Uniqueness
If there is one thing almost everyone, engine or human, can agree on, it's that a good night's sleep is never a bad thing. Soul Catcher was having one of those, thank you very much. Perfect dream and everything. But, then she woke up. At first she couldn't tell why she was awake and tried to go back to sleep. But then, she heard it. A small whimper.
Soul slowly pried her eyes open. A glance out the window told her that it was still dark out and very foggy. Then, she heard the whimper again. She looked over to her left to see another engine. This engine was very small. Her entire body was made of mismatched parts and rusted over, just as Soul herself was. This was Little Star, Soul's younger sister. Her face was twisted in worry and she whimpered again. She whispered in her sleep and Soul listened closely.
"No...Please don't...What did I?...No...NO!"
At that moment, Little Star woke up, panting and frightened. Soul was about to say something, but before she could, two people ran over. One of them, a tall, bright red headed boy, came up to the tank engine.
"Little Star, are you okay?"
The other person, a girl with brown hair that had streaks of blonde, came up on Little Star's other side, rubbing her eyes and muttering to herself.
"Y'know, I was having a really good dream..."
Little Star didn't say anything, just glancing over at the boy then back down to the rails in front of her. Soul spoke up now, her voice gentle.
"Star, what happened?"
Little Star quietly responded, her eyes still tracing the familiar rails.
"I...I had a bad dream. About that night..."
Everyone was silent. They all knew which night Little Star was talking about. After a moment, Soul spoke again.
"Star... How bad was it?"
Little Star took a deep, slightly shaky breath before answering.
"Very."
The boy, George, placed his hand on Little Star's side, rubbing her to try and calm the obviously shaken engine down.
"They...they found me...They had you, Soul...and Corss...And then...then..."
Little Star now started crying in earnest, tears flowing down her cheeks and splashing onto her front. Soul gently puffed forward, turning around and coming down the track where Little Star was resting, pressing against her sister's buffers. By this time, the girl, Kate-Lynn, had joined her cousin in rubbing the tank engine's side. Soul whispered to her distraught sister.
"Shh...Hey, it's alright...I'm right here, I promise..."
After a while, Little Star calmed down and stopped crying. Soul backed up, her face betraying her worry. Little Star sniffled a little bit before glancing back to her sister almost repentantly.
"I'm sorry for waking you up."
Soul smiled a tiny bit.
"It's alright. Now, how about we try and go back to sleep, huh?"
Little Star looked out the window before answering.
"I can't!"
Soul was curious and concerned.
"Why not? It's quiet and dark..."
Little Star turned her gaze back to her sister.
"The stars aren't out!"
Soul, George, and Lynn all looked baffled. Soul moved forward again, but she didn't touch Little Star yet.
"What do you mean, Star?"
Little Star blinked, then looked down to her buffers, her cheeks turning a little pink.
"I-I always sleep better if I can see the stars," she confessed. "The nightmares don't seem to like it when the stars are awake."
Lynn looked like she wanted to say something, but she stormed off, even though no one noticed. Soul moved closer, now touching her buffers to Little Star's.
"Well, what if I stayed here with you?"
Before Little Star could reply, small bits of light were thrown all over the shed. Little Star let out a gasp of delight as she got a close look.
"Stars!"
George now noticed Lynn was missing. He walked between the two rows of tracks to see her. She was holding something odd. It had a blue base with a black dome covering it. This dome had holes and tiny stars cut into it. Light came from inside and projected stars onto the walls of the shed. Before George could ask, Lynn answered.
"Found this a while back. I've been using the base as a lamp. I figured if we can get Little Star to sleep, we all can sleep."
George only smirked as he helped Lynn set up the planetarium in a place where Little Star could still see the lights clearly. They couldn't see it, but the tank engine's smile said everything.
Later, after a much better night's sleep, George asked Lynn where on earth she had gotten the idea from. All she said was that 'it was in her name.' George shook his head. At least Little Star had fewer nightmares, lulled to sleep by the stars.
For Victor, the engine supervisor of the Sodor Steamworks, it was a good day. Henry was in good health, James hadn't come in demanding a repaint like he did every so often, Gordon was doing fine...
