Alfie's Secret

Based on the cancelled episode Alfie Has A Secret

Moral: accepting help from others

It was a beautiful morning on the Island of Sodor, as the sun shone brightly over the clear blue sky. Percy was taking Alfie the Excavator to the school along Thomas' Branch Line. The Sodor Construction Company were going to work at the construction site near the school grounds.

"What are you and the other machines up to today, Alfie?" Percy asked curiously.

"Hmm," Alfie wondered, thinking hard. "Well, there's a crossing that's going to be built on the schoolgrounds for the children to use, so that children and engines can make their way around safely. Jack and the others will be doing that job."

Percy was puzzled.

"But...what job will you be doing then?"

"Miss Jenny has assigned me to do a different job on the site. She gave me specific orders this morning."

"Really? What is it then?"

"Nope. Sorry. I simply can't tell anyone about it. It's a secret."

"But...why so?"

Alfie chuckled.

"Percy, if I told you, than it wouldn't be a secret anymore. Would it?"

"Guess not," Percy sighed disappointedly, as he pushed his friend onward towards the site.

At the school, Miss Jenny's machines had just arrived, and were ready to start their day's work.

Kelly rolled around the site, as the workmen exited Nelson from nearby. Jack was just unloaded from Thomas' flatbed.

"Thank you, Thomas!" the front loader said to his friend.

"No problem, Jack," Thomas whistled. "See you later."

Then he rolled slowly out of sight, as Jack set happily to work, watching as Max and Monty rolled quickly up onto the site.

"I'll get there first!" Max called.

"No!" Monty responded. "I will!"

"I will!"

"I will!"

Jack sighed heavily, but then heard Percy's whistle as he dropped off Alfie at the site.

"Thanks, Percy!" Alfie greeted, as he made his way off the flatbed.

"Good luck, Alfie!" Percy whistled, as he rolled away.

Alfie quickly set about the site, humming happily to himself, as Jack watched him, confused. Kelly rolled up beside him and beamed down at him.

"That's strange," Jack wondered. "I didn't know Miss Jenny sent Alfie to work on the site. After all, we don't need any trenches dug for the children's crossing."

"Come along, Jack," Kelly told him wisely. "I'm sure he's just being really useful like the rest of us." Than he rolled away, Jack following slowly after him.

The machines set to work on their own project, while Alfje was busy with his job.

Alfie was fitted with a drill on his front, then it was lowered it down towards the ground.

"Ah!" he sighed relaxedly. "Nothing like a job that requires that requires more dirt. After all, more dirt means more fun." Then he drilled away at the mud, singing to himself, singing to himself:

"More drilling means more dirt

And More Dirt Means More Fun

More drilling means more dirt

And More Dirt Means More Fun

I drill, drill, a'drill

drill, drill away

Until the job is done

More drilling means more dirt

And More Dirt Means More Fun"

He finished singing as Isobella rolled slowly into the sight with some paint buckets.

"More drilling means more dirt

And More Dirt Means More Fun"

"Oi!" Isobella groaned, as she rolled past him, slightly dusted from the drilling. "Mind my paintwork!"

"Sorry," Alfie laughed, and then stopped and turned to look at her.

"What are you doing here anyway?" she asked. "Just curious, cuz you weren't at the yard when Miss Jenny gave us our jobs for this crossing."

"Sorry, Isobella," Alfie told her. "But I simply can't tell anyone what my job is. Miss Jenny asked for me to do the job personally."

Isobella shot the excavator a funny look, as Alfie smiled at her, one of his teeth quickly gleaming.

HONK-HONK!

Isobella greeted Alfie as she continued on her way, as the excavator greeted and went back to work.

HONK-HONK!

Isobella left Alfie and went about her business on the site, as the excavator proceeded to do his own job.

Jack and Kelly were busy digging and lifting away as Isobella rolled into sight.

"I say, you two," she told them, as she rolled up beside them and came to a stop. "That Alfie. He sure is being secretive about whatever job he's doing."

"If only he'd tell us," Jack sighed sadly.

"Alright, you two. That's enough," Kelly told them firmly. "Surely Alfie wouldn't be here if he didn't have his own work to do. For now, let's just worry about our own work, shall we?"

