Byron And Brenda
Written by Davey Moore
One sunny morning, Nia was hauling Brenda the Bulldozer on a flatbed.
"What was it exactly that you were asked to do at Wellsworth again, Brenda?" the Kenyan engine asked.
The bulldozer smiled.
"Miss Jenny's called for me specifically to clear the grounds for the new hotel station being built between Kellsthorpe and Vicarstown! She says that the Fat Controller has been planning it for quite a while and has just reached out to her about the Sodor Construction Company making a contribution to the project!"
"Wow!" Nia marveled. "That does sound like a huge responsibility! It must be amazing to be part of such a great team!"
"It is! And I'll be sure to keep things as level as possible with my flat pavements all round the site! It's like Miss Jenny says: no one keeps things level like our Brenda!"
Nia smiled as she pulled the flatbed further on towards the construction site.
At long last, the pair arrived at the site on time and Brenda was ready to go about her work.
"Thanks, Nia!" she called out as she made her way off the flatbed.
"Anytime, Brenda!" Nia whistled in response.
"Ah," Brenda sighed, taking a deep breath as she made her way about the site. "Just about ready for a useful day's work of clearing the grounds! Now, where to start?"
"Out of the way!"
"Coming through!"
Brenda was suddenly caught off-guard by a pair of familiar horns. All at once, Max and Monty the Dump Truck Twins advanced towards the station platform.
"Max! Monty!" Oliver shouted out. "Slow down!"
The twins came to an abrupt halt by the station platform, which blew dust all over a coughing Nia's paintwork!
"Sorry about them, Nia," Oliver soothed, as he proceeded to load their buckets full of dirt. "I'm afraid Max and Monty are usually like that!"
"No problem, Oliver!" Nia replied, as she slowly left the station. "I was probably going to get dusty and grind me from doing my day's work anyway!"
Oliver gazed at her as she left but was caught off-guard by the twins honking their horns impatiently at him.
"Oi, Oliver! 'urry up!"
"We 'aven't got all day!"
But Oliver calmly ignored them as he proceeded to load their buckets full of dirt.
Just then, Miss Jenny arrived at the site. She was pleased to see that all of her machines had showed up on time!
"Ah, you're all here! Spot on! Especially you, Brenda! Glad you're here! You'd make a mother proud!"
"Oh, well, thank you, mum!" Brenda stammered, blushing a little.
"Yes, well, anyway, glad you were able to show up on short notice! I'm sure that you will be pleased to know that Byron will be along soon enough to help supervise on the project!"
"Byron?!" Brenda inquired, rather confused. "But…I don't understand, miss. I thought you asked for me specifically…!"
"Sorry, Brenda! No time to explain! I gotta run!"
She started off, much to Brenda's surprise.
"I'll be back later to see how work is going on the project! Be sure to keep things level until I get back!"
Brenda gazed as she watched her leave, then sighed heavily as she went about the site.
"This doesn't add up!" she grumbled aloud. "I thought I had been asked individually to keep things level! How on earth would this project need two bulldozers to do it all?!"
Nevertheless, Brenda got to work right away, determined to get a headstart on leveling the ground before Byron arrived.
At last, BoCo arrived with Byron on his flatbed; Byron took a quick look around at the site itself.
"I say, BoCo. This site doesn't look much like what I'm used to!"
"How so, Byron?" the Metropolitan Vickers diesel wondered with confusion.
"No worry, though," Byron went on, as he made his way off the flatbed, "I am at least honored to supervise the project and show the other machines how things are done!"
BoCo raised an eyebrow at him.
"You know, Byron," he explained, smiling. "Being in charge isn't as easy as you may think! I know from experience from having to look after Bill and Ben every now and then!"
As BoCo spoke, Byron quickly took a look at Brenda flattening out the pavement and smirked.
"Shall I offer you some words of input?" BoCo offered.
"No thank you, BoCo! I've got it all under control!"
He proceeded to make his way towards the site, as BoCo set off. Byron caught Brenda busy at work, humming away.
