The Power Of Words
Big Mickey is a large hammerhead crane who works at Brendam Docks alongside Cranky and Carly. The three cranes are kept busy day in and day out, loading and unloading cargo to and from ships, and working to the best of their ability to get the engines on their way. However, as hard as Big Mickey works, there is one problem he has with getting himself around at Brendam Docks: communicating with other engines…
PEEP-PEEP!
"Come on, Big Mickey!" James whistled impatiently, as Big Mickey loaded crates into his trucks. "Can't you go a little faster?"
As soon as the current shipment of crates was loaded into James' trucks, Big Mickey grunted and turned around to pick up the next shipment.
Henry arrived next with trucks of crates to be unloaded. He quickly let off steam and watched as Big Mickey slant towards the direction of his trucks and picked it up, the shipment of crates wobbling as Mickey pulled it up.
"Woah!" he gasped, and snapped it tight with his grip.
"Is...everything okay, Big Mickey?" Henry asked confusedly.
Big Mickey groaned and didn't respond as he lowered the shipment into the ship's brig.
"Eh, I think you may need to move down a bit, Henry. It'd be easier for Big Mickey to unload from your trucks."
Puzzled, Henry moved down a bit so that Big Mickey could unload the next shipment of crates from his trucks with no problem at all.
Unfortunately, Big Mickey's lack of communication can cause a great deal of confusion among engines passing in and out of the Docks.
Early one morning, the dockyard manager came to see the three cranes with important news.
"Numerous shipments are due in and out of this dockside throughout the day," he announced. "More than we've ever had this week, really. So I need all three of you to work your hardest to get the engines in and out on their way as the day progresses. Cranky, you're up first. Nia should be here any time now for a shipment due out to Ffarquhar."
"Yes, sir," Cranky replied, turning around and watching the first ship come in and stop beside him.
Nia arrived with a line of empty trucks and approached Big Mickey up ahead.
"Good morning, Big Mickey!" she called out.
But Big Mickey didn't respond as he turned around without a word.
"Hmm…" Nia thought confusedly, as she moved up to Cranky.
"Good morning, Cranky, Carly!" she greeted them both. "Can either of you tell me what's going on with Big Mickey? He didn't respond to me when I said good morning to him."
Carly sighed.
"I'm afraid he's been that way for as long as I've been here, chuck," she explained. "Which wasn't really long compared to Cranky."
Cranky sighed heavily.
"He's been that way the entire amount of years the two of us have been working together," he explained, as Edward rolled into view. "That's just the way he is, and there's nothing that any engine can change about it."
PEEP-PEEP!
"Hello, everyone!" Edward greeted. "Were you all just talking about Big Mickey?"
"Yes, Edward," Nia responded. "Cranky and Carly were just telling me why he has a hard time communicating with other engines."
Edward sighed and looked at Nia.
"I do believe that what happened to me once here at the Docks had something to do with that happening. Would you like me to explain, Nia?"
"Sure, Edward! I have a bit of time before my trucks are all loaded."
"Okay," Edward began. "Well, it all started one day when I was on my way to pick up the Brass Band…"
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"...I was passing through Brendam Docks on my way to Norramby to take the men to their rehearsal at Callan Station. Big Mickey was nearby, having just unloaded a huge boiler from a ship and was swinging it around towards me."
"Hello, Edward!" the hammerhead crane greeted, swinging the boiler in his direction.
Edward looked up and gasped as the boiler swung right towards him.
"AH!" he screamed as the boiler knocked him right off the rails.
"Uh oh!" Big Mickey groaned, and quickly lowered the boiler onto the ground.
Cranky laughed.
"You useless little engines are always in the way."
Big Mickey turned around in shame, as Edward looked over in his direction, sighing.
"I had to stay at the fitters yard for at least a day," Edward continued, reminiscing on the stormy night when the men tended to him under the fitters shed. "A huge storm raged over that night and the men worked all through the night to fix me up in time to pick up the Brass Band…"
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"...they were finished eventually, and when Bertie ran into trouble, I picked up the Brass Band just as Butch arrived to take him to the garage."
Nia reacted with awe and amazement, as Edward sighed, thinking things over."
"I knew Big Mickey was only trying to be friendly, so I forgive him for it," Edward finished.
