This is as sequel to "My Little Ball of Steam" If you have not read that story, read it before this one!
I had just gotten off work, and was mentally exhausted. When you work with numbers all day, it takes a toll on your mind. Eventually, it just gets to the point where you can't even think straight anymore, and just look forward to the end of your shift.
After I changed into some more relaxing clothes, I sat and just stared at the floor for five minutes, letting my scattered thoughts calm down. I worked as an accountant, and have been doing so for a year now. It was a good job, with good pay. It was just a bit taxing mentally. But, one way I found I could help relax after work was to go for a walk, and let my thoughts be cleared with the help of fresh air, and peace and quiet. Besides the fact that my job kept me busy, it didn't help that most of my co-workers were going on and on about this new fad that had started... pet trains.
Somewhere, somehow, miniature, alive trains had been created, and were now available to purchase as a house pet, just like a dog or a cat. They ate regular pet food and water, and showed some signs of a cat like personality. They moved around on wheels, with a face on the front of what would be a normal locomotive's smoke box.
Some crazy, train obsessed person with the money and brains to pull this off had gotten quite famous. Why a train, out of all things you could genetically engineer, I don't know. Don't really care, either. They've been out for a good while now, and I liked them at first. But after so many people talking constantly about them, I kind of tuned them out now.
I stood up, and walked to my front door, enjoying the fresh air as I opened it. I stepped out, closing the door behind me, and then headed towards the foot path near my house. It lead through trees, a small pond, and even around a park. It was not usually heavily used, so it was a peaceful, quiet walk. Just the way I like it.
It was a somewhat chilly day, running about forty degrees, maybe a little more, but I was used to it. A thin windbreaker was enough to keep me warm, that and a steady walking pace to keep the blood pumping.
I walked for a good while, thinking about the things in life I enjoyed, and just letting my imagination wander. I looked around as the trees gently swayed in the small breeze, and watched the birds and squirrels race to their nests with food and materials for building. My thoughts continued, until they were interrupted by a strange noise. I stopped, and stayed silent. That was certainly an odd sound. It almost sounded like a chirp, or the cry of a baby animal. Not quite a meow, but more of a Cheetah like chirp. God, I hope there aren't any Cheetah's around here!
I perked up as I heard it again. It sounded close, but quiet, and strained. I looked in the general direction I had heard it from, and saw a natural growing patch of flowers. A few of them were moving. I slowly walked closer, and focused my eyes on the flowers. I could just make out the shape of something in them, but I couldn't figure out what kind of animal it was. Something small, that was for sure. About the size of a cat.
Cautiously, I reached a hand down, and moved a couple flowers out of the way. I tried not to jump as I found a frightened face staring back at me. The face almost looked... human. But not quite. It was hard to explain. Regardless, two large blue eyes were looking up at me, the pupils the size of pinpricks in sheer terror. I softened my expression as best I could.
"Hey, it's alright. I'm not going to hurt you..." I said in a soothing tone. The pair of eyes stayed on me, the look of fright not going away. I slowly knelt down, reaching my hands to the ground in an inviting style. "Come on... I'm friendly..." I whispered. I wasn't sure what kind of animal I was trying to convince to come out, but it seemed as if it was lost, or in a bit of trouble. Of course I wanted to help.
After what seemed like hours, a few of the flowers began to move, and the set of eyes got a little closer.
"That's it. I won't hurt you..." I continued in a gentle voice. The eyes stopped again, and stayed in the flowers. I didn't know how I could get whatever it was to come to me. I didn't have any food on hand, or anything that might look interesting to a possibly wild animal. Out of oncoming boredom, I started to gently hum to myself. The blue eyes focused on me intently at the new sound, and the look of fright in them seemed to lesson ever so slightly. Perhaps the creature liked the sound of music, or gentle humming? Regardless, I kept it up, and after a few more minutes, the creature finally exposed itself fully, to my utter shock.