"Victor!"
Never mind.
"Yes, Gordon?"
When Victor turned around, he saw a very worrying sight.
There was the big blue express engine limping into the Steamworks, his face creased with obvious pain. It was well known that Gordon, like Henry, didn't like going to the Steamworks, and often had to be forced by his crew. For him to be coming in like this...
"Gordon, my friend, what happened?"
Gordon's driver leaned out of the blue engine's cab, catching Victor's attention.
"We were just about to pull out with the afternoon express when something underneath Gordon snapped. Apparently, it's been hurting ever since this morning. But, as usual, someone didn't say a single word..."
The driver trailed off with a sharp glare to his engine. Even though Gordon couldn't see it, he could still feel it and he spoke up.
"In my own defense, it wasn't that bad earlier."
His fireman rolled his eyes, a trait he had perfected ever since starting work on the railway only a month or so before.
"Sure, Gordon. We'll go with that."
"Alright, that's enough," Victor cut in before the argument escalated. "Under the crane with you, Gordon."
It had been quite a while since Gordon had been in the Steamworks for something that required him to be lifted up. Gordon eyed the crane warily before backing up a little bit.
"You know what? I suddenly feel much better! I'd better get going..."
But before he could get anywhere, his driver quickly put on his brakes.
"Come on, Gordon. Can we please not be stubborn for once?"
A nearby worker snickered at the question.
"Asking Gordon that is like asking James to consider being painted a color that isn't red. It won't work in a million years."
Victor glared at Gordon.
"Under the crane. Now."
Gordon meekly puffed to the turntable. He was turned around and guided into the siding under the crane. But, he kept moving forwards and back again. Finally, Victor had lost his patience.
"GORDON!"
The blue engine quickly stopped, luckily, in just the right place. Workers came up and started attaching chains around him, stuffing in rags on the corners where the chain would dig into the metal. Gordon looked very nervous.
"Now, Victor. Do I have to be lifted up?"
Victor sighed.
"Unless you want to be dismantled, yes. Yes you do."
Gordon quickly fell silent. The crane's motor's started and Gordon was slowly lifted. He tried to look indifferent to the situation, but there was slight panic in his eyes. His driver could see this and he walked closer to the blue engine.
"Come on, Gordon. You're alright."
His fireman, however, hung back, looking confused. Victor saw this.
"What is it, my friend?"
The man jumped a bit, startled.
"Well, it's just... Gordon? Afraid of heights? He has has the tallest hill on the island named after him!"
Before Victor could respond, they heard laughter coming from near Gordon. A woman with tangly, reddish-brown hair glanced over to them from her position under the engine.
"Oh, now that is a story!"
Gordon groaned, knowing what she was talking about.
"Please don't, Miss Miranda."
"Sorry, Big Blue..."
"Don't call me that!"
"...but the opportunity to tell that story is too good to pass up!"
The engine only groaned, resigning himself to his fate.
"Well, Gordon's always been a bit wary of heights, especially when he's off the ground. But I suppose it all started when he was asked to pull an empty Express to Kirk Ronan to test the new station," Miranda began.
"On the way, Gordon started feeling sick and I mentioned that we'd have to go to the works later. Of course, he didn't listen," Gordon's driver added, glaring a bit at his engine, who squirmed a bit on the lift. Miranda quickly stepped in before the story turned into another 'Lecture Gordon Party'.
"Anyways, when they got to the station, Gordon liked it, except for the blank wall right in front of him. To be fair, most people wouldn't like a blank wall in their face either. But Mr. Stubborn wanted a panoramic view so people could see him and vice versa."
The fireman chuckled a bit.
"What happened next?"
"Well, on the way back from the new station, Gordon broke down and came to a complete stop. James had to come on collect the coaches before Big Blue..."
"I told you not to call me that!"
"...was taken here. As per the norm, he wasn't very cooperative."
"I assume something happened after getting out of the works?"
"You hit the nail right on the head. As Gordon took the Express to the new station, no one could apply his brakes. The only thing that managed to stop him was the wall of the station!"
