CHARLIE GLOWS AWAY

The shunting yard by the big station is always very busy, with many an engine coming and going to leave or pick up their trains. Stafford, Stanley and Philip bustled about the yard, trying their best to keep up.

"Phew! This is the last of Henry's heavy goods," Stafford panted, pushing some trucks into a siding before coming to a stop beside an equally exhausted Stanley.

"Thank goodness. Philip's sorting out Emily's coaches?"

"Yes, but what about Mavis' empty trucks?" Stafford asked anxiously, "She's still waiting at the station." Stanley raised an eyebrow.

"Wasn't Charlie supposed to take care of that?" Stafford rolled his eyes.

"Supposed to, yes. Where is he?" Then, the two heard a chorus of laughter. Stanley and Stafford shared an unimpressed look.

"Your turn," Stafford said quickly. Stanley sighed and rolled to the other side of the yard, where a certain purple tank engine had surrounded himself with trucks.

"...and Rebecca got a tomato thrown at her! Well hey, they do say vegetables are good for you, but I wouldn't quite fancy a giant banana right on top of my salad!" The trucks guffawed.

"She really does look like that!"

"I thought I was the only one!" Charlie smirked proudly.

"Thank you, thank you, I-"

"Charlie…" Charlie stopped and was surprised to see Stanley giving him an annoyed look. Charlie chuckled.

"Oh, hey, Stan! I'm just wrapping up this bit, so if you could just wait a minute-"

"Charlie, please, we have work to do and don't have time for this. Can you just fetch Mavis' empties? They're over on the far siding." Charlie snorted.

"Alright, alright, don't get your buffers in a twist, mister shiny smokebox." Stanley sighed as Charlie rolled away, giving his usual apologies to the trucks. Stafford rolled alongside Stanley.

"I hope the big engines don't complain to us again," Stanley mumbled, "They never seem to take it up with him."

"Because he won't listen," Stafford sympathized, "I hope you don't mind me saying so, Stanley, but I sometimes wonder if it'd be easier to work around here if Charlie wasn't around." Stanley smiled wryly.

"Would keep us on schedule at least." The two chuckled and returned to work, unaware that Charlie had heard every word they said. Charlie gritted his teeth as he buffered up to the empty trucks.

"Oh, so they think they don't need me, do they? Huh! Bunch of ingrates, I keep this yard running too! They just don't have a sense of humour!" Charlie continued grumbling to himself as he brought the empty trucks to the station. He wasn't paying attention and bashed the trucks straight into Mavis. Mavis glared.

"Be more careful, Charlie!" Mavis honked her horn and rolled away. Charlie growled.

"'Be more careful', she says," he mocked, "I'll show them. If they don't want me around, so be it! Let's see how well they get on without me helping them!" Charlie reversed out of the station, still pouting.

Charlie rolled towards the old maintenance shed beside Tidmouth Sheds, his pout replaced by a smirk.

"They'll come looking for me once they realize just how useful I am, surely!" Charlie thought aloud as he stopped in between two long rows of trucks.

"And funny too, don't forget that. Funnier than those stick-in-the-muds in any case. Maybe this good ol' joke will get them to lighten up a bit." Charlie got cut off by a whistle. He gasped excitedly.

"Oh! That must be someone looking for me already!" Charlie reversed out of the shed, dawning a showman's grin.

"Congratulations, you lucky engine, you found..." Charlie trailed off, as the whistle had only belonged to Douglas, who was passing by the sheds and didn't even look at him.

"...me." Charlie did his best not to look disappointed.

"Your loss!" he shouted at Douglas, who only puffed out of sight. Charlie scoffed as he rolled back into the shed.

"Fine then. I'll just have to wait here. Alone. With these trucks." After a few moments of silence, Charlie sighed, already growing bored.

Back in the yard, Stanley was taking on water at the water column when Philip raced alongside, looking worried.

"Stanley, Stanley! Have you seen Charlie?" Stanley frowned.

"Not since I asked him to get Mavis' trucks. Why?"

"I haven't seen him all day! He must be missing!" Philip exclaimed, starting to panic, "We have to go and find him!" Before Stanley could reply, Stafford rolled up, rather unperturbed.

"I wouldn't worry, Philip. Charlie must've went off on some errand without telling us. Wouldn't be the first time."

