Autumn came and went on the Island of Sodor. For Thomas and Emily, Autumn was a very special, interesting time. The colours would change and the weather would cool. Now winter was on its way. The winds became nippy and light frost could be seen on some of the fields.
As for Luke and Millie, this cold season had plenty to offer. Winter gave off a very different feeling. And there was Christmas to look forward to whenever winter came around. Until then, they had quite some time to enjoy the winter wonderland. But little did Thomas, Emily, Luke and Millie know, something else would leave them spellbound this year…as well as plenty others on Sodor.
One frosty evening, Thomas and Emily's jobs were done and they were settling down at Knapford Sheds. The air was even colder and just going inside the shed made them feel lovely and warm again. Thomas gently pushed Emily inside, hearing her sigh happily as the shed's warmth spread through her.
"Comfortable, sweetheart?" Thomas asked.
"More than comfortable, Tommy," said Emily. "Just the two of us, right here. It's perfect."
"Like I said after I hummed you to sleep after a terrible day, we can sleep here as often as you please," said Thomas.
"Oh, Tommy, I love your ideas," said Emily. "With this shed, we don't have to worry about our privacy, or anything. This shed is indeed the Love Shed…our shed, my love."
Thomas smiled and kissed her lips. "I love you, Emily. And winter is not far off. We'll have a wonderful season of winter games to enjoy together…and Christmas."
Emily kissed his lips in return. "I love you too, Thomas. 'Snowstorm,' is my first idea for games. I can't wait for the snow to come."
"Sweet dreams, angel," yawned Thomas.
"Sweet dreams, star," Emily replied. Then they touched noses and fell asleep, thinking about the fun they would have…and what else might happen that winter.
The next morning, Thomas felt complete silence all around him. He woke up slowly and reversed outside to see the morning. Then his eyes popped open with excitement. All around him, thick, white snow had fallen, coating the island in a beautiful winter atmosphere.
Thomas huffed back inside. "Emily," he said joyfully. "Wake up! Look!"
Emily opened her eyes and yawned softly. Then she looked outside and felt great excitement flowing through her. "Why…it snowed!" she smiled.
"Our snowploughs will be waiting. Shall we go clear some tracks…and enjoy our game?" asked Thomas.
"Oh, yes!" whistled Emily. "Time to start another winter!" Thomas backed out of the shed and went to find a turntable while Emily went to the yards to get her snowplough fitted. While the workmen applied her snowplough, she waited eagerly for Thomas to arrive with his snowplough. She looked back to when she helped him out of the snow after he hid his snowplough. She would have liked to help him again so she'd remember that fond time, but then again, he would have learned his lesson by now.
Just then, she heard his whistle. And he came up beside her wearing his snowplough. He didn't look cross about it at all.
"I see you have your snowplough on, Tommy," said Emily.
"I don't care how heavy and uncomfortable they can be anymore, Emily," said Thomas. "Besides, our ploughs might help with our game."
Emily giggled with joy. "Oh, they will. Let's go." So she and Thomas set off to clear the tracks. All around them was white snow and leafless trees. It was indeed a very different feeling than the other three seasons. Soon, they came to a deep body of snow coming up to the tops of Thomas' wheels. Emily huffed forward first so Thomas could follow her and spray her with snow. She stopped and whistled to tell him he could start their game.
Thomas smiled and rushed forward. "Here I come, Emily! Snowstorm!" he whistled as he sprayed snow all over her side. Emily laughed happily, memories of the first time playing this game fresh in her mind.
"Oh, Thomas!" she squealed. "It's just like after I showed you those children! You were so clever to create this game!"
Thomas smiled and ploughed ahead of Emily to give her the next turn.
"Here I come, Thomas! Snowstorm!" she whistled, spraying him back. Both engines laughed together as they continued to plough through the snow, spraying each other with snow, making them look like snow-engines. As they kept clearing the tracks and enjoying their game, suddenly, they came up alongside Percy. He was clearing the tracks too.
"Whoa!" he peeped. "What's all the hurry?"
"Oh, Percy," said Thomas. "It's a little game of ours I call 'Snowstorm.' Care to join us?"
Percy could see he was right beside Emily. "With the most motherly engine on Sodor…maybe," he said. "How does it work, Emily?
Emily giggled. "I'm sure you'll like it, Percy," she smiled. "It's like this…" she backed up and whistled, "Here I come, Percy! Snowstorm!" Emily ploughed slower than usual so as not to make Percy too messy and sprayed him with less snow than she did with Thomas.