It was a train. One of the miniature ones, obviously. It was beautiful, resembling a tank engine, with a bright pink body, highlighted in blue and several other colors. It had several small blue wheels, which seemed to be shaking slightly, and even had small designs that resembled flowers on it. The face was both beautiful, and adorable. The baby blue eyes peered up at me in curiosity and fright as the engine's tiny mouth twitched. My bets were that it was a female, if its colors were anything to go off of. But these trains weren't wild, they were only sold as pets, so why was it out here?
I studied it silently as it watched me, now sitting out in the open. Something about it looked... off. I'd seen pictures of these trains, and videos, and the engine's always looked... brighter, and more upbeat than this one did. Her face was pale, and she was shivering. Her before heard weakened calls, and look of fright at all of its surroundings confirmed my arising suspicion.
Someone had probably abandoned this poor engine, out here all alone. It looked as if it had been out here for some time, a day at least, maybe more.
I slowly moved a hand towards the engine, but stopped when the engine seemed to tense at my movement. I moved my hand back to my side, and waited to see if the engine would come to me. I continued to hum, and after a little bit, it did. Slowly, but it did.
Eventually, I found the engine within a foot of me, never taking its eyes off of me. It seemed both curious, and wary of my presence. I gently opened the palm of my hand, which was resting on the ground next to my side. The tiny engine looked at it, and I gently moved a finger to invite it closer. It seemed to hesitate, and then move closer. When it was an inch or two away, it looked up at me, and I smiled, trying to show that I was friendly. The engine watched my face, and after a moment, it did something I didn't know the small trains could do.
It smiled back.
It was literally the cutest thing I'd ever seen in my life. The blue eyes, tiny adorable smile, and everything else. I just... I couldn't stand it. What made it worse was when the engine went over to inspect my open hand, before weakly nuzzling it. At the touch, I could feel how cold the poor thing was. It was shivering, and its feeble attempts to nuzzle my hand made my heart melt. How could someone have just left this poor engine out here to fend for itself? It couldn't have been all that old.
I gently place my hand on top of the engine's would-be boiler, and stroked it gently. The engine seemed to like the feeling, so I did it some more. The engine nuzzled against my leg, causing chills to run up my body at the cold touch. It was probably trying to get warm from my body heat.
After a moment, I took my hands off of it, and slowly, as not to alarm or frighten it, took off my jacket. I laid it out onto the ground, and after a moment, the engine made it's way over to it. The jacket was still warm from my wearing it, and the engine crawled right on top of it, before seeming to hunker down in the jacket. After a moment, I gently wrapped the jacket around the poor engine, and picked it up. As I held the engine wrapped in my arms, it looked at me with it's big eyes, a small trace of fear still present. I offered a kind smile.
"Don't worry little one, I'm going to take you back home, and take care of you. Once you're back up to health, I can drop you off at the nearest supportive animal shelter. I'm sure someone will adopt you." I said. As I carefully made my way back home, engine in my arms, I let my mind wander again. I didn't want a pet engine. I've never had a pet, and didn't really want the responsibility of owning one.
But there was another thought naggling at the back of my mind.
What if whoever adopted it did no better of a job taking care of it than the previous owner? Who would save it then?
. . .
Once I got back home, I gently set the engine down on the floor near a heat vent, and it quickly scrambled out of my jacket to position itself over the warm air coming through the vent. The look of contentment that appeared on its face once it felt the warm air made me happy. Now it was able to warm up, but what was I to do about food? I didn't have any pet food, but I did know that my neighbor had a cat. Perhaps they would loan me some food. I believe the small engines can eat cat food.
I went next door, and rang the doorbell. After a moment, they answered, and I explained my situation. They happily gave me some food, and I thanked them, before heading back home. I put the food into a bowl, along with a bowl of water, and set them down near the engine, who was still warming itself. After a few minutes, the engine finally got curious, and rolled over to the bowls. It sniffed the food, and poked a wheel into the water, before flicking it around, trying to dry it off. I almost laughed at the sight. The engine nibbled the food, before it began to eat rather quickly. The poor thing was probably starving from the looks of it.