Salty rolled alongside, having listened to Edward's story while shunting trucks nearby.
"Aye!" he agreed. "It was only an accident, Edward. However, poor Mickey has been haunted by that memory for the years that have passed since that very incident. He hasn't spoken much to anybody since, let alone communicate effectively with another engine."
"Well, he does communicate with me and Cranky from time to time when there's ships on the horizon," Carly added. "It's only very briefly though."
Nia sighed.
"Thanks for telling me the story, Edward. I only wish there was a way I could help Big Mickey be his old self again."
Cranky sighed with uncertainty as he loaded Nia's truck.
"I'm afraid only a miracle can do that…" Cranky remarked, when…
CRACK!
"Oof!" Cranky groaned, feeling a sudden strain in his arm.
The workmen ran over immediately to inspect him all over.
As soon as Cranky felt a strain in his arm, the men wasted no time in seeing what the problem was.
The foreman sighed.
"Something in your arm has broken, Cranky," he explained. "It'll take time to fix, I'm afraid, so Carly and Big Mickey will have to manage in your place."
"Yes, sir," Cranky sighed, as the men looked him over.
"Not to worry, Cranky!" Carly assured him. "Ol' Mickey and I will take care of everything and you'll soon be in working order again."
Big Mickey groaned and turned back out to sea, as Nia whistled and chuffed away with her trucks due out to Ffarquhar.
As Nia made it on her way to drop off trucks of rock salt at Ffarquhar Quarry, she was left to her own thoughts concerning Big Mickey.
"Hmm…" she wondered. "I wonder if there is a way I can help Big Mickey resolve his problem…"
When Nia arrived at the quarry station, she found that Toby was there with Henrietta dropping off the workmen, though they seemed to be blocking her way to the points
"Um, excuse me, Toby," she asked aloud as the workmen exited Henrietta, "but could you please move up a little so I can leave these trucks in the siding?"
Toby smiled.
"Why, certainly, Nia. Henrietta and I will soon be out of your way."
DING-DING! DING-DING!
Toby moved slowly up and stopped, Henrietta smiling at Nia as she moved up and backed her trucks down in the siding by the station.
PEEP-PEEP!
"Thank you, Toby! Thank you, Henrietta!"
Toby rang cheerfully as the workmen continued to exit Henrietta.
"Hmm…" Nia wondered. "It seems like Toby moved out of my way when I said please and thank you. Perhaps I can see if it would be a good strategy to suggest to Big Mickey."
Nia heard the sound of trucks laughing and chattering as Mavis pushed them down the line into view.
"Come along now, you lot," she told them firmly yet kindly. "You all have several places to be at once, and I want to make sure you're all ready."
"Yes, Mavis," the first truck hitched up to her sighed, and proceeded to slow down steadily with the other trucks doing as well.
"Wow!" Nia thought. "It's amazing how she got those trucks to behave. As if she communicated effectively with them to get them to do as she wanted."
This gave her an idea.
"That's it! I'll convince Big Mickey that it helps to communicate effectively with others. Surely that should help him get over his problem, even if he says please and thank you."
As soon as her trucks were unloaded, Nia felt like a very clever engine, as she made her way back to the Docks immediately.
"Ouch!" Cranky winced, as two workmen pulled the string connecting from his arm further back. "That hurt!"
"Easy now, Cranky," one of them soothed. "We're doing our bests."
Just then, the dockyard manager walked up, a pen and paper in hand.
"I just got off the phone with the DieselWorks, Cranky," he announced. "Diesel should be here as soon as he can with a fresh new coil of string for your hoist. That should do you better than this old one."
He then signaled the men to climb down as Cranky sighed with dismay with and looked over at Big Mickey, who watched out to sea.
"Poor guy," Cranky thought. "Now, look what mess I got myself into…"
Cranky was startled as his thoughts were suddenly disrupted by the sound of Nia's whistle as she made her way into the Docks and stopped by Big Mickey.
"Hello, Big Mickey!" she called out.
There was a short silence as the hammerhead crane looked out to sea with no response. Nia took a deep breath and decided to be courageous and speak up to him.
"Big Mickey," she said aloud. "I know what difficulties you're going through. It can be hard to communicate with others as a means of working together, especially when you struggle to put your past behind you."
