It was a warm, sunny day in the peaceful town of barksburg. The trees swayed in the cool breeze as the clouds swirled and danced in the blue sky.

At least, that's what Sam thought. The rust colored fox was driving with his best friend, Satie, on a rocky mountain side road. The car was veering dangerously close to the edge. "Sam don't you think you should pay more attention to the road than your phone?" Satie asked Sam, who had his full focus on his phone. "No way! There are millions of right-now'ogram videos being uploaded every second! Who's gonna heart them all, Satie? WHO!" Sam screamed nearly throwing the car off the cliff.

Sam hadn't really gotten over his addiction to right-now'ogram, Bortron's leading social network.

"You're gonna be the death of me, i just know it" Satie said, the rabbit's face buried in her hands to cope with her friend's stupidity. Just then another car beeped at them both loudly, swerving to the side quickly. "Holy shit!" Sam screamed as he spun the steering wheel, practically throwing the car off the cliff and sending it cascading down the mountain and into a set of bushes.

"Holy shit! I killed them!" A hyena said, stepping out of his car and staring over the mountain edge. "Aw shit, gotta get ma toiletries'n hightail the fuck outa here!"


"Well diddly darn dammit" Sam cursed looking at the now mangled piece of metal infront of him "now how are we supposed to get to the station, Sam? You fucking crashed our ca- No MY car! Since you fucking totaled yours!" Satie yelled, shoving a digit into Sam's chest. "S-sorry Sat-" "Sorry doesn't work when you're an idiot, Sam" Satie spat, crossing her arms. Sam felt guilty now.

Sun rose above saffron skies. Pink clouds skittered about, sun crawled across saffron skies. Red mountains shone brightly as sun sat under saffron skies, bidding a good night to double moons. But for the moons, day was only just starting. Stars twinkled about, not near as bright as the blinding rings in the sky.

Suddenly a whistle rang about in the dead silence. Company! "Look Sam! Another person!" Satie said, practically slapping Sam in the face. "Oh yeah, it's just Muriel on her goods run! I think she's headed to BarksBurg!" Sam said, staring at the orange steam engine pulling a long and winding train of cars behind it.

"Hey! Hey! Muriel! Stop please!" Satie idiotically shouted from the mountain peak. "Ugh, just go down to her" Sam said, running down the mountain side. "Oh bu- ugh okay!" Satie said, following shortly after. Sam ran down to the small narrow gauge engine, next to one of the open vans. "Okay... we jump in on the count of three!" Sam said, Satie next to him.

"One..."

"Two..."

"Three!"

Sam jumped toward he open van, getting a grip on the door handle, but not getting fully into the car. Subsequently he was dragged along with the train, while Satie managed to get into the van successfully. "Shit!" Satie cursed, grabbing Sam's hand and pulling. "I can't pull you! You weigh like a thousand pounds!" Satie said. "Are you calling me fat?" Sam said, clearly offended at Satie's joke. "Maybe"

Pulling him into the van, Satie took a long, deep, and heavy breath. "Shit. That was crazy!" She said, lying down on the hard wood floor. "Hey Sam, you alright there buddy? You look deep in thought" Satie said to Sam, currently staring at the small locomotive ahead.

No reply...

"O-okay... just tell me if you need anything" She said, lying once again back onto the cold floor.


The small locomotive twisted and turned around the mountains, clearing all the snow and debris in her path. Her four small wheels only powered by her one, long, and tiny piston. Her boiler stuck up vertically, almost as tall as her funnel. Her cab was small and stubby. Her name was Muriel. And she was the smallest narrow gauge locomotive on the railway. Muriel's tender grinded along behind her, just as the many many many cars as well. The tall and skinny brakevan wobbled and shook, grinding against the sharp curves of the rails. Muriel leaned inwards, as she went around a steep and tight bend.

Blowing her whistle, she sped off into the night. Leaving a cloud of steam and smoke behind her.

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