"Quite right," Stanley agreed, though he didn't sound as confident as he would've liked, "Charlie can take care of himself. He'll be back soon, I'm sure of it. In the meantime, do you mind fetching Duck's incoming ballast?" Philip grinned eagerly.

"Sir, yes, sir!" he cried and scurried away. Stanley chuckled, but couldn't help but think something wasn't quite right.

The sun became lower and lower in the sky, but still no one had come to find Charlie. Charlie was growing more and more restless.

"Where is everyone? Someone has to have noticed I'm gone by now. To think when Thomas goes missing he 'must be found', but apparently not me. Favoritism, am I right?" Charlie smiled at the lifeless trucks around him, but of course they didn't laugh. Charlie sighed.

"It's not as funny when there isn't an audience…" Suddenly, he heard a clanging sound. Charlie frowned and reversed out of the siding, only to see a crow smacking a piece of metal against one of the trucks. He then noticed the crates inside the truck, on which labels could be partially made out. They said "Glow-in-the-Dark Paint." Charlie gasped and smirked.

"This just keeps getting better and better!" he giggled to himself.

Soon, night fell and the engines at Knapford Sheds were arriving to sleep for the night. Stanley arrived last, taking a glance at Charlie's empty berth before reversing into his own.

"You still haven't seen Charlie?" he asked Stafford.

"No, and no one else seems to have seen him either. It is a bit strange."

"What? What's happened to Charlie?" Harvey gasped worriedly from the far end of the shed. Stanley sighed.

"He seems to have mysteriously disappeared, or so it seems."

"Shouldn't you go looking for him then?" Harvey suggested earnestly, "He might be in trouble." Stafford thought for a moment.

"He must've simply slept in another shed, he might still be angry at us. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about, he'll turn up in the morning." Harvey and Stanley shared an unsure look. Unable to do anything about the situation, though, the engines went uneasily to sleep.

Charlie crept up slowly towards the shed, a cheeky smile plastered on his face. His face and smokebox were covered in green glow-in-the-dark paint. Harvey, Philip, Stanley and Stafford were all fast asleep.

"Stanley, Stanley..." Charlie whispered, changing his voice to sound what he thought would sound spooky. Stanley kept on snoring. Charlie glared.

"Stan!" Stanley opened a sleepy eye.

"Huh? Wha...?" Through his barely open eyes, he could make out a glowing shape that almost resembled…

"...Charlie?" Charlie grinned.

"Yes, it's me, Stanley! You're having a dream right now! A dream about your dear old, and very funny, friend, who you miss very much!" Stanley just looked confused, but Charlie went on.

"All those extra trucks and coaches that you and Stafford had to shunt because you didn't have me around! Oh, the weight on your buffers! But it could be lifted if you found me!" Charlie reversed away, leaving Stanley to look around in confusion.

"...huh." He quickly closed his eyes and went to sleep again. Charlie wasn't done, however. He came back as soon as he was sure Stanley was asleep and rolled up to Stafford.

"Stafford, oh Stafford! It's me, Charlie! Why haven't you tried to find me, Stafford? Do you really not miss me? I think your guilt is why I'm here! But I'm not… actually here, it's a dream!" Unfortunately for Charlie, Stafford wasn't the one he woke up. He heard a loud gasp and looked over to see Philip, staring agape. Charlie smiled sheepishly.

"Uh…"

"Charlie! It's you! Or is it really you? Why are you glowing? Where have you been?" Charlie looked across the shed hastily as the other engines started to stir from Philip's loud questions.

"Shh, okay?" he hissed, interrupting the boxcab, "I'm, uh, hiding! I was trying to tell Stafford in a dream, but you must have gotten the dream instead!" Philip gasped excitedly.

"Wow! I got Stafford's dream! I can't wait to tell him!" Charlie smirked.

"Please do! Also, tell him and Stanley to come looking for me!" With that, Charlie rolled away and the green glow over the sheds disappeared. Philip stared in awe until Charlie was out of sight.

The next morning, right at the crack of dawn, Stanley and Stafford were still asleep… but not for long. A blaring horn blasted in the shed, waking the two, along with Harvey, up instantly. The three groaned from being woken up as Philip grinned excitedly.

"Oh, you're finally awake! I could hardly sleep all night waiting to give you a message!" Stafford yawned.

"Message? Can't it wait another… five…" Stafford started to fall asleep again, but was quickly woken up again by another blast of Philip's horn.

"No, it can't, silly! Charlie came to me last night in a dream I had, telling me to tell you to find him! He said he's hiding somewhere!" Stanley and Stafford exchanged a look.