"Yes, Kelly," they both replied, and went slowly back to work, as Kelly proceeded to lift the next pipe down onto the ground.

As the morning progressed into noon, the machines were making splendid progress on the site; Kelly managed to lift signposts into place beside the spot where the hole was being dug for the crossing. it, as paint buckets were unloaded from Isobella's flatbed.

"Thanks, Isobella!" the men shouted.

"I'll be back, boys," she replied back to them, rolling away from the site as the men waved at her.

The men wasted no time in painting the signposts for the crossing, as Jack wasted no time in loading Max and Monty up with dirt.

"Hurry up with this load, will you?!" Max remarked, as he backed in to place.

"Yeah," Monty added, as he backed in beside his twin. "We don't have all day!"

Jack just ignored them and dug away at the hole, but he couldn't keep his friend Alfie off his mind.

"Hmm," he pondered, watching his friend as he drilled away at his own spot, before proceeding to load dirt into Max's loader.

Alfie continuously drilled around his own spot, the noise of his drill echoing all around the site as it pounded against the mud. He stopped to catch a quick breather.

"Morning's past and I'm not even done drilling," he admitted to his operator

"Perhaps you could use with a bit of help?" his operator suggested.

"Hmm." Alfie thought for a moment before expressing a determined look on his face. "No," he said boldly yet determinedly. "I can do this. Miss Jenny asked me to do this job specifically so I won't let her down." Then he aimed his drill back towards the mud and drilled away once more.

Soon, it became the time of the workmen's break, and Jack had just loaded the last of the dirt into Max and Monty's buckets.

"Alright, you two," the front loader told them enthusiastically, as he finished loading up Monty's bucket, than tapped it and said "take it away!"

"Oof!" Monty groaned. "That hurt!"

The twins revved quickly out of sight, leaving Jack to cough up the dirt and dust they left from revving their wheels towards him. He then turned to face Kelly, who stopped just across from him.

"Say, Kelly, how long do you think the workmen's break will be?"

"Until Isobella returns with the cement at least," the crane replied. "The big hole for the children's crossing has well and truly been dig up and only needs to be filled with cement now before we put finishing touches on it."

"Okay," Jack said eagerly. "I'll go check on Alfie then. See if he could use with some help."

"Mm," Kelly thought. "I'm sure that if Alfie wanted our help, he would have asked for it by now, Jack."

"I know, I know," Jack sighed. "I just want to make sure." Then he took a dash into Alfie's direction before Kelly could say anything else.

Alfie had just finished the drilling process for his secret job, and was just being fitted with his shovel in position, when Jack came into view.

"Hello, Jack!" he greeted. "I take it the children's crossing is going well."

"Yes, very much so m," his friend replied. "The hole has been dug, and the workmen are on break until Isobella gets back with the cement. It's safe to say we're making good progress."

"So I see," Alfie replied in agreement, looking over at the work which had been done on the crossing.

Jack looked fixedly over at the mud that had been drilled for Alfie's trench, then looked at his friend as his shovel was fixed well and truly into place.

"Say, Alfie, I've been thinking; you've been working hard all morning at this job Miss Jenny had given you. What could it possibly be?"

Alfie chuckled.

"Well, it wouldn't be a secret if I told anybody. Now, would it?"

"B-but...I'm your best friend," Jack said meekly. "Surely you can tell me."

"Sorry, Jack," Alfie sighed. "You'll all find out soon enough."

"Okay," Jack replied. "You sure you don't need any help then? I can easily have Max and Monty clear take all away for you."

"No thanks. I can manage," said Alfie confidently, lowering his bucket down towards the drilled-up mud. "It's only one trench after all."

"If you say so," Jack sighed sadly. Then he turned and headed back towards the site for the children's crossing.

"Huh," Alfie wondered, as he dropped his first load of dirt aside and watched as his friend set off. "I didn't think he'd take it that way." He stared blankly a couple seconds longer, then took a deep breath. "Ah, well. Nothing I can't resolve later as soon as the job as done."

And with that, Alfie set back to work, determined to get the job done.

