Chapter Ten: Fixed Birthday
"Oh, honey. I'm sorry to hear that.", Rayne soothed as she embraced her crying daughter on her daughter's bed.
Cara sobbed into her mother's right shoulder blade, "It was my grandmother's guitar, and I swore to take good care of it."
"Shh. It wasn't your fault, my dear. It's the bullies' fault. I know you always take great care of it.", Rayne assured her, "I know you love this guitar, and so do I, but unfortunately, some things change."
This made Cara feel a tiny bit better, but she felt devastated as she loved playing the guitar with a passion, "If only this guitar could get fixed or a new one. Perhaps a red one because James is red and red is the colour of love and passion."
"Then you might get it on your birthday.", Rayne told her daughter with a sad smile.
"Really?", Cara asked hopefully.
"Yes.", Rayne replied, "But please remember it wasn't your fault with the guitar incident."
"I know.", Cara sighed as she took a deep breath.
"That's my girl. Tonight we will be having pizza.", Rayne explained as she asked a question, "What would you like?"
"Cheese pizza, please.", Cara responded.
"Okay, love. I'll be back.", Rayne explained as she went on her way to make the order as it was getting late.
As she left the room, Cara laid down on her flower-themed bed as she sighed sadly, "Oh, grandmother. I'm so sorry. I wish you were here."
There, Cara hopped off her bed and went to the window to allow the sunset breeze hit her tears to dry them out. It felt pleasant for the young girl before she sighed again and sobbed. Luckily, Stella sensed the young girl's emotion as she whined and approached her. She nudged and licked Cara's hand as Cara gasped in surprise. After that, she hugged Stella and sobbed as the dog allowed her emotions to run through. Cara hoped things would get better.
…
At Tidmouth Sheds, James had the biggest frown upon his face. The engines took notice as Thomas asked, "What's the matter, James? Pulling waste trucks again?"
"No.", James replied, and he growled, "It's those bullies. They destroyed Cara'a guitar, and it's broken into pieces."
All the engines gasped in horror, "This is outrageous!", Gordon yelled.
"How dare they do this to Cara!", Henry cried.
"The poor girl. She would have been shattered.", Emily sighed sadly.
"Cara was distraught, and just seeing her upset made me feel terrible.", James explained as the image of Cara in tears made him feel awful, "I wish I could fix the guitar if I had hands."
"Fixing guitars is not that easy, I'm afraid.", Edward pointed out.
"Which is why I have an idea.", James explained.
"An idea? What idea?", Percy asked curiously.
"Thomas. Remember how you mentioned that Cara's birthday is next month?", James asked.
Thomas blinked as a nod, "Yeah."
"Well, I thought we should do a birthday surprise here!", James grinned.
The engines liked that idea, especially Rebecca, "Oh yes! Everyone loves birthday surprises!"
"That's not all.", James added, "I thought her birthday gift should be a new guitar. Cara loves playing the guitar, and I wanted to make her feel better
"But how can you do that, James? We don't make money like humans do.", Nia pointed out.
"No, but I can explain the idea to her mother. I'm sure she would like the idea.", James assured his friends, "I want to make my friend happy. Our friend happy."
"James.", Edward spoke up before giving James a warm smile, "That's the most selfless thing a friend can do. You should feel proud of yourself."
Edward saw James smiling back as James decided to explain his plan to his friends about Cara's upcoming birthday. All the engines liked the idea, but will The Fat Controller allow this, and if so, when to celebrate it? In the morning or in the afternoon? Once the plan was settled, James gave a determined look, "I will talk to The Fat Controller tomorrow."
…
The next day, James was free for the day and decided to keep the idea of Cara's birthday party a secret so Cara would not get her fun spoiled. When Cara wasn't around, James explained to her mother the idea he and his friends had. She thought it was an excellent idea as she told James she was thinking of buying a red guitar for her as a gift. James loved the birthday gift idea, but now he had to say to The Fat Controller about the idea.
Luckily, when James explained to him about his idea, The Fat Controller smiled as he thought it was a lovely idea. He planned that on Cara's birthday, everything should be normal until in the late afternoon, they should celebrate for Cara's birthday. James thanked him but now all he could do was wait for the day to arrive to sort out the plan.
…
For the past month, Cara slowly but surely got better. It took a lot of attempts to help her get better, but James knew that it would take time. James would try many ways to cheer her up, such as allowing Stella to tag along to have a picnic at Henry's Forest to racing down Gordon's Hill to both sing songs together.
Cara felt grateful for James to be supportive. Having a best friend that would do anything to make her feel better made her feel lucky, as she never had that experience until James came along. It was just James that cheered her up, all the other engines, mainly The Steam Team, helped her get there to be the bright and happy girl she once was.
As Cara got better, her birthday was closer, and the engines, The Fat Controller, and Rayne wasted no time planning the day and seeing how it would work. It wasn't easy at first with the agreement, but once everything was settled, the birthday surprise was set in stone and ready to go.
…
August the 20th came by, and The annoying alarm clock greeted Cara in the morning. She moaned before tapping the button to stop the annoying noise before opening her milky blue eyes. Once she was awake, Stella greeted her as she licked her face happily while wagging her fluffy tail, "S-Stella!", Cara giggled, "P-please stop!"
Stella obeyed as she made a whiny noise before Cara cuddled her, "Good morning, girl."
"And good morning, birthday girl!", Rayne exclaimed as she brought delicious pancakes with butter and honey on top.
"Good morning, Mum.", Cara smiled happily as Rayne placed the plate of pancakes on her lap.
