THE IN-CROWD

The Dieselworks at Vicarstown is a very busy place, with diesel engines bustling about, either shunting trucks, heading off for work or arriving for repairs. Den and Dart enjoy helping out any engines that arrive needing repairs. One diesel engine in particular seems to visit them often.

"'Ello, Norm!" called Dart.

"Engine playing up again?" asked Den.

"Ah yes, my good friends. I just require a quick tune-up and then I shall take my leave." the orange-red diesel replied.

Norman, for the most part, is an engine who isn't the best socially. He is most definitely the quietest diesel to be found at the Dieselworks and prefers either his own company or the company of his books. His constantly faulty motor means that he usually has to sit around and wait for repairs, thus starting his habit of reading to pass the time. This in turn has changed his vocabulary considerably, now using big words and rather dated lingo.

Norman generally feels sad most of the time, not only because he never really has anyone to talk to as they are usually very busy with their work, but also because he doesn't really talk to many other engines. He feels rather isolated from the other diesels and doesn't feel as though he has anything that makes him unique or special.

As Norman waited for Dart to fetch the parts to fix his motor, he decided to strike a conversation with Den.

"Ahem, I say, Den?" He called over to the large Sentinel.

"Yeah? What is it, Norm?" Den asked.

"What would you say makes me unique? Is there anything in particular that makes me 'stand out from the crowd' so to speak?" he quizzed.

Den thought for a moment.

"Well, you do tend to use those er… big, fancy words a lot." he replied.

"Not exactly much to go on, is it?" Norman sighed sadly.

"Cheer up, Norm." Den said sympathetically, "I'm sure you've got something about that makes you.. well, you."

Norman glanced down at his buffers before looking back up over to Den.

"Much appreciated, Den.." he said.

Eventually, Norman was repaired, and he was out on his way to collect some trucks from the Shunting Yard. When he arrived, he saw Diesel, 'Arry and Bert causing trouble. Not wanting to get involved, Norman slunk quietly behind some trucks to collect his train, though he couldn't help but watch the scene unfold.

"Would you just let us past, Diesel?" Percy angrily snapped, "You're going to make us late!"

"Well, you silly steamies are making us late!" Diesel snapped back, bashing the flatbed in front of him straight into Percy. 'Arry and Bert laughed.

"Smelly ol' steamies!" 'Arry chortled and bashed his trucks behind him into Duck.

"If you've got nothing better to do than throw pathetic insults like that at us," he scowled, "Then I suggest you go find something better to do with your time."

"Don't get in our way then!" Bert snickered as he pushed the line of empty coaches in front of him straight into the back of Edward.

"Oof! How rude!" Edward groaned.

The three diesels laughed and scuttled away.

As Norman watched them leave, he pondered for a moment.

"Hmmm, Diesel and his chums seem to get quite a lot of attention by being rude to the other engines… perhaps I should do the same? I could have a go at being a rebellious miscreant myself." he tittered quietly to himself at the very thought of the idea.

After Norman was coupled up to his trucks, he made his way towards Arlesburgh West, where he needed to collect some ballast, and then take it to Brendam Docks. As he rumbled along the line with his train of empty wagons, he saw Oliver waiting at Bluff's Cove station. Norman thought about what Diesel, 'Arry and Bert had said earlier and chuckled to himself as he came to a stop next to Oliver.

"I say, you clanking old rust bucket!" Norman called to Oliver, "Try staying out of my vicinity, I'm an extremely superior mode of transportation compared to you!"

Oliver simply stared at Norman, trying to process what had just been said, before-

"Hey!" he shouted at Norman, "No need to be so rude to me!"

But Norman had already scampered away.

Norman arrived at Arlesburgh West and was still keeping up his gruff and rude persona. He bashed his trucks back and forth under the chute. The trucks did not like this one bit.

"OW! Norman!"

"What's the big idea?!"

"Norm's never like this!"

Bert, who was shunting the ballast trucks onto the chute above Norman, looked down in worry.

"Everything alright, Norman?" he asked worriedly.

"Oh, keep your silly trap shut, you ineffectual, ancient model train!" he barked sharply at Bert, "Don't try and vocalize any of your unintelligent expressions at me!"

Bert was rather hurt by this and slowly puffed away without saying another word.

"Hey, what's the big idea picking on Bert? What did he do to you?" Rex asked from nearby.

"Pipe down, you bygone simpleton!" Norman replied before quickly racing off with his loaded trucks, laughing all the way.

"Some engines…" Mike huffed from the shed.

Norman's strange and unusual rudeness continued throughout the day. Every steam engine he encountered couldn't understand why he was acting this way, but they certainly made sure to tell anyone they met about it.

"Norman called me a corroded accumulation of various bric-a-brac... whatever that means..." Emily told James at Maron.

"Norman overran a red signal whilst passing me at the junction and blew a raspberry at me too!" Toby told Thomas at Ffarquhar.

"Norman called me a galloping sausage!" Gordon told Henry at Knapford. "He could have at least tried to come up with a new insult. Not one that's already been used by Diesel over there."

Upon hearing this, Diesel rolled up slowly from his siding.

"What was that about Norman?" Diesel asked curiously.

"From what I've heard," Henry explained, "He's spent the day being rude to so many of the steam engines, and I'm still not even sure why."

Diesel simply sat in silence for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter.