Alfie lowered his bucket back into the ground and sang aloud:

"More digging means more dirt

And More Dirt Means More Fun

More digging means more dirt

And More Dirt Means More Fun

I dig, dig a trench

Shove dirt aside

Until the job is done

More digging means more dirt

And More Dirt Means More Fun"

At last, he began to grow a little tired as he slowly filled his shovel up with dirt, and threw it aside, yawning:

"More digging means more dirt

And More Dirt Means...More Fun"

Alfie quietly yawned the last few words of his song, as he turned back towards the trench for the next load.

Isobella was just returning from the yard with buckets of cement for the hole dug for the crossing. She noticed how exhausted Alfie looked as she approached him.

"Good grief, Alfie," she expressed, as she stopped beside him. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Alfie sighed quietly, stopping to take a breather and turning round to look at her. "Thank you, Isobella."

The sentinel lorry shot him a look of concern.

"You surely look like you could use with some help," she told him. "It's far too much for me to do this grimy work, but the other machines have accomplished their digging for the day, and I've brought plenty of cement back from the yard."

"I'm fine, Isobella," Alfie assured her, maintaining a straight look on his face. "I'll worry about the cement once this trench has been dug."

"If you say so, Alfie. I'm just telling you we're about done with the work on the crossing once this cement is poured in. Surely there's no trouble in asking for a bit of…"

Alfie sighed heavily, then smiled and responded, "I'm fine. Thanks again, Isobella, but I believe Miss Jenny is entrusting me to fulfill this task on my own."

"B-b-but...what task?" Isobella wondered. "If only you'd speak up about it, perhaps we'd all understand what this secrecy is all about…"

"You'll all find out soon enough," Alfie assured her, before setting back to work digging up the next section of the trench.

"Hmph!" Isobella thought, as she rolled slowly over towards the site, muttering to herself, "who'd want to do such a dirty job anyway?"

She stopped by the hole and the men got to work at unloading the cement buckets, as Isobella rolled beside Kelly and Jack, the three watching back and forth between the hole being filled up with cement and Alfie digging away at the trench.

"Is it just me or is Alfie behaving rather strange today?" she asked them.

"I don't understand why he won't tell us what job Miss Jenny asked him to do, nor why he won't accept any help."

"Easy does it, you two," Kelly reminded them. "I'm sure Alfie will figure it all out soon enough. Till then, it's best not to worry."

Jack sighed, as he watched his friend hard at work.

And deep down, Jack knew Kelly was right.

The machines went back about their work as cement was poured into the hole for the children's crossing. By late afternoon, the crossing was well and truly and finished as a white flag stood between it and Alfie's trench. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be set for the excavator himself.

Alfie panted heavily as he dug the last portion of the trench up to where the white flag stood.

"Phew!" Alfie sighed, and rolled to take a breather and rest a bit, Jack and Isobella looking at each other and watching him with concern.

Alfie had only been able to dig up the first half of the trench over to one side of the crossing. By this time, the cement only needed to be dried off.

Kelly rolled up across from Alfie and raised an eyebrow.

"Are you alright, Alfie?" he asked.

"I, eh...think so," Alfie responded confusedly.

As Kelly eyed him concernedly, Alfie sighed heavily and took a deep breath.

"I won't give up!" he vowed. "I'll have this trench dig up by sundown!"

Then he raced across to the other side of it, Kelly, Jack and Isobella all watching him with surprise, and proceeded to dig up the other half of the trench.

"More digging means more dirt!" he said rather all at once, digging deep into the trench and shoving the dirt aside. "And more dirt means more...fun!" he grunted the last word of his sentence as he turned around to dig up the next portion of the trench.

Miss Jenny arrived to see how work was progressing on the school site. She was pleased to see the men putting up the sign for the children's crossing well into view, but was rather surprised to see the see the progress Alfie was making.

"Alfie!" she called out to him, walking over to him, as Jack and Isobella looked over worriedly, and Kelly sighed quietly.

"What on earth!" she wondered to him, raising her hands up high. "Why ever is this job taking you so long? The crossing is well and truly done!"

Alfie dumped his current load of dirt and turned to face Miss Jenny, sighing.

