Luke limped wearily towards Skarloey station. There, he could see a gleaming mirror on the landscape nearby.
He had heard stories from his friends- usually Rheneas, whom he saw asleep in the Depot on his way past- about the line when he had been unwell or sleeping badly, and he heard a lake being mentioned by someone, but he couldn't remember by whom. Either way, he thought that he would drown himself in the lake in order to redeem himself for what he had done to that poor yellow engine.
He watched as a workman placed a stone on the line.
"Hey, do we still get arrested for assisted suicide if the one who commits suicide is an engine?" He asked his friend, who merely shrugged.
"I dunno." He replied. "Would anyone take this seriously?"
Luke felt his firebox grow heavy at the thought of leaving his friends, but what choice did he have?
He couldn't see an end to this overwhelming hell; one in which he burdened his friends and messed up so many times trying to repay their kindness to him.
Why did he let Peter Sam and Rheneas find him on his first day?
He reversed, trembling and pale as he did so, then, in a cloud of steam, he charged towards the rock with a long, loud whistle. The workman driving him jumped clear as Luke hit the stone. Sparks flew from the rails and a loud, piercing scream filled the air as Luke's wheels came off the track and demolished the fence. He sped on across the grass, sending mud and small stones flying up and smearing his bright green livery.
As he gained momentum, he didn't scream or cry out in alarm- instead he closed his eyes and silently thanking his friends and his crew for everything they had done for him and hoped they would not blame themselves for his death- for they were not to blame.
'This is the end for me. I am so sorry, my dear, sweet friends, for putting you all through this. Please, do not weep for me.' Luke prayed silently.
Faster and faster he rolled, and soon, he felt his front wheels leave the grass. His front end rammed into the surface of the lake, sending violent ripples and splashes across and above the surface, startling many small fish wishing to escape the wrath of the circle of life.
"Oh. That didn't go as planned." Luke whispered to himself, miserably. "Now I'm stuck."
But the workmen were more than relieved about this- for once they had found out what Luke had really wanted to do; they had been unwilling to assist in such a horrifying and tragic act- yet Luke never revealed his intentions until just before the rock was rolled onto the line.
"We better get someone with the break down crane." The workman who had laid the stone down said.
"You fool! We need to get him out of there, first! And there's no way of doing it by land." The second workman argued.
"We'll hire a tractor." The third- Luke's temporary driver- decided. "Maybe Farmer Fleetwood will lend us Jessica."
Luke's boiler ran cold. Who was Jessica? He wondered, panicked.
"If you say so," The second workman agreed. "Then we can find a crane and an engine and get him back on the line."
"Pity we don't have Melody round, now." The first workman said wistfully. "She was pretty darn handy with a hook."
"Well, she was the sort who either gave a helping hook, or a right hook." The second workman recalled. "Never mind- the Thin Controller has acquired a temporary engine to help us out. Smudger, I think it is."
The third workman glanced across the lake to where Luke was now precariously on the edge of the lake. He had no idea why this engine wanted to commit suicide, but he was relieved it hadn't happened- he had no idea how he or his mates would have coped with helping to kill an engine- particularly a nice one like Luke.
…..
A/N: Well, here's Luke's next suicide attempt.
On a brief note, I am pleased to announce that Tale of Callathain will be republished! It will be fairly dark, and Smudger will play a big role! I also have two OCs appearing- Melody and a female NG diesel. Name will be revealed later ;)
Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed my update, and rock on, awesome people! And thank you all again so, so much for the support and love for this story!