The dockside was silent. Big Mickey was still faced around towards sea, but Nia decided to continue speaking with him.
"I think I have a solution for your problem," she continued. "When I arrived at the quarry earlier this morning, I asked Toby kindly if he could move up so I could drop off some trucks, and he did just that, which made much easier for me to back down. After that, I saw how Mavis handled the troublesome trucks by speaking kindly to them and getting them to do as she wanted."
There was another awkward silence, as Nia sighed and took another deep breath.
"My point is that I know what it's like to struggle with getting over the past. I missed all my good friends in Kenya before making new ones here on Sodor. But what I've discovered this morning at the quarry was that communicating effectively with other engines is the best way to get the job done, especially by saying please and thank you."
She heard the sound of the next ship coming in, as it came towards Carly's direction, then she sighed.
"I have to deliver some rock salt to the Blue Mountain Quarry now," she told him. "It was a pleasure talking to you."
She then whistled and moved up to Carly, as she moved the first crate down into her first truck.
"Well, Nia," the gantry crane remarked. "That was quite the pep talk, don't ya think?"
"Yes," Nia sighed. "I only hope it was helpful."
Nia's trucks were soon loaded with stone, and she was ready to go to the Quarry.
"Thanks, Carly!" she whistled as she chuffed away.
"Any time, chuck!"
Big Mickey groaned and slowly turned around to face the engine who had just spoken to him, watching her disappear in the distance and thinking hard to himself.
"Hmm. Communication…"
As the morning progressed, engines came in and out, and Big Mickey proceeded to have their trucks loaded and on their way.
PEEP-PEEP!
Big Mickey watched as Thomas came in, though he stopped with his first truck just beyond reach of the hammerhead crane's hoist.
"Oh, dear," he sighed nervously, then gulped.
"Um, excuse me, Thomas," he called, immediately grabbing the tank engine's attention as he looked up at him. "But could you, eh, mo-, eh…"
Thomas was puzzled.
"Move down a bit?" he suggested.
"Ahem! Yes!" Big Mickey responded. "Please. Just one truck. That's all."
He chuckled as Thomas whistled and backed down slightly till his first truck was in alignment with Big Mickey's hoist.
"You're all clear, Big Mickey!"
"Thank you, Thomas!" the crane replied, then proceeded to unload his first truck.
"I'll try harder next time," he thought to himself. "At least I got him to do as I wanted."
Next it was Percy and Emily's turn as both engines chuffed into the dockside. Emily rolled up to Carly and stopped beside her as Percy stopped just beside Big Mickey.
"Oh, dear," Big Mickey thought, looking at Emily's long line of trucks right in front of Percy's flatbed, which wasn't necessarily in alignment with his hoist.
"Here goes," he gulped, then said aloud, "uh, 'scuse me, Emily, but could you and Carly possibly move up a bit? It'd be easier for me to load Percy's flatbed."
"Eh, sure, Big Mickey," Emily smiled, yet pleasantly surprised.
"We'll be out of your way in no time, chuck!" Carly added, moving quickly up alongside Emily, and the emerald engine stopped right beside in alignment with her hoist.
"Thank you!" Big Mickey called. "Phew! I think I'm getting the hang of this."
"Um, would you like me to move up as well, Big Mickey?" Percy wondered.
The hammerhead crane smiled.
"Yes, please, Percy. Just a bit. That way it'd be easier for me to load your flatbed."
Percy whistled and moved up a bit until he was in alignment with Big Mickey's hoist.
"Thanks, Percy!" Big Mickey called, then turned around to unload his cargo from the ship.
"I can't understand it," Cranky confided to Carly. "Just this morning, Big Mickey couldn't even speak with another engine and now he seems to be doing well for himself?"
Carly smiled.
"This is his first day trying, Cranky. Nia seems to have taught him well."
Cranky sighed in agreement as the workmen carefully worked at detaching the old rope from his hoist.
Nia arrived back at Brendam to see that all was going well.
"Thanks, Percy!" Big Mickey called out, as he watched the saddle tank engine leave.
"Any time, Big Mickey!" Percy responded. "Have a nice day!"
Big Mickey smiled as Nia rolled up alongside him.