I decided to let it be, and went to my room to fire up my computer. If I was going to be nursing her back to health, I needed to know more about these little engines.
After some digging, I felt I knew enough to properly take care of the pink engine. I decided I needed a name for her, and googled female names. I looked through the list in alphabetical order, but didn't even make it to the letter B. One of the names caught my attention, as it was a very interesting name.
Ashima.
It was an exotic sounding name, and an interesting one. For some reason, I felt it matched the small engine quite well. I walked back out into the living room, where the engine had finished its food, and was now sitting on the floor, with its eyes shut.
"Ashima..." I said quietly, although the engine clearly heard me. It opened its eyes, and once it saw me, rolled over to me, and nuzzled my leg. She seemed to respond to the name, or at least, not hate it.
"Ashima it is, then." I said, bending over to pick the little engine up. I held her against my chest, and went to sit on the couch. I somehow managed to grab the TV remote while holding her, and turned it on as I sat.
I don't know how long it was, but at some point, Ashima had fallen asleep in my arms. I wasn't aware of it until I felt something strange. A vibration coming from my chest region.
I looked down, and the little engine had closed its eyes, a content smile on her face. A steady sound was coming from her, and it kind of sounded like... purring.
At the thought, I put my free arm around her, and she tried to grab it, and pull it closer to her as she slept. I honestly didn't think my heart could take it anymore. I watched her silently, her gentle purring the only sound in the room, as I had shut off the TV when I first felt the purring.
I felt... many things as I watched her sleep in my arms. Accomplishment. I had probably saved this little engine's life by finding her. From the state she had been in, I honestly wasn't convinced she would have lasted much longer outside in the cold. I felt... warmth inside me as well. It was really hard to explain, but it felt like... well, probably like a first time mother felt, or something similar. Knowing that someone's, or something's life now depended on me, and how I raised it. I had given Ashima her name, and given her a home, at least temporarily.
A part of me was starting to realize that while I had never had a pet before, every time I looked at the little pink engine snuggled in my arms, I was starting to feel... love towards her. Love of having a little companion, something in my life that loved me, probably because I had taken better care of her in the hour that I'd had her in my home than anyone else ever had.
Did I really want to give her to an animal shelter, or did I want to keep her as my own?
. . .
I clearly fell asleep at some point, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up to the sensation of a wet tongue on my face. I opened my eyes to find the little pink engine herself crawling all over me, licking me half to death. A smiled as I saw her blue eyes looking at me, a happy smile on her face as she nuzzled my neck. I gently grabbed her, and set her on my lap.
"Hey there, little one. Did you sleep well?" I asked quietly. A happy chirp was Ashima's response, and she rolled off of me onto the floor, and went over to her empty food bowl. I got the message.
"Hungry, huh? Well, I should still have a little food left from what I was given last night. Hang on," I said, getting up to get the rest of the cat food. I dumped it into her food bowl, and refilled her water. As Ashima happily ate, I remembered that today was my day off, which put me at ease. I had been slightly worried about leaving Ashima here alone. I didn't want her to feel abandoned again. I watched her eat in silence, smiling as she would occasionally push the food around in her bowl, or splash water onto herself, and then try and flick it off. She really was the cutest little thing.
Once she was finished, she made her way back over to me, and stopped about a foot away, looking up at me expectantly. I bent down, and scooped her up, gently resting her on my shoulder. She somehow gripped me tightly with her small wheels, and nuzzled herself into my neck, before letting her gentle purring resume. I listened to the gentle sound, letting it relax me.
It was then I made the decision.
I couldn't risk the chance of Ashima being left on her own by another bad owner. I was going to keep her, and make her part of my family.
"I'll take care of you, little one. You'll never be left out on your own again..." I whispered. Ashima snuggled closer to my neck in response, the purring growing louder. She seemed to like the idea of me keeping her. But I knew if I was going to keep her, I would have to buy a few things. I craned my neck to look at Ashima, who was still sitting quietly on my shoulder.