"It's your favourite! Pancakes!", Rayne grinned.
Cara took a good whiff at the aroma before she got excited, "Pancakes. My favourite. Thank you, Mum."
There, Cara hugged her mother as Rayne kissed her daughter's forehead, "You're welcome, sweetheart.", Rayne replied before she explained, "I prepared some lovely clothes for you to wear as there will be a big surprise for you later."
This got Cara smiling, and she asked curiously, "Is it for my birthday?"
"Maybe.", Rayne smirked as she said, "Enjoy your breakfast, sweetie."
There, Cara wasted no time enjoying the lovely breakfast her mother prepared for her as Stella kept begging for a piece of pancake. Before Cara could eat her last piece, she happily gave the piece to Stella as Stella gently grabbed the pancake and started munching it to her heart's content.
After that, Cara went to where the clothes were with the help of Stella leading the way. Although she couldn't see the clothes, she had this feeling it was nice clothes. Sure enough, it was. It was a beautiful scarlet red dress with flat red shoes with red roses on end, and red rose earrings. There, Cara changed into a nice outfit before Rayne stepped in and smiled, "You look beautiful in red."
Cara smiled back as she twirled around with her dress, "Thank you, Mum."
Rayne chuckled before she did her daughter's hair in a braid and placed a red rose headband on. She wanted to make her daughter feel special as Cara was such a wonderful girl with an intelligent mind and a heart of gold. Once her daughter was ready, they heard a familiar whistle, "Here's James!"
"James!", Cara exclaimed as she rushed to the front door. Stella made it first and barked excitedly.
Once Cara got to the door and opened it as Stella went flying and hopped on James' running plate and licked his face. James laughed, "Ah! Stella! No! Hahaha! That tickles! Hahahahahahaha!"
After Stella stopped giving James some puppy kisses, Cara presented herself in a lovely outfit. James took immediate notice and wowed at it, "Wow! Red does suit you! You look splendid like me!"
Cara giggled, "Thank you, James."
As James complimented Cara, Rayne got out and smiled, "Good morning, James."
"Good morning, Rayne.", James greeted back.
They chatted about how their morning went until Cara's mother mentioned, "Remember James, don't spill the beans."
"I promise I won't.", James replied as he gave her a wink, "Are you ready?"
"I am!", Cara replied as she wasted no time hopping inside James' cab with such excitement.
There, James tooted his whistle and yelled, "Let's go, birthday girl!"
As James went on his way, Stella chased James and barked happily with her tail wagging as Cara's mother waved, "I love you, Cara!"
"I love you too, Mum!", Cara called back as she waved at her.
…
As James went through many parts of Sodor, Cara was greeted by many engines as they wished her a Happy Birthday to her as this made Cara feel better. Cara wanted to know what surprise James had in store, but James didn't answer her question as he didn't want to spoil the party. No matter how hard Cara tried to ask with such curiosity, James would not answer her question as he explained it was a surprise.
…
After hours of travelling, the sun was ready to set, yet Cara still wondered about the surprise. There, James grinned, "Your birthday surprise is on its way."
Cara couldn't wait as James slowly puffed his way to Knapford Station before heading to Tidmouth Sheds. He wanted to build suspense for her, so her excitement built up. He wanted to make sure Cara had the best birthday surprise ever. Once they arrived at the turntable at Tidmouth Sheds, everything was quiet and still. Cara was confused, "Where's the surprise, James?"
Just before James could answer, nine engines appeared out of the berth as they all cheered with a loud whistle, "Surprise!"
Cara gasped in fright at first before she smiled, "Oh my goodness. You did this for me?", she asked as she felt tears escaping her eyes.
"We certainly did, Cara.", spoke The Fat Controller.
"We wanted to do this for you.", Cara's mother added.
Cara was in awe as she cried in joy while covering her mouth, "This… this is the best birthday surprise!"
The engines cheered in joy as they whistled loudly while Toby rang his bell. Tidmouth Sheds were covered with banners and balloons, and they wanted to bring a warm and joyful atmosphere to the young girl. There, they celebrated and sang for Cara. James grinned in delight as seeing Cara's face of joy made him happy. He felt proud to make Cara's day as he wanted to make her feel better again.
Once the singing was over, Rayne came out with an odd-shaped birthday present that was wrapped in a flower-themed wrapper with a cute white bow on top, "Cara. This is for you.", Rayne smiled as she passed the gift to her daughter.
There, Cara began to rip the wrapper as the engines, her mother, and The Fat Controller watched in awe. There, Cara gasped when she felt a strum that sounded familiar, "A… a guitar?"
Cara's mother nodded, "Yes, and feel what it said."
She didn't waste a moment as she traced her fingers on her red acoustic guitar and felt golden braille on it as she read, "Best friends forever."
At that moment, Cara teared up again as she turned her direction to James and asked, "Is that your idea to add it to my new red guitar?"
James smiled, "Yes, and you deserve it!"
Cara began to cry as the engines gasped in shock. Why was she crying? They would get the answer when Cara climbed onto James' running plate and hugged his left cheek, "This is the best present I ever got! Thank you, James, and thank you, everyone!"
"You're welcome, Cara!", everyone chimed as they all cheered for her.
Cara and the others agreed that it was the best birthday surprise ever, and it was the best day ever for Cara. Cara would never forget this day as she usually has lonely birthday days, but today was full of friends and excitement, and that's something she would forever remember and cherish. Cars felt lucky to have amazing friends and a loving family.