"I'm sorry, Miss Jenny," she told her sheepishly. "I'm working as fast as I can."

"B-b-but...I don't understand," she stammered. "Haven't you ask for any help?"

"No," Alfie responded. "I didn't think I needed any. You asked me to do this job specifically."

"But, Alfie," Miss Jenny told him kindly. "That doesn't mean you had to do the job all on your own. It never hurts to ask for help when you need it."

"I know that now," Alfie sighed, dirt and grime smudged all over his face and paintwork. "And my friends offered to help. I just figured I'd let them get on with their own work."

"Hmm," Kelly pondered, rolling forward. "Well given the time it took us to complete work on the crossing, surely we could have used time between all that to help you, Alfie."

"I know," Alfie sighed, then he rolled forward towards the rest of the machines and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry to all of you," he announced. "The reason I was being so secretive about my job is because I wanted it to be a surprise until it was done and built."

"What...was it then?"

Alfie gulped and chuckled nervously.

"Please don't laugh. It sounds kinda silly but it's important to me." He gulped. "At least…"

The machines all looked at him funny.

"Okay," he decided. "I was given the task to dig this trench for a crossing for the hedgehogs."

"Hedgehogs?" Isobella wondered perplexedly.

Miss Jenny walked widely up alongside Alfie as he continued.

"Yes. A clan of hedgehogs are native to the schoolgrounds, and the children see them everyday. Schoolteacher asked Miss Jenny if the Sodor Construction Company if a crossing could be built…" Miss Jenny smiled and nodded as Alfie finished his sentence. "...and so that's where my job came in."

Max laughed.

"I can see why you wanted to keep the job ecret. It sounds so lame."

Monty sniggered, and added, "I'd want to keep it secret too…"

"Hush, you two!" Isobella snapped, then turned her attention back over at Alfie.

"I thought I could do it all on my own, but it turns out I can't. Please, can you help me?"

"Sure," Jack responded, lifting his bucket up.

"Much obliged," Kelly added.

Isobella sighed and rolled forward, begging quietly, "please don't make me do any of the dirty work?"

"Is there any cement left?" Alfie asked.

"Mm, no. But I could always go back and fetch some more."

"Please, would you?"

"Absolutely," she beamed. Then turned and set off back for the yard.

Alfie turned back towards the other machines.

"I'm gonna need someone to find a pipe and a signpost whilst I dig away at this trench," he told them. "You think one of you can do it?"

"I surely can," Kelly chipped in. "There ought to be loads of them lying 'round here."

"Sounds great!" said Alfie. "Now…"

"Oh, oh, oh," Jack burst out eagerly. "Can you help you dig the trench, Alfie? After all, two buckets are better than one."

Alfie laughed.

"Of course you can, Jack." Then he looked toward the dump truck twins, who looked away huffily. "And now for somebody to take away all this dirt."

"Oh, surely Monty and Max can do it," Jack suggested cheekily, winking at the twins.

"What?! Us?!" Max spluttered.

"Absolutely not!" Monty added.

"Ahem!"

Miss Jenny gave them a stern look and raised an eyebrow at them, hands against their hips.

"Oh, alright," they responded.

Miss Jenny smiled, than smiled and nodded at Alfie before heading back towards her car. Alfie and Jack raced excitedly towards the trench, as Max and Monty reversed slowly in front of it, glum expressions on their faces.

Kelly went off to fetch a pipe and a signpost for the crossing, while best friends Alfie and Jack proceeded to dig away at the trench.

"More digging means more dirt," Alfie sang, "and More Dirt Means More Fun."

"More digging means more dirt," Jack sang, as he loaded dirt into a groaning Monty's loader, "and More Dirt Means More Fun."

Then they sang together,

"We dig, dig-a-dig, dig

Dig, dig away

Until the job is done"

"More digging means more dirt," Jack sang.

"And More Dirt Means More Fun," Alfie sang.

The two friends watched as Max and Monty rushed off with their full load, then sang together.

"More digging means more dirt

And More Dirt Means More Fun."