"What do you think? You want to come with me to the pet store so we can get you a few things?" I asked. Ashima's blue eyes brightened, and she gave a happy chirp in response. I was starting to get the distinct feeling that she could understand me, or at least get an idea of what I was trying to say.
I grabbed my car keys, and carried the tiny engine out to my car, before placing her in the passenger seat. She looked around the interior of my car curiously as I sat in the drivers seat next to her. As I started the car, music began to play from the radio, which Ashima seemed to like. I pulled out onto the street, and made my way to the nearest pet store.
. . .
When I arrived, I carried Ashima in my arms, bumping the door open with my shoulder. When the girl at the front counter saw Ashima, she dropped what she was doing to look at her.
"Aww, what a cute little train!" she said, looking at Ashima, who was looking back at the girl with a smile on her face. You smiled at the idea that there weren't many who didn't think a small pet engine was cute. It was their eyes, it seemed to me.
"Yeah, she's a sweetheart. I found her yesterday outside on her own. Poor little thing was shaking like crazy, and was extremely frightened of me at first. I took her in, warmed her up and fed her, and now she refuses to leave my side." I explained.
"Aww, that's terrible. What kind of jerk would leave such a sweet little thing to fend for itself in this harsh weather?" she asked, a frown on her face. I shrugged, looking down at the little engine in my arms, who was peering over my shoulder at something behind me.
"I don't know, but I'm glad I found her when I did. I'm not sure how much longer she would have lasted." I said, giving Ashima a kiss on her forehead. A big happy smile appeared on her face as she nuzzled my chest.
"Wow, she really does adore you, doesn't she? She's almost like a real girl, idolizing her savior. You're her hero!" said the store employee. I chuckled, and began to walk around the store, picking out the things I'd need. A leash, a waste box, some bowls and food, and a few toys. Ashima seemed to particularly like a small squeaky flower toy, judging from the way her eyes lit up when she noticed it hanging on the wall. I took one, and held it up to Ashima so she could inspect it. She promptly chomped on it with her mouth, eliciting a squeak from the toy.
"Alright, I take it you want this?" I asked as Ashima chewed her toy. I took everything I had gathered up to the front counter, where the girl checked me out. It was slightly expensive, but it would be worth it to take care of my new little friend, and keep her happy.
"I know she'll enjoy all of this. You seem like you know what you're doing when it comes to pets. Have you had any before?" the girl asked. I shook my head.
"No, she's my first. I always thought it was to much responsibility to take care of a pet, but I see now that it's worth it. If I don't take care of her, who else will?" I asked. The girl nodded, and bagged my items, before Ashima and I headed back out to the car.
On the way home, the flower squeak toy never left Ashima's mouth. She seemed to be fond of flowers, as that's where I had found her in the first place. Her body colors matched flowers quite well.
. . .
That night, I was getting ready for bed, when it occurred to me that was the one thing I had forgotten to buy. A bed for Ashima. She would probably be cold without one, and the store was closed now. I looked at the small engine, who was flopped onto her side, poking at one of her new toys. A little yawn escaped her tiny mouth, before she righted herself.
"What do you think, are you tired? I neglected to get you a bed, so I guess you can sleep with me tonight." I said. Ashima rolled over and bonked my foot, before following me to my bedroom. I changed into my pajamas, and then pulled back the sheets of my bed. As I lay down, Ashima crawled onto the bed, and snuggled against my side. I pulled the covers up, and let out a sigh, staring down at the small engine next to me.
It had been only twenty four hours, and I had gained a new friend, and someone who depended on me. But as I watched Ashima's large blue eyes slowly close, and a happy little smile appear on her face, I knew she'd be worth it.
After all, you can't put a price on a friendship.
Not sure if I did quite as good of a job making this cute like I did with the original Rebecca one, and I think the reason for that is because Rebecca is more of an adorable engine, where Ashima is more of a beautiful one. I tried, and I hope you all like it!