. "So the dragon was what you needed to get? I like it; it doesn't look all that frightening in the daylight." Percy commented to himself. Thomas showed a big smile as he couldn't agree more with Percy, but then he showed an expression of alarm as he suddenly realised he had nearly forgotten what the dragon was for.
"I've got to get moving to get this to the parade! Would you like to come with us, Percy?" Thomas asked, looking at Percy with a bright smile. Percy was silent for only a second before a matching smile quickly crossed his face. "Would I?!" he cheerfully asked.
Sometime later, Thomas and Percy had both stopped at a crossing to watch the parade, with Alicia sitting on Thomas's buffers so she could watch as well. As the three watched, they could see Sir Topham Hatt pass by in a shiny red car, with a band following behind him playing their instruments, and then the Chinese Dragon slowly passed on the tracks as the two engines watched. Percy watched with a big smile; the dragon wasn't anywhere near as scary as he once thought it was.
That night, Thomas and Percy were both in the sheds happily talking about the day's events. "Wasn't the parade great, Percy?" Thomas asked. "Yeah, it sure was! I especially liked seeing the band and the dragon pass; it was really fun to watch." Percy cheerfully replied. But then, the two turned their glances to the right to see James glaring at them in the berth next to them.
"Could you two keep it down over there? Some of us engines are trying to sleep, you know!" James snapped. Thomas and Percy both looked at each other, realising that they didn't notice they weren't the only ones in the sheds, before they looked back at James.
"Sorry!" The two replied in unison. "Shush!" James snapped back before closing his eyes to try and get back to sleep. With that taken care of, Thomas and Percy both looked back at each other before continuing their conversation, keeping their voices down this time.
"I liked seeing the dragon as well. Considering the shock I got when I first saw it, it was amazing to watch it at the parade!" Thomas happily commented. The two then started happily laughing, trying to keep it down so they wouldn't wake the others up, before they calmed down after a few seconds. After a few seconds, Percy looked down with an expression of guilt while Thomas looked at him in concern. "Percy? What's wrong?" Thomas asked. Percy looked up at him before letting out a quiet sigh; he had something he wanted to say that he had decided upon before he got stuck on the siding.
"Thomas, I want to apologize to you. I'm sorry I was teasing you so much about the ghost train prank. I didn't realise how my teasing was upsetting you, and I didn't notice how carried away I was getting with it. You deserve better treatment from me, and it wasn't right of me to do things like that to you." Percy explained, with sincerity in his voice all the while. Thomas was silent as he listened to Percy say that before he looked down in guilt; he had an apology that was overdue as well.
"Percy, I want to apologize too. It's for calling you a green caterpillar with red stripes, and all the teasing I did to you after your accident with the hay. I have no idea what I was thinking on that day, but it wasn't right of me to treat you like that. I'm supposed to be your best friend, but instead I treat you like that. And... I've realised how wrong I was to do that to you. Do you forgive me?" Thomas asked, showing a hopeful smile during that last question. Percy was silent while Thomas was talking before he showed a bright smile.
"Yes, I do. Do you forgive me for my teasing?" Percy asked. "Absolutely." Thomas simply replied, showing a matching smile. Silence passed between the two for a few moments as they tried to figure out what to say after that, and then Thomas remembered something that he noticed the other night.
"Hey, Percy?" Thomas asked. Percy looked up in surprise, wondering what Thomas had to say. "I heard that you got stuck on the siding last night. How did that work out for you?" Thomas asked. Percy looked down in worry, wondering whether or not he should tell Thomas the truth and, if so, if Thomas was going to make fun of him for it. But, after a few seconds, Percy figured that it would be best to just be honest with Thomas.
'After all, he deserves to know.' Percy thought to himself. With that decision made, Percy turned his glance back to Thomas. "Well..." Percy let out a sigh before he continued. "I'll be honest, Thomas. I didn't really enjoy it that much. It felt really lonely with me being the only one there, and being stuck there at night isn't much fun at all. And when that dragon appeared, I felt so scared because I didn't know what it was for and I thought it was real! I didn't know what would happen because I felt that scared and, as worried as I was, I started to worry... that something bad had happened to you." Percy explained. Thomas showed an expression of surprise hearing this and he was about to speak up before Percy continued. "I didn't know that you were the one pulling the dragon, so I started to worry that something might have happened to you. I... I thought that I would lose you." Percy finished, slowly looking down as he could feel tears slowly building in his eyes; he dreaded the thought of anything bad happening to Thomas.
Thomas stared in stunned silence having heard all this and he looked down, wondering what he could say to help Percy feel better. As silence passed for what seemed like a few minutes, Thomas slowly turned his glance up to Percy with a soft smile. "Percy?" Thomas softly asked. Percy lifted his glance to Thomas, uncertain of what he would say after having heard his confession on how he felt. He simply waited to hear what teasing Thomas had in store for him, but that didn't come to pass. Instead, Thomas simply showed a gentle smile before he finally spoke.
"Maybe we do get scared sometimes. But...as long as we aren't afraid to tell each other about it, then that makes us brave. And Percy, you're definitely brave to tell me about this. And I'm also happy you told me the truth; it always feels best to be honest about your feelings, especially to the ones who care about you." Thomas explained. Percy stared in stunned silence before he slowly showed a bright smile and blinked rapidly to brush his tears away before turning his glance to Thomas.
"Thanks, Thomas. It did feel good to tell you the truth about this. And... you're right. That was very wise, especially for you. Did Edward tell you that?" Percy asked.
"No. I thought of it by myself." Thomas simply replied. The two then simply brightly smiled at each other, knowing that they were free to tell each other about their true feelings and that any animosity that had existed between them in the past was now non-existent.