"What's he talking about, Stanley?" Stafford asked. Stanley grimaced.

"Erm… I'm not sure, but I think I saw Charlie last night too-"

"See, I told you!" Philip cut in, talking a mile a minute, "Charlie must've given Stanley the dream too! He was supposed to give you it too, Stafford, but he accidentally gave it to me! I wonder how that works. You should ask him when you find him!" Before Stanley or Stafford could answer, Philip raced out of the shed upon hearing Gordon's whistle.

"Coming, Gordon!" he called. Stafford blinked before glancing at Stanley.

"Are you sure you saw Charlie?" he asked in disbelief. Stanley chuckled awkwardly.

"Well, er… I must've seen something. I remember some sort of glow that had Charlie's voice." To Stanley's surprise, Stafford started rolling away.

"S-Stafford?"

"We're getting to the bottom of this," Stafford called back, "Come on!" Stanley shared a glance with Harvey and reluctantly, Stanley followed.

Stanley and Stafford hurried down the main line, Stafford mulling in front.

"Now, if I were Charlie, where I would run off to…?" he mused.

"Maybe another yard? Somewhere he'd have an audience," Stanley suggested. Stafford was about to answer when they heard a deep-toned whistle. The two looked over and saw Douglas on the other line, slowing down to talk to them.

"Och aye, I know where he is." Stanley and Stafford were stunned.

"You do?" Stanley inquired.

"Aye, he's in that wee shed beside Tidmouth. Making a big racket tae." Douglas whistled and continued on, leaving the two engines behind. Stanley groaned.

"Oh, we're in for it now. The engines are never gonna let us hear the end of Charlie keeping them up all night."

"Never mind, let's just try and find him," Stafford soothed and continued on, Stanley following behind.

Stafford and Stanley rolled up to the shed, each noticing a green glow coming from between the rows of trucks.

"That's the glow I saw!" Stanley gasped. Stafford advanced into the shed.

"It's time to do your fair share, Charlie!" he called but suddenly stopped.

"What's the matter, Stafford?" Stanley asked worriedly. Stafford groaned.

"He's not here! How…?" He then noticed green glow-in-the-dark paint splattered around the buffers.

"Well, that explains a lot," Stafford muttered, deadpan.

"So he covered himself in glow-in-the-dark paint…? Then that means he came to our shed last night!" Stanley exclaimed.

"But where is he now?" Stafford wondered.

Charlie was now in another hiding spot - inside Henry's Tunnel, waiting to be found. Charlie groaned in frustration.

"Oh, bother those big engines! Saying I shouldn't be by their shed, who says I shouldn't? Sounds like a very biased selection process if you ask me." Charlie looked around, but no one was around to hear his joke.

"Hmph. Isn't anyone gonna come find me?" he grumbled bitterly.

Meanwhile, Stafford and Stanley were still continuing their search for Charlie.

"I hope we're not gone too long, Philip might not be able to hold up," Stanley fretted.

"He'll be alright, he has enough energy for three. Besides, it's still early; we just have to find Charlie and…" Stafford started to slow down.

"Uh oh." Stafford groaned as he slowly drew to stop, just inside a tunnel. Stanley braked behind him, chuckling.

"Run out of battery?" he asked knowingly. Stafford smiled sheepishly.

"...yes. Sorry, I forgot to recharge before we left."

"Ah well, I can always push you." Stanley buffered up behind Stafford and started to push when he noticed that inside the tunnel, there were splatters of glow-in-the-dark paint on their line. Stanley gasped.

"Stafford, look! It's a trail! This must lead to where Charlie's gone off to!"

"Brilliant, Stanley!" Stafford grinned, "We just have to follow it!"

"We can't do that until tonight, though. The paint's only visible at night." Stafford blushed.

"Oh. Of course, I knew that. Seems Charlie has another day off."

"And hopefully his last," added Stanley wryly. He whistled and pulled Stafford back to the yard to get recharged.

That night, after another long day of shunting, Stafford and Stanley went out searching again, retracing their steps to the tunnel where they first saw the splatters of paint.

"Right, let's find that Charlie," Stafford smirked and surged ahead, Stanley puffing behind. They followed the trail all up the main line, Stanley pushing Stafford along so as to conserve his battery. They approached Henry's Tunnel and noticed a particular glow coming from inside. Stafford chuckled.