The fireman laughed, causing Gordon to glare down at him from his perch.
"It's not funny!"
"Oh contraire, my dear engine! It's very funny!" Miranda laughed. "No one was badly hurt, just minor injuries. Gordon, however, was left hanging over the town below. They turned the hole into a window and he hasn't run into any more station walls since."
Victor smiled as the three humans teased Gordon, keeping his mind off of the fact that he was on a crane. Gordon seemed to take it in stride...mostly. Today was going pretty good, all things considered.
"VICTOR! My paint's scratched!"
...Or not.
Long ago, before he came to Sodor, Lindy was a simple engine living in Pennsylvania. Of course, like most engines, he had lots of siblings. The one he was closest to was a younger sister named Josephine. They loved each other dearly, working and sleeping with each other when their schedules allowed for it.
One evening, the manager came to see the engines, wondering if either of them would like to take a trip to Europe, but both engines refused. After he left, Lindy's driver turned on the radio and a strange song came on.
"Come Josephine in my flying machine, going up she goes, up she goes..."
"That's my name!" Josephine had exclaimed, looking excited as Lindy's driver paused on that station.
"Balance yourself like a bird on a beam, in the air she goes, there she goes..."
"Indeed it is," Lindy had responded, trying to listen to the song.
"Up, up, a little bit higher, oh my, the moon is on fire..."
Josephine smiled as she listened. After all, it wasn't often that she found a song with her name in it!
"Come Josephine in my flying machine, going up, hold on, goodbye!"
Over the next few weeks, Lindy practiced the song when he wasn't with Josephine. After all, it was soon to be Josephine's fifth build day and he wanted to do something extra special for this one. Unfortunately, practicing the song meant being alone and being alone meant spending less time with Josephine. Josephine accepted this at first, but soon grew worried. Lindy had promised to never abandon her, especially after how the previous manager treated her. The previous manager was a very mean man who seemed to enjoy making Josephine fail. Luckily, Lindy managed to shield her from the worst of it until that man was replaced. So why was he abandoning her now?
That night, the two engines got into a huge argument. By the end, poor Josephine was in tears as she broke the news. She had accepted the manager's offer. Her ship would be leaving for Europe within the week, before her build day. Lindy was heartbroken.
The day soon arrived for Josephine to board the ship. The sun was out and it was comfortably warm. Lindy watched as workers fastened chains around his sister's form.
"Don't worry, Josephine. You'll be fine. They'll love you."
Silence.
"You'll write, won't you? I'd love to hear what Europe is like."
More silence.
Suddenly, the men broke off and motioned for Josephine to be lifted.
"Lindy?"
Lindy's eyes snapped up to his sister as she started to rise.
"Yes?"
"I love you."
Lindy stayed shock still for a moment before responding.
"I love you too, sis."
Weeks passed and there was no news of Josephine or the ship she was on. Until one cold, rainy afternoon. Lindy was waiting in the sheds for the rain to pass when he saw the manager walk up.
"Lindy..."
"Oh! Hello, Sir. Do you have news of Josephine? She should be in Europe by now."
However, the forlorn look on the manager's face sent icy chills through Lindy's boiler.
"Lindy...the ship hasn't arrived. It's been lost to the sea."
Lindy couldn't breathe. He knew that no engine could escape a sinking ship.
"But...Sir...it can't be true! It just can't!"
"I'm sorry, Lindy. Josephine is dead."
From that day on, the engine never liked the song, which continually brought up memories of his wonderful sister. However, on the anniversary of her death each year, you might be able to hear something if you listened closely at night.
"Come, Josephine, in my flying machine..."
Henry was sitting in his berth at Tidmouth sheds after a very long day. His fireman, Craig, had already left for home, leaving just him and Edward. It had been a very long day for both him and his crew, and they were all happy for the chance to get some well deserved rest.
Some muttering in his cab caught his attention, and Henry remembered that his driver, Shaina, had offered to stay for a while longer to make sure he was settled for the night. There was a clattering and a brief, slight pain as something dropped onto his footplate.
"Sorry!"