Soon the trench was dug up and the pipe had been laid down with a blank signpost on top of it. Isobella has just come back with several buckets of cement for the crossing, and she was impressed by how the crossing.

"Thank heavens," she sighed, smiling. "It's a good thing I did all the clean work."

The other machines laughed as the cement buckets were unloaded from Isobella's loader.

In no time at all, cement was poured into the crossing and the signpost was pushed down into it.

"At last," Alfie sighed. "I'd very much like to thank you all. I don't know what I could have done without you."

"Happy to help!" Jack chanted.

"Our pleasure," Isobella beamed smugly.

Kelly reversed beside the machines alongside the crossing.

"Both crossings look well and truly done, guys," he claimed. "Now both the children and the hedgehogs can cross safely. I think we should be proud of what we accomplished today."

"Hooray!" the machines honked and cheered, all except for…

"Ahem!" Max grunted.

"More dirt!" Monty snapped. "And quickly!"

Alfie and Jack laughed giddily as they loaded dirt into Max and Monty's loaders.

The next morning, the cement is dry and the workmen finished the job by painting the white lines on both crossings. The children and the hedgehogs were now able cross the road safely

Thomas and Percy whistled and reversed beside Jack and Alfie as the four friends watched the hedgehogs move quickly in a herd and wait at the crossing as the children walked across on the other path, laughing cheerily and cooing the hedgehogs as they waited patiently.

"Look, Thomas!" Percy called out, chuckling as the children bent down to pet one of the hedgehogs, who turned his head away. "I think that one's blushing." He watched the hedgehog back slowly away, then sighed. "Aww, they're so cute."

Thomas beamed at his friend, then looked over at the two machines.

"You both have certainly done a great job on the crossing," he told them.

"Ah," Jack sighed. "After all, it's like Miss Jenny always tells us: it takes a great team effort to complete such a big job.

"The Fat Controller sort of tells us the same thing," Percy wondered, "only with…um, a great team of engines."

"Why, yes," Alfie added. "Team effort. It was surely worth it having it be one to get the job done."

"Indeed," Jack added, as they watched the hedgehogs cross the road. "Say, Alfie," he remarked, watching one hedgehog in particular. "Look how that one hedgehog at the back shaking his behind."

"I see," Alfie pointed out, then laughed. "They sure are cute."

And so the four friends gazed at the hedgehogs from afar, as they made their way steadily over the crossing, proud indeed of a job well done.

Well, here we are. Haven't written a Pack entry in a while so having the chance to write about Alfie was definitely fun to do; his secretive nature, to me, bounced off well against Jack and Isobella's curiosity, with Kelly sort in the middle as a voice of reason. This was a rather short one as compared to my others, but I guess stretching the story out farther out than I did would become exposition/content not needed for the story. Writing Alfie's song More Dirt Means More Fun was also fun, and a great way to expand upon his character. The story is based off a canceled storyline from the Sodor Construction Company spinoff, so I decided it'd be fun to fiddle around with and sort of expand the story more to have Alfie learn a lesson by accepting help and not being too afraid to admit what his job was. I know this took long, but I had so much homework on my schedule at college, that I guess it had to take time. My Fall Break is approaching pretty soon though, so expect the next entry to be up and about around, though I think I'm gonna get through with midterms before I even think about it. Till then, stay tuned for...

Lighten The Load! - Duke is scheduled for a trial run up to the Blue Mountain Quarry, but is teased by his two protégés Sir Handel and Peter Sam, and vows to prove to them that he can handle stone trucks just as well as they can.

Welcome, Jock! (based on Sticking Power and Jock by Christopher Awdry) - after hearing of a new engine being built, Bert lets the others in on the secret, and not long after, the engine arrives and is named Jock.

Jack's Snow Rescue (based on canceled episode of the same name)- when the first big snowfall of the year traps Duck, Dexter and the schoolchildren of Harwick, Jack is fitted with a shiny new snowplough and jumps into heroic action.

Busted Headlamp! - Henry's headlamp needs repairs, so Rosie lets him borrow her headlamp so he can pull the Flying Kipper. However, Henry forgets to give it back to her and Rosie doesn't know how to ask, whilst having a train due out to Bridlington...