"Looks like we've found him." He was about to roll ahead when he heard Stanley clear his throat.

"Stanley? What is it?" To his surprise, Stanley was smirking.

"How about we go and see if the Steamworks is still open, eh?" Stafford took a moment to realize what Stanley was getting at and smirked back.

"Oh, I see. Am I thinking what you're thinking?"

"Hopefully. Come on, it's not that far. Let's pay our own little joke on the jokester." Stanley and Stafford reversed away from the tunnel, chuckling to themselves.

In the tunnel, Charlie was becoming increasingly miserable.

"Okay, this isn't funny anymore," he muttered but gained a determined expression.

"No! I must struggle on! The look on their faces will make it all worth it!" Charlie's smile melted away as he looked around the barren and lonely tunnel.

"Why hasn't anyone come to find me? They're not really better off without me, are they?" Just as Charlie had this moment of self-doubt, he heard saw what looked like two faces coming from the other side of the tunnel. Charlie froze in terror as Stanley and Stafford's glowing faces approached him, Stanley right in front of him.

"It's not fair to hide away like this, Charlie!" Stafford's voice rang out.

"Your friends had to do all your shunting for you for two whole days!" Stanley added. Charlie slammed his eyes shut.

"It's not real, it's not real, it's not real…" he whimpered. He barely opened an eye, but the faces were still there.

"No one wants to come find you because you play instead of work!" Stanley continued. Charlie was absolutely terrified.

"I-I'm sorry, honest, I am! I'll do my shunting from now on, no interruptions! In fact, I-I'll do all yours and Philip's too!" Charlie stammered, "Just please, leave me alone!" Stanley and Stafford's faces started to back away.

"Think of your friends, think of your friends…" they wailed as they seemed to almost disappear from sight. Charlie groaned.

"Now I know why Henry hates tunnels…"

Charlie quietly reversed into Knapford Sheds, his face and smokebox clean. He sighed and glanced at the other four engines in the shed, shuddering at Stanley and Stafford. He reversed all the way into his berth, unaware that Stanley and Stafford were smirking.

The next day, Charlie seemed almost like a completely different engine. Stanley and Stafford watched in the big station, impressed, as Charlie hastily arranged a rake of express coaches for Rebecca.

"See? I'm useful, really useful, really really useful- oh wait, no, I shouldn't use two. Ugh, focus, Charlie! I'm so useful, and funny, that everyone will always want me around!" Rebecca looked back in surprise as Charlie didn't bump the coaches into her, instead smoothly coming to a stop and reversing away to get another train. As Rebecca departed, Harvey rolled alongside Stanley and Stafford, staring at Charlie in bewilderment.

"I've never seen Charlie work so hard before," he remarked. Stanley and Stafford grinned.

"Indeed, haven't had to scramble to get everyone out on time," Stafford agreed.

"Not one joke to the trucks, either," Stanley added. Harvey raised an eyebrow at them.

"What exactly did you say to Charlie to make him do all this shunting?" Stanley and Stafford winked at each other.

"Whooo can say?" they joked before laughing. Charlie, who was already shunting the Slip Coaches into another platform, saw Stanley and Stafford laughing and gasped.

"Wait… they… They tricked me! Used my own trick against me, no less!" He then started to laugh.

"Oh, that's good! That's really good!" Charlie, Stanley, Stafford continued laughing, leaving Harvey to simply watch, confused.

Author's Note: I wasn't expecting to do this, but someone I know talked about how Diesel Glows Away could easily work with Charlie and I was extremely interested to see how that would play out. I loved writing this, this helped me figure out a lot of things, mainly developing the dynamic between the shunting yard engines. Stanley won't be as present at the yard in future stories as the other three, but it's nice to get my new interpretation of him out there at least; doesn't like conflict, wants to please others and generally a softie. Stafford I've written a bit at this point, but I think here was his most proactive role which I'm excited about, I didn't expect to get such mileage out of a character I could initially care less about. The same could be said for Charlie, who I adore writing at this point. Including other side characters like Douglas, Harvey and Mavis was fun too as well as reestablishing Knapford Sheds (along with Harvey still sleeping there), which will pop up every now and then. I made it a mission almost not to let any Steam Team members speak in this since I figured it'd be great to have a story (and episode if this was televised) where they didn't, and I think it turned out well. An original story is in the works but that might take some more time to cook up, but don't worry, its on its way. In the meantime, thank you for reading!