A flash illuminated the sheds before fading away. A loud rumble echoed round the small building. A young steam engine let out a breath.
The little engine looked beside him. Another engine- also a Fletcher Jennings like the first -was fast asleep, snoring softly.
'Lucky engine- at least he can sleep.' Skarloey thought enviously, glaring at his brother-why, Rheneas was a year younger than him, and yet he was much more contemplative and courageous than his brother.
Even the workmen thought it amusing, and so they ended up calling Rheneas 'little big little engine' as a joke in reference to his size, maturity and age compared to Skarloey.
Skarloey wished he wasn't scared of thunderstorms- it was such a juvenile fear, and yet he was in that position right now.
After getting his new cab, he looked like a new engine, and he was called 'handsome' and 'prince of the line' by passengers and coaches - but now he was more likely to be selected to pull trains in bad weather- including storms. That was the BIG downside.
...
"Skarloey, you silly little engine!" The fireman scolded as Skarloey sat dazed after ramming into a landslide earlier that day during his workman's train to the quarry, rain lashing down on them.
"It's this wretched weather- they make my wheels slippery." The young engine huffed sulkily in response- no wonder humans hated Mondays so much. They were wet, dull and a disaster just waiting to happen.
"Now that's enough, both of you!" Mr Bobby exclaimed. "I know this weather isn't ideal, Skarloey, but you were going too fast as well. At least no one got hurt, and I'm sure Rheneas will help us home."
Just the mention of his brother's name worsened Skarloey's mood, for they had fallen out days ago and had gone from courteous to outright ignoring each other since.
"I'd rather stay," He hissed childishly, "than be helped by that stick in the mud!" He wheeshed steam furiously, shivering as cold raindrops leaked into his funnel, streaming like tears of internal suffering.
"Don't be silly!" Mr Bobby scolded. "These workmen have to get to work! Besides, it's not chivalrous to keep ladies in the cold." He added, hoping to appeal to Skarloey's growing fondness for the coaches to overlook the argument and accept help.
"...fine. But if he comes, I'm going to sulk!"
"Can't stop you," Replied Mr Bobby, reasonably, figuring Skarloey just needed time to metaphorically let off steam, and trying to stop him would only make him crosser.
...
Skarloey jumped out of his smokebox when lightning flashed through the sheds, and unwittingly yelped like a kicked puppy.
"...Skarloey, are you alright?" A sleepy voice asked from next to him, and he felt his firebox somehow grow even colder than it was already at the implications of his actions.
'Oh drat- I've woken Rheneas!' Skarloey thought, clearly panicked at this turn of events, "Yes, I'm fine- just erm..." He trailed off, only to involuntarily shrink into himself when he heard a rumble of thunder. Unfortunately for him, Rheneas did not miss this reaction.
"You're not afraid of thunderstorms, are you?" He asked carefully, to which the older engine snorted disbelievingly.
"Me? Of course not, Rheneas! That's absurd! I am most certainly"- Another flash interrupted him and he quickly fell silent.
"You are afraid, aren't you?"
"...yes..." Skarloey replied in a small voice. He hated admitting this to his younger sibling, but he hadn't any choice- he and Rheneas had only made up just hours ago. Another quarrel was bound to be disastrous for their working and personal relationships in the future. "I didn't want to tell you before- now you're just going to make fun of me..."
"But I wouldn't do that! No matter how silly it seems, people can still get frightened, and I don't laugh at anyone's fears." Rheneas objected, hurt.
This made Skarloey ashamed of himself- he never meant to question his friend's integrity in such matters like this. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean"- but he was quickly interrupted.
"That's alright, brother. I guess I would be frightened to say something too if I was in your wheels." Rheneas paused, thinking. He could see that Skarloey needed a different approach to help his fear, and he had one weapon he could use... fraternity.
"Driver says I have hyalophobia." He told Skarloey in an almost confidential whisper, despite the fact they were the only two around.
"What does that mean?" His companion asked curiously, all shame and embarrassment forgotten about for the time being.
"I'm...afraid of...glass." The No 2 engine flushed with embarrassment. "I really hate the sound of glass breaking, and I always panic when it does. I don't know why, though. I found this out after some boys threw stones at the coaches and one broke Lucy's window. I was in complete paranoia after that."
"I don't know why I'm afraid of storms- except I loathe the sound of thunder and the lightning always catches me off guard when I least expect it to." Skarloey answered.
"It looks like we've learned something about each other," Smiled Rheneas. "Just you wait, Skarloey- the one thing you should know about fear is that with the right attitude, it'll drive us to become bigger than it, and when we reach a stage of security, our fears just stand there in the distance, squeaking that they don't have us to plague anymore."
Skarloey burst out laughing at this analogy. "Where were you going with that, Rheneas?" He asked.
"I don't know," Answered his friend, grinning. "But I'm pretty sure that would have gone further if you hadn't started chortling."
"At least I'm starting to look more mature compared to you now!" Teased Skarloey, and he sighed contently. "I know we haven't been friends long, Rheneas, but I get the feeling that when we're old and wise, we'll still act as daft engines."
"I wouldn't mind, so long as I'm with you, Skarloey." Rheneas replied, with an uncharacteristic hint of shyness in his voice.
"And likewise with you, my dear Rheneas." The older engine replied warmly. "You know, Mr Bobby's right about you- you've got more common sense in one buffer than I do in my funnel, little big little brother." He smiled warmly.
"You got that right, big little brother," Rheneas agreed playfully, before he yawned. "Well, I'm hitting the ballast. Goodnight, Skarloey."
"Goodnight Rheneas."
And so the two brothers settled down to sleep, thinking of the day when Rheneas' prediction would come true, and of how glorious that would be for them. What made it even better was that their friendship would be there to balm their fears, and fight against the obstacles they faced on the newly forming Skarloey Railway.
Author's Notes: I hope you enjoyed this oneshot! I thought that Skarloey would have his phobia of storms from youth, and I made up Rheneas' fear of glass, because even brave engines have to be afraid of something, right? Glass sounded like an unusual one for an engine to have, and yet it does have some involvement on railway life, so Rheneas will have a battle to fight too. But at least he has his big bro by his side! Likewise with Skarloey!