Percy squeaked with delight as Emily stopped beside him. "That was fun!" he exclaimed. "But, we must keep clearing the tracks. I don't want my mail to wait."
"Of course not, Percy," said Emily. "Join us if you wish." Percy whistled happily and the three engines cleared their tracks together. Soon, the main line was cleared for trains to travel safely.
"We'd best see the Fat Controller, Emily," said Thomas. "Our work awaits us." So he, Emily and Percy all went to Knapford Station. Thomas stopped at the main platform and Emily stopped at the platform next to her. Percy had switched to the middle of the station where his mail trucks were waiting. The Fat Controller was on the main platform and pleased to see Thomas wearing his snowplough.
"Thomas, Emily. I was wondering where you were," he said. "I see you're wearing your plough, Thomas."
"Yes, sir," said Thomas. "The three of us have cleared the main line. Is there any work awaiting us?"
"I'm most impressed with your efforts of clearing the line. Your passengers are ready," said the Fat Controller. Thomas fetched Annie and Clarabel and Emily fetched her own coaches while Percy set off with the mail. As Thomas and Emily waited for their guard's whistle, they noticed several children boarding their coaches.
"All these children, sir…" said Emily. "Where are they to go?"
"Take them to the meadow…and watch them if you wish," said the Fat Controller with a wink.
"Thomas? Emily?" called Percy. "Will you be back at Tidmouth tonight…or will you two be at your shed again?"
Emily heard Percy's questioning tone and asked, "Why, Percy?"
"We miss you a little. We all do," said Percy. Then his guard's whistle blew and he had to go with the mail. Then Thomas and Emily's guards whistle blew and they were off too. They huffed along the line until they came to the meadow. The children were left off and they all flocked into the snow-covered meadow. Thomas and Emily watched happily for quite some time as the children built snowmen, made snow-angels and had snowball fights together. As they watched the children, Thomas began to think about what Percy said at Knapford. He turned to his angel.
"Emily…what do you think about tonight? Shall we sleep at Knapford Sheds, or come home for a night with our friends?" he asked.
Emily thought for a moment…as much as she and Thomas loved sleeping at Knapford Sheds, they didn't want their friends to feel too lonely.
"We'll sleep with the engine family tonight," she said. "Percy, Edward and Henry will be happy to see us."
"OK, sweetie," said Thomas. "We can watch the sky tonight if you like." Soon, the children returned to the coaches and the engines were soon on their way to take the children on their way to the next few stations until all the passenger duties were complete. With winter now on Sodor, the days were getting shorter and the sun was going down already. Thomas and Emily returned to Knapford Station and left their coaches in two sidings. Then they set off for Tidmouth Sheds.
All the other engines were at the sheds already. Percy was still wondering if his two friends would come back or not.
"Where are Thomas and Emily? I know they like being together…but sometimes, I miss them," he peeped. "Thomas is my best friend, and Emily is like our mother."
"I do hope they come back at least for tonight," said Henry. "It's not the same here when they sleep elsewhere."
Edward smiled at Percy and Henry. "I miss them a little too, but if they're happy, that's enough for me. They still sleep here sometimes too…"
But then, they saw the two engines coming back. Percy was very happy to see his friends.
"Thomas! Emily!" he peeped. "You're here!"
"We decided we wanted to be with the engine family, Percy," said Thomas. "Didn't we, Emily?"
"Yes," she smiled. "Our friends shouldn't be without us all the time."
The engines were pleased to hear this. That told them that they still had their two friends to look forward to seeing.
"Well, this is a pleasant surprise," said Edward. Emily backed into the berth next to Percy and Thomas backed in beside her. After the other engines fell asleep, Thomas and Emily stuck to their plan to watch the night sky. The moonlight shone beautifully over the sheds, but with all the snow, it seemed even brighter, and the snow sparkled like jewels in the stars. Emily loved it so much.
"Oh, Thomas," she whispered. "The snow is so lovely. And Christmas is coming in a few weeks…"
"I look forward to Christmas too, Emily. I think the snow is lovely too…just like you."
Emily smiled sweetly, then she yawned, ready to sleep. "Goodnight, Tommy," she whispered as she fell asleep happily. Thomas smiled too and continued to watch the sky a little while longer.
Eventually, he became tired too. He looked at his sleeping angel once more…but just before his eyes closed, something suddenly caught Thomas' eye. He thought he saw a glow of green flow through the sky. He looked quickly up, but just as his eyes were focusing on the sky, the glow disappeared. He thought it was his sleepiness playing tricks on him.