"Hello, Nia!" the hammerhead engine greeted.
"Hello, Big Mickey! I see you're making good progress here at the Docks."
"Yeah, I'm learning as I go. But I have you to thank, Nia. I never would have made it this far without your advice. Communicating with other engines is easier than I thought it would be…"
However, Big Mickey soon found that he said that too soon…
Big Mickey watched as Samson whistled loudly and stopped right beside him. He noticed that Samson was a couple trucks up from his hoist and smiled, feeling confident.
"Eh, excuse me, Samson," he asked kindly, "but do you think you could move down some?"
"Why?" Samson asked.
"So my arm can reach your first truck in a better alignment," Big Mickey explained.
"I think I'm fine where I am, thank you," Samson explained. "Surely I'd know if I was in the right place or not."
"Come along now, Samson," Bradford firmly explained. "Do as this crane says. Hut hut! Move it! Move it!"
"Fine," Samson sighed, and moved his trucks down till his first one was in alignment with Big Mickey's hoist.
"Thank you, Samson," he said.
"Ahem!"
Big Mickey was startled by the sound of Bradford's cough, as the brake van raised an eyebrow back at him.
"Oh, and, uh, thank you too, Bradford."
Bradford smiled as Big Mickey proceeded the first crate from the ship into Samson's trucks.
Big Mickey thought he had gotten past the slight mishap with Samson, but there was far worse to come…!
"Come on, Big Mickey!" James whistled impatiently. "Some of us have places to be, you know!"
"Take it...easy, James," Big Mickey groaned as he unloaded the heavy cargo from the ship. "This load is…very fragile, and I'm trying...as fast as I can."
James sighed and let off steam, waiting as Big Mickey loaded his cargo onto the flatbed.
"Huh! About time!" the red engine remarked as the men tied down his flatbed with ropes.
"Oh, my," Big Mickey sighed nervously, as he watched James set off, before hearing the sound of Diesel's horn from the distance.
"Diesel!" Cranky called, as he watched him roll into view towards Big Mickey's hoist. "About time you showed up."
"Sorry," Diesel gruntily replied. "But some engines have more important jobs to do than to carry one flatbed."
He stopped just beyond reach of Big Mickey's hoist, causing the hammerhead crane to sigh with worry.
"Erm, 'scuse me, Diesel, but can you, eh, move down a bit?"
"Well, look who finally decided to speak after so long!" Diesel remarked.
Big Mickey sighed.
"Just back up in line with my hoist please, Diesel. That way, we can have Cranky ready to work once more."
"Fine!" Diesel snapped. "Beats being told what to do by one of those silly steamies anyway."
He reversed beyond Big Mickey's reach, causing the hammerhead crane to sigh heavily.
"No, Diesel. Now you're too far back for me to reach the flatbed. Please move up a bit."
"Move up?" Diesel thought.
Then he grinned deviously.
"Oh, you mean like this!"
And he moved quickly up beyond up to where he stopped before.
"No, Diesel!" Big Mickey moaned, trying to keep his patience. "Move back!"
Diesel groaned and reversed back.
"Move up, move down, move up, move down!" he murmured, secretly grinning as he passed Big Mickey's hoist. "Make up your mind, will you?"
"You too far back now! Move up, and try to keep in line with my hoist."
"You mean like this?" Diesel asked, moving quickly forward beyond reach of Big Mickey's hoist.
"Please, Diesel! This is not a game!" Big Mickey begged.
But Diesel kept rolling backward and forward as Big Mickey swing his hook back and forth trying to reach Diesel. Cranky groaned and watched with concern as the scuffle went on.
"Stop, Diesel! Please!"
"Make me!" Diesel replied, then chuckled deviously.
"Enough, Diesel!" Big Mickey pleaded. "This is not funny!"
"It is for me!" Diesel sniggered.
"Look out!" Carly called, moving a crate in from Big Mickey's direction as he swung his hook towards Diesel moving up.
"Woah!" Big Mickey gasped, as Carly's hook swerved out of control when passing his.
The crate fell right from Carly's hook smashed to the ground. Rock salt spilt all over the dockside.
"Shiver me axles!" Salty gasped, breaking hard and stopping just in time.