"Oh this is brilliant! Old Norm has finally decided to understand how to be a proper diesel! I've got to go see him about this!" And with that, Diesel raced off to find Norman.

Norman was now making his way from the Blue Mountain Quarry with a long line of stone trucks to take to Vicarstown. The trucks were very cross at Norman's behaviour and decided to try and teach him a lesson.

They began to biff and bash back and forth against Norman, in an attempt to slow him down to a crawl.

"Hold back! Hold back!" they giggled.

Thick black smoke billowed out from Norman's radiator and he groaned loudly as he pulled the trucks along the line.

"Come along, you foolish imbeciles!" Norman groaned, "Let's… g-get moving!"

"If you say so..." the lead truck said, and they all laughed loud and long as they pushed Norman forward, sending the train rocketing along down the hill.

"AHHHHHHH!" Norman cried out in terror as the train raced along the line, sparks flying from his wheels.

"On, on, on! Faster, faster!" the trucks yelled and shouted.

Up ahead, Diesel was racing along trying to find Norman. He then looked up ahead and saw Norman heading straight for him.

"Oh, Norman! I was just-" Diesel then realised that Norman was barreling out of control with no way to go past him.

"GREASE AND OIL!" Diesel yelped and reversed back as fast as he could.

But it was too late. Norman hurtled forwards and crashed straight into the front of Diesel, sending Norman off the embankment, down into the nearby canal, his trucks getting dragged off the rails with him. Diesel fell straight onto his side, blocking the line.

"Ohhhh botheration…" Norman sighed.

Soon enough, 'Arry and Bert arrived with Rocky. And along with them, was Winston, carrying the Fat Controller. He was not happy at all.

"Norman!" he exclaimed, stepping out of Winston and walking straight over to the diesel sitting on the surface of the water, "What on earth has gotten into you today?! I've heard nothing but complaints of you being rude to the steam engines, bashing trucks and coaches and being reckless and dangerous! This isn't like you at all!"

Norman looked down sadly at the water and sighed.

"I was feeling rather dejected because I don't feel as if there is anything to make me stand out, Sir. I saw Diesel, 'Arry and Bert being rude to some engines earlier this morning and I considered that maybe I should do the same..."

The Fat Controller sighed as he rubbed his temples.

"Norman, just because you see someone like Diesel being rude to others doesn't make it ok for you to do it too. You're usually a very kind and useful engine who always makes sure to get the job done, even despite your engine troubles. And your usage of various kinds of vocabulary certainly makes you stand out."

Norman looked up from the canal and gave a weak smile.

The Fat Controller then turned to the other three diesels.

"So, since you three were the cause of all of this," he said sternly, "I suggest you do Norman's work whilst he is being repaired. And I expect you to apologise to the engines you have been rude towards today.

He then turned back to Norman.

"You should especially apologise to those you were rude to Norman," he said, "And make sure you never try something like this ever again."

"Yes sir..." Norman replied.

Eventually, Norman was repaired again, and back out at work. But he made sure to say sorry to everyone he had been rude to. Thankfully, everyone accepted his apology, and told him that he did have something that made him unique, and that he didn't need to try and copy someone else.

"You're very intelligent," said Edward, "Resourceful and always on time."

"Kind and courteous," said Emily, "Very good qualities for an engine."

"It's really interesting to just listen to you talk so much." said Thomas.

At the end of the day, Norman sat down in a siding by the Dieselworks and his driver climbed down from his cab and placed an open book in front of him.

"Ah. Sense and Sensibility. What a classic." Norman smiled happily as he began to read his book.

Just then, Diesel, 'Arry and Bert rolled past him on their way to their sheds. Diesel and 'Arry simply scowled at him with vacant expressions and hurried off. Bert however, stopped next to Norman and looked at him and his book.

"Whatcha readin'?" he asked.

"Sense and Sensibility, Bert my good friend. I don't suppose you'd be interested in a chapter or two?"

"Yeah, I'd like that." Bert replied, and sat quietly as he listened intently to Norman, as he began to read.

"It isn't what we say or think that defines us," Norman began. "But what we do."

Norman felt more than happy that he finally managed to get the courage to speak to the other engines and to not be so embarrassed around others. But he was even happier to have started an unlikely friendship with Bert.

THE END

Norman is a character infamous in the TV series for not really having anything to do or much of a personality, so I knew that I had to write a story about him. I definitely think his personality from Enterprising Engines would be great for him, and I had a lot of fun writing all the extravagant insults he had for the steam engines. Norman becoming friends with Bert at the end was an interesting idea that I could potentially see more being done with in the future. I'll also be posting more stories so make sure to look out for these in the future:

Safety First - Laura, Miss Jenny's Land Rover, is an honorary member of the Pack, who is rather feisty and enjoys parking where she wants based on how comfortable the spot is, rather than safety.

Thumper Keeps Up - Ever since the incident with Boulder, Thumper has been kept working in a specific area of the Blue Mountain Quarry, and they try to keep calm and safe. They work rather slowly though, which doesn't please Sir Handel and Duncan at all.

Scrapyard Stakeout - Reg enjoys working at Cronk's Scrapyard but doesn't enjoy scrapping perfectly good machines or engines. One day, he comes across a scared little tank engine named Nelly and does his best to hide her from 'Arry and Bert, who have reported a missing scrap engine.