"Hmm…I must be more tired than I thought," he whispered, so he fell asleep along with Emily…but after a while, he felt some brightness through his closed eyes. He opened them again and saw a brighter green glow trailing through the sky. It danced and twisted in different shapes.
"Whoa!" he gasped. He stared ever-so intently at the sky, trying to figure out what on earth was going on. The light danced a little more. Then he looked over to his love.
"Emily? Emily?" he whispered loudly.
Emily's eyes opened and she yawned sleepily. "What?" she murmured.
"I saw a flash of green through the sky," Thomas replied. "Almost like a Christmas light."
Emily looked at the sky, but she didn't see anything. The lights had faded again for a moment.
"Don't be silly, Thomas," she said. "The only lights at night are the stars and moon. You must be sleepier than you thought." With that, she closed her eyes again.
"It was there!" insisted Thomas. "I wasn't imagining…" another flash caught his eye. Thomas looked as intently as he could. Indeed, the green glow became brighter and spread further across the sky. "There it is! Emily!" he whistled.
"Thomas, I…" Emily stopped silent as she looked up. "Oh…my…goodness! Whatever is this?" she exclaimed with excitement.
"I don't know…this is what I was talking about, Emily. They're so many colours!" said Thomas. "Blue…green…yellow…orange, dancing through the sky! But what are they? The sun has set…I just don't know!"
Emily looked over to the old and wise engine. "Edward!" she whispered.
Edward woke up. "What's all the excitement at this hour?" he asked sleepily.
"What are those colours in the sky?" asked Thomas. Edward was confused at first, but then he saw the sky.
"Well, grease my clanking gears," he breathed. "I do believe those are the auroras."
"The auroras?" asked Thomas.
"They're also called the Northern Lights," said Edward. "Many years ago, one of my first drivers told me about them. They occur when particles from the sun hit the atmosphere. The reaction creates an illumination in the sky. This is most amazing though. I've heard they've been seen in some parts of Britain on some occasions, but I don't think Sodor has ever seen these lights. I hope they'll be here again tomorrow night."
Thomas and Emily looked back at the auroras as they flashed into blue, orange and purple. It was absolutely astounding to see such beauty. Not even Thomas had seen such amazing features of the sky in his life. As they danced through the sky, he looked to Emily and nearly whistled out loud with excitement. The lights were flashing different colours off Emily's paintwork as if she was wearing a magic paint that changed colour by the second.
"Your paintwork is flashing to the colours! It's almost true magic, isn't it, Emily?" Thomas gasped.
Emily looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Oh, Thomas," she sobbed happily. "It is magic."
Suddenly, Thomas got an idea. "Emily, do you think we'll see them again tomorrow night?"
"I sure hope we do, Tommy," Emily breathed. "We'll go through our work as quickly as we can. I just wonder what others across the island will think…"
At the Blue Mountain Quarry, work was slow due to the snow, but Luke and the Skarloey Engines were surprised and shocked by this amazing sight in the sky.
"Popping Pistons! Look at the sky!" gasped Skarloey. All the engines were amazed, but Luke was so spellbound, he didn't know what to say. He only wished Millie was beside him so he'd have his loved one to enjoy this sight with him. Even before he came to Sodor, he had never seen such a beautiful sight.
"Millie…I hope you can see this now…I must go to Ulfstead Castle tomorrow. The lights might be back!" he gasped. "I must go to the castle tomorrow for Millie."
At Ulfstead Castle, Millie saw this too, wishing she was with Luke. "Ooh, I do hope I can see this beauty with Luke!" she gasped. And the auroras continued to illuminate Sodor's skies with so many colours and patterns until they eventually faded away, and the night was dark once again. And so across the island, Thomas, Emily, Luke and Millie fell asleep again, spellbound over what they all saw…
The next morning, Thomas and Emily woke up, still in an amazed mood. Thomas looked over to see Emily's eyes rather large and she was wearing a big, beautiful smile, making him smile too.
"Emily…" he began.
"Thomas!" Emily cried happily. "That was SO beautiful! I never thought I'd live to see such a spectacular sight! We should complete our work today as soon as we can. The auroras might be back tonight."
"The Sodor Auroras," said Thomas. "I'm sure others saw it last night. I wonder what they're thinking now…"
Meanwhile, at Blue Mountain Quarry, the Skarloey Engines didn't have much work to do unless the Thin Controller had any reason to hand out work. Luke was looking all around himself at the snowy world. If work was not to be done quickly here because of the snow, he might have another chance to see Millie. He went to speak to the Thin Controller.
