I do not own Thomas the Tank Engine or the Fat Controller or the Island of Sodor or anything like that, but I did make up Amber the Orange Engine.
Amber's Accident
One fine day on the Island of Sodor, Thomas the Tank Engine was sitting in a siding, waiting for a new engine.
"Where is she?" Thomas wondered. "We have to pull a freight train and she's making us late!"
Finally, the new engine arrived.
"Sorry I'm late," she apologized. "We had a bit of a problem with some sheep who had broken out of the their pasture and onto the track! Anyway, my name is Amber. I'm very sorry that I made us late."
"Well, we have to make up for lost time so get coupled up and I'll meet you at the station," said Thomas; annoyed.
Amber looked rather offended, but said nothing and chuffed away. Soon, they were both coupled up and ready to leave. The stationmaster waved his flag and blew his whistle and off they went.
Amber marveled at the beautiful countryside and smiled during every second of the ride. Thomas, however was very grumpy and kept shouting 'Go faster! Go faster,' but Amber ignored him and kept enjoying the ride.
When they reached their destination, Thomas was grumpier than ever.
"Five minutes late!" called the conductor.
"This is all your fault!" Thomas said to Amber. "You were too busy looking around when you should have been speeding along."
"Listen, Thomas, if those sheep hadn't broken out of their pasture, then we both could have been on time. So don't blame me," she said, angrily. Then, she stormed away.
"Good riddance," thought Thomas.
The next day, Amber had to take a small freight train through a mountain tunnel that was under construction. She had to be very careful, for the rock on one side of the tunnel was so weathered and thin and old that it had crumbled away, leaving only the wooden supports; the only thing that kept the tunnel from collapsing. The workmen had put up a tarp to keep people, engines and equipment from falling over the edge.
Soon it was time for Amber to leave. She had never taken freight cars seriously so she was sadly in for a grand surprise.
"Off we go," she called to the freight cars.
During their journey, she constantly had to yell at them to make them behave. The freight cars finally got so fed up with this that they hatched a plan. Finally, they reached the tunnel. As they approached it, the freight cars suddenly started pushing against Amber to make her go faster than she was supposed to.
"No! Stop!" Amber cried. But it was no use. She kept going faster and faster until she finally derailed right in the middle of the tunnel. She ripped through the tarp, fell over the edge, and rolled down the mountain.
Back at the sheds, Thomas got word of the trouble.
"Oh no!" he thought. "She may have made us late, but I have to help her." And with that, he chuffed to the scene as fast as he could go.
In the meantime, at the tunnel, Amber was feeling terrible. She had tumbled down the mountain at top speed and, though it had only been falling a few minute, she felt she had been falling for hours and that she had fallen from the top of the mountain rather than the middle.
Thomas finally reached the line at the bottom of the mountain. There, battered and dented, but not completely destroyed, lay Amber with a rather ugly expression on her face.
"Could you please get someone to help me?" she asked, angrily.
"Of course I will," said Thomas, kindly.
Soon, Amber and her tender were up on a flat bed and ready to leave for the works.
"I'm sorry that I was rude to you," Thomas said before she left.
"It's alright," said Amber. "And after all, we can start again when I get back. Can't we Thomas?"
"That's right," said Thomas.
THE END
