Thomas the Tank Engine has worked his branch line for many years, and knows it very well.
"You know just where to stop, Thomas," laughed his driver one day as they reached a station. "You could almost manage without me!"
Thomas had become conceited. He didn't realise his driver was joking. He was so proud of being given that kind of praise, too proud for his own good, that he decided to tell Percy and Toby about it when he returned to Ffarquhar Sheds.
"Guess what, you two?" he boasted. "My driver says I don't need him now!" Of course, Percy and Toby were not convinced at all.
"Don't be so daft!" snorted Percy.
"I would never go without my driver," added Toby earnestly. "I'd be frightened."
But Thomas did not listen. "Pooh!" he boasted. "I'm not scared."
"You'd never dare!"
"I would, then. You'll see."
Thomas was determined to prove to both of them that he could go without his driver - and the following morning, he would do just that, but not necessarily in the way he expected to.
It was dark the following morning when the firelighter came. Thomas drowsed comfortably as the warmth spread through his boiler. He woke again in daylight. Percy and Toby were still asleep.
Suddenly, Thomas remembered. "Silly stick-in-the-muds!" he chuckled. "I'll show them! Driver hasn't come yet, so here goes."
He cautiously tried one piston, then the other. "They're moving ... they're moving!" he whispered. "I'll just go out, then I'll stop, and WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH! That'll make them jump." And very, very quietly, he headed for the door.
Thomas thought he was being clever, but really, he was only moving because a careless cleaner had meddled with his controls. He soon found his mistake. He tried to "WHEEEEEEEEESH", but he couldn't. He tried to stop, but he couldn't. He just kept rolling along!
"Those buffers will stop me," he thought hopefully, but that siding had no buffers, it just ended at the road. Thomas' wheels left the rails and crunched the tarmac. "HORRORS!" he exclaimed, and shut his eyes. He didn't dare look at what was coming next.
The stationmaster was having ham and eggs for breakfast with his family. There was a crash - the house rocked, broken glass tinkled, and plaster peppered their plates. Thomas had collected a bush on his travels. He peered anxiously into the room through its leaves. He couldn't speak; a branch of the bush was too close to his mouth.
The stationmaster furiously strode out and shut off steam. His wife picked up her plate. "You miserable engine!" she scolded. "Just LOOK what you've done to our breakfast! We were about to have nice family morning together, and all of a sudden, you burst in and cause damage to our beautiful house that will take weeks to repair!"
She left the room, banging the door. More plaster fell, this time it landed on Thomas. Thomas felt depressed. The plaster was tickly. He wanted to sneeze, but he didn't dare in case the house fell on him.
Nobody came for a long time; everyone was much too busy. At last, workmen propped up the house with strong poles and laid rails through the garden. Meanwhile, Donald and Douglas arrived to pull Thomas out. "Dina fesh yerself, Thomas. We'll soon have ye back on the rails!" they laughed.
Puffing hard, they managed to pull Thomas back to safety. Thomas was an absolute mess. His funnel was bent, and bits of fencing, the bush and a broken window frame festooned his badly twisted front. He looked comic. The twins laughed and left him.
Thomas was in disgrace.
Later, he was back at the sheds with Percy and Toby. The Fat Controller had come to see him. "Well, Thomas, now you know how dangerous it is to go without a driver, I hope?" he said.
"Yes, sir. I do, sir," replied Thomas weakly. His voice was muffled behind his bush.
"I cannot fault you for going out of the shed against your will, but I hope that you now understand that it's important not to take what people say too seriously," continued the Fat Controller. "You will need to go to the works to have your front mended. It will be a long job. While you are away, a diesel railcar will do your work."
"Alright, sir," said Thomas. He didn't care what happened in his absence, so long as his branch line would still be active.
The cleaner who had messed with Thomas' controls was later found out as well, and was promptly fired from his job. He was in disgrace, too, even worse than with Thomas, for being responsible for an engine crashing into the side of a house, whether it be by accident or on purpose, was very serious indeed.
Although Percy and Toby found Thomas' accident to be quite funny, they felt very sorry to see him be taken away to the works. They would miss him greatly while he was absent, and they knew that having a diesel railcar in his place would not be the same. And as they would soon find out, this diesel railcar would be quite troublesome to work with.
Hey everyone, here is another rewrite of an episode from Thomas and Friends, that being the ever-popular "Thomas Comes to Breakfast" from Season 2. Quite short and not too different from the original thing, just with some expansions and elements from both the original story by Wilbert Awdry and the TV adaptation. You may notice two specific plot points I changed up - one is what the stationmaster's wife says to Thomas after he crashes into the house, and the other is Thomas' interaction with the Fat Controller at the end. I've basically changed them up to what I think should have happened in both instances; the stationmaster's wife is upset that Thomas caused severe damage to the house rather than being just upset that he ruined their breakfast, and the Fat Controller is more lenient to Thomas about the accident, since, really, it was the cleaner's fault that the accident happened and not Thomas'. Either way, the moral of not taking jokes too seriously is still there, and I think that's the most important part.
Thank you for checking this story out, don't forget to leave any thoughts you may have, and I'll see you next time.