"Sir?" he asked. "If I'm right, the quarry will surely not too be busy in winter for the moment…the auroras appeared last night and were magnificent! May I go to Ulfstead Castle to see them again tonight with Millie?"
The Thin Controller agreed to let Luke go to Ulfstead Castle if he returned the next morning, since the quarry would indeed start off work again once the snow cleared. So Luke puffed off to see Millie.
"Oh, winter is a lovely season," he said to himself. "Cold, but beautiful." So Luke made his way across the island, looking left and right at the snow all around him. On his way, as he approached the depot, he passed Thomas with Annie and Clarabel.
"Thomas," he whistled. "Did you see the…"
"I did!" whistled Thomas. "Can't stop! I want to see them again tonight!" And he flew on down the line past Luke. Thomas soon stopped at Crovan's Gate Station to find Emily waiting for her own passengers.
"Oh, lovely," Thomas swooned smoothly at her. Emily giggled and looked at Thomas.
"Hello, cutie," she said sweetly. "How is your work going?"
"Only a few more stops for me and I'll be ready for tonight," replied Thomas.
"Perfect," said Emily. "I'll be finished with my passengers soon too…then I'll be ready for you, Tommy." Then she blew him a kiss and set off with a happy whistle.
Meanwhile, Luke had arrived at Ulfstead Castle Station where Millie was talking with the Earl. Seeing Millie again brought joy to his heart and he couldn't wait for dusk to fall.
"Bonjour, Millie," he whistled. Millie looked and smiled. "Bonjour, Luke," she greeted.
"Millie," said Luke. "Did you see…"
"The lights?" said Millie. "Oui, I did. All I was thinking about was you and what you thought."
"Never did I see such a sight!" whistled Luke. Then he explained his plan. "Millie, my controller has agreed I can spend the night with you as the quarry hardly has any work at this time…if the auroras come back, would you like to watch them with me?"
Millie turned to the Earl. "May I, sir?" she asked.
"Very well, Millie," he said. "Those lights are truly astounding."
Millie then turned back to Luke. "Of course, Luke," she smiled. "I would love to see them with you. This shall be wonderful."
"I can't wait for the sun to set," said Luke. "This is going to be breathtaking…" So he and Millie waited with excitement for night to come.
Sometime later, Thomas and Emily completed their jobs and were ready for another evening of the Sodor auroras. Back at Knapford Station, Thomas waited eagerly for Emily to come back. He already had the perfect location in mind. The sun was beginning to set again. Sure enough, he heard Emily's whistle and she came into the yards, looking very excited indeed. She came up to Thomas and buffered up to him.
"Ready to see the lights at dark?" she smiled as she gave Thomas' cheek a kiss.
"Yes, my beautiful Emily," replied Thomas. "And I've thought of the perfect place…I'm sure you'd guess before we got there."
"Oh, I'm sure where you'll take me," said Emily. "Let's go."
Then they both set off for their location to watch the Sodor auroras together. As they huffed along the line, the sun went lower and lower, turning the clouds from yellow to orange to pink. Eventually, they reached Black Loch as the sun's last rims disappeared over the horizon.
"I was right," said Emily. "You're so clever, Tommy. Oh, this is the perfect place! Of all the places on Sodor, this is the best place for us to be!"
"This is our place, Emily," said Thomas. "Just yours and mine…I love you."
"I love you too, Thomas," cooed Emily as she kissed Thomas' lips to thank him for taking her back to her favourite place to be.
The two engines continued to enjoy each other's company and kisses until the much-anticipated moment arrived. The sunlight completely disappeared into the darkness of the night. Then soon enough, the auroras started shining through the sky again, but tonight, they were even more spectacular. They shone brighter and much more colourfully. Flashes of green, blue, yellow and purple danced through the sky just like a light show at Christmas.
Thomas felt like he wasn't even on Sodor. He felt like he was in the clouds right with Emily surrounded by these colours. Emily felt like she was in the clouds too. She watched as the colours flashing on Thomas' paintwork, just like he watched her the previous night.
"Fantastic," was all Thomas could say. When he looked at Emily, he saw tears on her face.
"Thomas," she sobbed with joy. "Winter is now my new favourite season! We can now hopefully look forward to this every year. But…oh, I know we won't see these all the time…I will really miss these beautiful sights when Spring returns."
Thomas kissed her lips. "I'll miss them just as much, my love," he smiled. "But this is even more than what I hoped for…Whenever you wish, we can go back to Tidmouth and join the other engines. I'm sure they must be fascinated."
The engines at Tidmouth Sheds were indeed fascinated.
"I was right," smiled Edward. "Isn't it marvelous?"