Henry looked back to Shaina.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yep! Everything's fine. How did that even get in here?"
She climbed down and examined the wrench that she found, walking up and leaning against Henry's front. Both engines watched her.
"I'll have to ask Craig about this tomorrow."
A small clap of thunder tore her gaze from her find. Henry and Edward glanced up.
"Miss Shaina, what was that?"
Shaina looked worried for a moment. She set the wrench down and grabbed her phone to check the radar. A moment later, her eyes widened.
"Oh boy."
Edward looked over.
"What's wrong, Miss Shaina?"
Shaina thought for a moment.
"Well, I'm not sure if you could see the radar on my phone, so let me see if I can explain..."
She held her right hand out in front of her.
"We're here..."
She held her left hand where northeast would be if north was directly above her right hand.
"...there's a pretty big storm right about here..."
Then, she moved her left hand down and to the right until her left hand was over her right hand. She looked back towards Henry.
"Somehow, I don't think I'll be going anywhere anytime soon. It's moving pretty quickly."
As if to confirm Shaina's statement, a brief flash of lightning came from a window near Edward. A few seconds later, thunder sounded, noticeably louder than before. Henry shuddered, causing Shaina to jump away from him, just in case.
"Are you alright, Henry?"
"Y-Y-Yeah. Yeah! I'm fine."
Shaina gave the green engine a skeptical look. On her first day, he had said he was fine when she had asked him, only for her to find out he had gotten a blocked funnel. Ever since then, she rarely let a simple 'I'm fine' drop, especially from him. Edward wasn't looking all that convinced either.
"Henry? What's going on?"
"N-N-Nothing!"
Then, Shaina remembered something.
"It's the storm, isn't it?"
Henry's gaze turned to his driver.
"No! Now what would make you think that?"
A loud crack of thunder sounded and Henry jumped back, shaking in fright. Shaina shook her head slightly.
"I don't know... Maybe something like that?" Henry didn't say anything. Shaina sighed.
"Silly."
Henry smiled a little bit, knowing she was only teasing him. She climbed back into his cab to grab something she left.
"You know, I thought you got over rain and such after that incident..."
Henry couldn't help but blush. She was, of course, referring to one of his most infamous incidents, when he had refused to come out of a certain tunnel in fear of the rain spoiling his paint.
"Well..."
Edward chuckled as Shaina stuck her head out of Henry's cab.
"As tempted as I am to ask further, I'll be good and not. But don't you think I won't be asking later."
Shaina would later swear that she could feel Henry tensing up in surprise.
"But! But!"
Another flash of lightning could be seen, this time from a window near Henry. Seconds later, a loud clap of thunder sounded. Henry shuddered violently, shutting his eyes tight.
"About 2,000 feet away."
Henry opened one eye at hearing Shaina's voice.
"Huh? How...how can you tell?"
Shaina glanced up at him with a smile. She had climbed back down and was standing in front of him.
"I remember reading something interesting. How many seconds it takes between seeing lightning and hearing the thunder, times one thousand, is how far away the lightning struck. That is, if I got the numbers right."
Henry chuckled a little bit. That fact did make him feel a little better.
"She's right," Edward said, coming into the conversation. "I doubt it's as close as it appears."
As they listened, rain began to fall. Slowly at first, it built in intensity until the sound of the rain on the roof drowned out any attempt at normal conversation. Still, Edward and Henry could hear music. Shaina had pulled up a music box's song on her phone, which complimented the rain well.
Edward was the first to succumb to the sounds around him. Shaina couldn't help but smile as she saw the blue engine start to doze off.
"Goodnight, Edward."
He didn't reply, too far in the arms of sleep to speak.
By now, the rain had started to slow a little and Shaina chuckled as she saw Henry's eyelids starting to get heavy.
"Go to sleep, you silly engine. There's no tunnel here."
Henry smiled and took one last look around. There he was, safer now Tidmouth sheds. One of the engines responsible for his rescue was next to him. The girl that had made such an impression on him after his last driver passed on was right there, reassuring him that everything was going to be alright.
Sometimes, Henry thought as he fell asleep, everything just works out perfectly.