"Look out, Salty!" Porter shouted, stopping just on the points on which Salty's trucks lay.
"Now look what you've done!" Diesel scolded.
Big Mickey shot him a dirty look, then turned back out to face the sea.
Nia was just coming back for Arlesburgh, and arrived at the Docks to see all the commotion.
"What happened here?" she asked curiously.
"Ask him," Diesel remarked, looking up at Big Mickey.
"Big Mickey," she asked. "Are you alright?"
Big Mickey sighed, still facing the sea.
"I'm sorry, Nia. I followed your advice precisely and it seemed to work for the most part. But I couldn't keep up the momentum. I tried, but not every engine has been cooperative."
"Huh!" Diesel huffed, looking away.
"Communicating with engines isn't as easy as I thought," Big Mickey admitted.
Nia sighed.
"Of course it isn't, Big Mickey, and that's probably the part I forget to mention. Why only this afternoon when I said hello to Bulgy at Arlesburgh, he wasn't very friendly with me back. But it had me thinking no matter how hard I tried to forget about it: no matter how hard you try to accomplish something, obstacles will likely stand in the way and it's best to try and do what you can to avoid them, just like I tried to ignore Bulgy being unkind."
Big Mickey took a deep breath and turned back around, looking about at the mess he had made of the dockside.
"I'm sorry, everyone," he said aloud. "I couldn't control my emotions and that's what caused me to do this. Please, will you all cooperate with me with having this dockside cleared up?"
"Aye, matey!" Salty responded.
"Happy to help!" Porter added, following after the dockside diesel as they moved out of his way.
"Come along now, Diesel," Big Mickey calmly commanded. "It's about time we got that flatbed unloaded."
"Hmm, let me think…" Diesel thought.
"No!" he spat out. "You'll have to catch me first!"
"I will?" Big Mickey gasped, feigning surprise, then he said jokingly, "or shall I have to ask the dock manager to speak with the Fat Controller?"
"N-n-no!" Diesel panicked, then sighed. "Oh, alright." Then he backed down, muttering, "cranes? Fancy them telling a fellow engine what to do. Heh!"
Big Mickey smiled at Nia, who winked right back at him as she made her way along through the dockside.
Soon enough, the mess was cleared up, and Big Mickey and Carly were back at work loading and unloading engines passing through the Docks, and Big Mickey proceeded to communicate with them effectively.
"Eh, could you move up a bit please, Rebecca?" he asked.
"Sure, Big Mickey!" she replied.
He looked ahead at Sidney backing down in place of Carly's hoist.
"Just a bit up there, Sidney," he said kindly.
"Whoops," the diesel chuckled nervously. "Sorry."
"It's alright," Big Mickey assured him. "Rebecca and I just need room to load up. That's all."
He watched as both Rebecca and Sidney moved up and Carly moved up as well to load Sidney's first truck. Big Mickey as he proceeded to unload the first crate of cargo from the ship for Rebecca's train.
Next, it was Whiff's turn.
"Um, just a bit down please, Whiff."
"Sure thing!" Whiff whistled, and moved down in alignment with Big Mickey's hoist.
"Thank you, Whiff!" Big Mickey said, as he loaded the first crate into Whiff's first truck.
Finally, Bill and Ben arrived with crates of China Clay needed to be loaded onto the ship.
"Ooh, let's have some fun with this one, Ben," Bill whispered, Ben sniggering in agreement.
"Not so fast, you two!" Big Mickey called out firmly, looking them right in the eye, then raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"I've heard every word of it," he assured. "Come along now and back down so I can load your cargo onto the ship. Or shall I tell the Fat Controller?"
"Fine, fine," Bill sighed.
"Spoilsport," Ben remarked.
Edward whistled and backed down alongside just as Big Mickey unloaded was the first crate from their trucks.
"However did you manage to get them to behave, Big Mickey?" he chuckled, amazed.
"It was easy, Edward," the hammerhead crane replied. "I just used a bit of persuasion with them. That's all."
"Huh!" the twins harrumphed, looking away.
"Impressive," Edward remarked thoughtfully.
As the China Clay was loaded onto the ship and the twins made their way back to the Clay Pits, the coil of rope was finally fixed into position of Cranky's hoist.