"Steaming Pistons!" gasped Gordon. "This is remarkable!"
"Wheeshing Whistles!" exclaimed Percy.
"These lights are even more amazing than the Fat Controller's fireworks!" said Henry. James, meanwhile, was wondering along the line, his eyes locked on the sky and speechless over the auroras.
But the Steam Team wasn't the only group of engines fascinated by this sight. At Ulfstead Castle, Luke and Millie were buffer to buffer, watching the auroras together as they agreed. Luke looked at Millie a few times to see her cute smile.
"It's breathtaking, isn't it, Millie?" said Luke.
"Oui," said Millie. "I must admit…it's even more beautiful than the Earl's fireworks display. And from here, I think it's a perfect view."
"It's like we're in a corner of Heaven, Millie," said Luke. "And I love you."
Millie smiled and kissed his cheek. "I love you too, Luke. Just having you with me brings pure thrill to my heart. I look forward to Christmas...with you." They smiled happily and continued to watch the lights above them.
In the yards, not far from Tidmouth Sheds, in another shed, two other engines were watching this beautiful sight. It was none other than Rosie and Stanley. The little lavender tank engine was feeling very happy to have Stanley with her.
"My goodness, Stanley!" Rosie squealed. "Have you ever seen anything like this in your life?"
"No, Rosie," said Stanley. "It's almost more magical than Christmas…I'm just happy to be watching this sight with you, Rosie. It's truly a beautiful sight."
At the Search and Rescue Centre, Butch, Captain, Harold and Rocky were asleep, but Flynn and Belle were watching the auroras side-by-side.
"Well, Flynn," said Belle. "What do you think?"
"Oh, Belle," whispered Flynn. "This makes me want to be off duty for some time. You and I should get to do this more often."
At Crovan's Gate Station, a certain yellow engine was spellbound by this sight and very happy. The engine was Molly, the engine whom Emily once laughed at for pulling empty trucks, but later became close friends with. Molly was an engine with a great sense of admiration for such beauty. Soon she heard a voice.
"Hey Molly! Watching the auroras?" It was James. Before he could say something else however, she suddenly took off, leaving James by himself.
"Molly, please," he whispered to himself. "I…I wanted to talk to you, really I did…" And James simply looked at the sky himself, wondering about how he could have had a good chance to have someone watch this sight with him…
Back at Black Loch, Thomas and Emily were still enjoying the light-show immensely. Every now and then, Thomas leaned in and kissed Emily's cheek, and she kissed his cheeks too. For almost another hour, they watched the auroras shine through the night. Then Emily spoke again.
"Thomas? Let's surprise the engines with a visit. I'd like to see what they think of the auroras," she said.
"Of course, Emily. Enjoy the ride," said Thomas as he winked at her. He began to push her gently on their way home. Although they had headlamps, the auroras lit their way home. All around them, the snow sparkled in different colours. It was even more beautiful than the moonlight against the snow. Thomas looked into Emily's beautiful eyes and could see reflections of the auroras right in the centre. It made him smile joyfully.
When they returned to the sheds, they saw all the engines gazing endlessly at the sky. Even when Thomas and Emily turned round and backed into their berths, the engines couldn't stop looking at the sky. Thomas whistled to get the engine's attention.
"Surprise," he smiled.
"Oh, Thomas," Henry said, not fully concentrated on the blue engine. "Nice to see you…wow…"
Thomas chuckled to himself. He admired how the engines were so drawn in by the sky. He looked over to his angel.
"It truly is incredible, Emily," smiled Thomas.
"Yes, Thomas. I will never forget this night as long as I live," Emily answered.
"Neither will I, Emily," said Thomas. Then Emily yawned sleepily. All the sky-gazing made her tired.
"Goodnight, Tommy. I love you," she smiled as she fell asleep.
"I love you too, Emily. Sweet dreams," yawned Thomas as he fell asleep too. This had been truly an unforgettable experience for Thomas and Emily. It was the perfect start to their winter. And Christmas would come sooner than they thought.
It's been awhile hasn't it? Hope you all didn't mind the over a month hiatus, but I'm back in business, with the first Christmas story from my 2016 Christmas Hamper. For those of you curious, yes, the auroras has been seen in Britain a number of times, don't believe me, then look it up. And yes I know about all the new episodes guys, I keep my eyes on them like a hawk at all times. But this isn't the only story this Christmas. Oh no, I've said it before in a number of stories that I have four stories for you all this year. So please, as always leave a review and tell us what you thought of this first story, and tune in on the 10th for the second festive story, "Under the Mistletoe." See you then!