"Finally," he sighed with relief, slowly moving the rope up higher into his hoist.
"Glad to have ya back, Cranky!" Carly told him.
"Indeed," Big Mickey sighed, reminiscing on his days' experiences.
"It's glad to be back," Cranky admitted. "In, uh...good working order, that is."
The three cranes shared a laugh as Nia arrived at the Docks to see how her friend was doing.
"I'm about to head back to the sheds now, Big Mickey," she told him. "How did your first day go communicating with other engines?"
"Eh, better than I expected, actually," the hammerhead crane admitted. "Aside from a few obstacles I've learnt not to let stand in the way."
"That's good," Nia told him. "I'm proud of you, Big Mickey. You seemed to have learnt quickly. It didn't take me a day to settle into the environment of Sodor that quickly."
"Mmm…" Big Mickey thought. "But I couldn't have done it without your help either, Nia. Thanks for all you did."
"No problem!" Nia whistled, as she rolled slowly away. "Hope tomorrow goes well for you!"
"It will!" Big Mickey replied, than thought to himself. "Or if not, better."
Later that evening, the three cranes looked out to sea and watched as the sun went down. Cranky thought hard of what to say to Big Mickey.
Cranky took a deep breath and looked over in Carly and Big Mickey's direction.
"I'm proud of you, Big Mickey," he admitted. "I understand it wasn't easy for you after what happened to me, but I'm glad you finally got over your problem with communication."
"Thanks, Cranky!" Big Mickey replied. "I will admit, it was scary trying to communicate with other engines after so long, but it was worth in an attempt to put my past behind me, and move on by learning from it."
"Not just an attempt, chuck, an accomplishment!" said Carly.
"Oh," Big Mickey chuckled. "Yeah, guess you're right."
"We three cranes can all work together effectively as a team now!" Carly added.
Cranky and Big Mickey laughed in agreement, as they watched the seagulls fly over the horizon.
Big Mickey was no longer afraid to communicate with other engines; he had learnt that doing so was the best way to get the job done!
Happy 2020! This was a fun way to kick off the year, a story revolving around Big Mickey learning to communicate. I do believe I got to the struggling-to-communicate side of his character well here, and Nia was also fun to star alongside him. This is probably the closest thing I've given her to a major role as of yet, and it worked well for me considering how her learning to fit in on Sodor relates here to Big Mickey's communication problems. I will admit, the theme of this episode was rather personal for me: I've had troubles learning to communicate with other people in the college environment I'm currently in, but I am working at it and thought I'd devise this to reflect on what it's like coping in an environment where you're having trouble communicating with others. I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm very excited for the next couple stories and bringing back two more familiar faces in CGI form as Set 2 progresses. Till then, stay tuned for...
Turn 'Em Into Roads - George is tasked with guiding Philip and the workmen in laying some tarmac down for a level crossing on Edward's Branch Line, though when he feels BoCo is intentionally avoiding him, he schemes to get revenge on the Metropolitan Vickers diesel by causing trouble for both him and Philip.
The Good Side Of George - Rebecca encounters George on probation and makes an attempt to be friendly towards him. George, however, grows quickly annoyed with her and schemes to pay her out.
Oliver Sent For Scrap - Oliver never tires of boasting about the time Douglas saved him from scrap. However, his boastfulness gets the better of him when he is sent to take some scrap trucks to the scrapyard, and Iron 'Arry and Bert plan to scrap him.
Belle Calls In Sick - Belle takes on bad water from a water tower by the Rescue Center and has to wait in her shed while the workmen inspect her.
And coming this summer...
Thomas & Friends in Summertime Surprises
The Island of Sodor is always busy around summertime. There are always lots of passengers and holidaymakers, and the engines work hard day in and day out to bring them to and fro from their destinations. A cautious new Container Crane named Saul arrives at Norramby and leaves Arthur over concern of delays when taking things slow. Jock's cockiness gets the better of him when he has to double-head a train with Mike, as George's hopes for a stress-free summer are crushed when having to work around Bill and Ben. Thomas has a fishy surprise in store for him whilst taking passengers out on his Branch Line, Saul realizes that rushing only makes things worse, and Daisy learns to listen to Toby when running into trouble with buckled tracks! It's an exhilarating time to be on Sodor!