"There!" she called at last, as she came to a stop. "All done!"
But Byron looked confused.
"What is it exactly that you got done, Brenda?"
"Can't you see how great I did with keeping the area around the hotel site at level?"
"Mmm…"
"Flat as a pancake! Pretty as a picture! I tell you, Byron, it's art!"
Before Byron could respond, Max and Monty rushed in and zoomed around the neat and tidy pavement that Brenda made, laughing loudly.
"Max! Monty!" she shouted.
The two dump trucks stopped in her tracks at her attention!
"Just look what you've done to my neat and tidy pavement! Now I'll have to do it all again!"
"What are you gonna do about it?!" Max snidely remarked.
"You're not the boss of us!" Monty added.
"Ahem!"
Byron cleared his throat so loudly that the twins stopped to look at him. He raised his eyebrow with them, giving them the signal to leave!
"Gotta go!"
"Later!"
Monty blew a long, wet raspberry at Brenda as Max revved dust into her face, before they both scampered off. Brenda coughed loudly, as Byron sighed with dismay!
"I say, Byron! Aren't those two rude or what?!"
"They know not to mess with me!" Byron pointed out, smiling.
"Well…!" Brenda wondered, raising an eyebrow with confusion.
"Just ignore them, Brenda! That way, you won't let them bother you!"
Brenda looked away as Byron had a good chuckle.
"I must say though, it does take a loud booming voice like mine to keep rascals like them in order!
"Huh!" Brenda scoffed, looking at Byron long and hard.
An awkward silence occurred, before Brenda took a deep breath.
"As I was saying, I got a headstart on leveling the ground around the site where the hotel will be built! It looks beautiful, doesn't it, Byron?"
"Well," Byron thought, "it does look rather nice, Brenda, but…"
"But?!"
"I highly suggest that you let me take it from here! I'll show you how the expert does it!"
"What?!" Brenda spluttered.
"I-I-I mean, my straight lines might be an interesting touch and help see clearly where to land the building!"
"But…I don't understand," Brenda went on, then demanded, "what was wrong with the pavement I made out?!"
Byron thought for a moment, eyeing the pavement hard.
"Erm, if I could offer my candid opinion, I think it could use with some straight-edging. I could show you what I mean if you'd…"
"Absolutely not!" Brenda protested. "My pavement is a lovely piece of work and I don't want any more mess!"
Byron gave her a stern look.
"Need I remind you, Brenda, that Miss Jenny put me in charge! I know what I'm doing, given my many years of experience and expertise!"
Brenda gasped, then glared.
"I demand you show some respect for my artwork and make your rigid lines somewhere else, thanks very much!"
Byron sighed heavily, having lost patience!
"I don't have time to argue with you, Brenda!" he demanded, before advancing towards her. "Now move out of the way and let me show you how it's done!"
He made his way forward, but was suddenly caught off guard as she landed her blade down right in front of him!
"You shall not pass!" she claimed aloud.
"Hmm…you're only going to make my job more difficult, aren't you?!" Byron wondered.
The two bulldozers engaged in a dark, glancing stare off, clenching their blades tight. At that moment, a workman showed up.
"Brenda! You're needed at the swimming pool area for leveling the grounds!"
Brenda absorbed the information to the task she was given to do, then looked at Byron hard.
"Don't even think about messing up my neat and tidy pavement, Byron!" she warned. "I'll take care of it when I get back!"
She set off, as Byron watched her leave, then set to work about the site.
"How foolish," he chuckled to himself. "I'll have these lines straightened out in no time!"
Brenda got the work on the site for the swimming pool with flattening all the dirt into a pavement. However, she was still cross about Byron!
"I tell you, Oliver!" she complained aloud to the excavator, "that Byron! Thinking he knows it all! Imagine, telling me that my neat and tidy pavements aren't good enough!"
Oliver thought hard, as he loaded dirt into Max and Monty's loaders.
"What sort of project would call for two bulldozers to work it anyway?!" Brenda went on.
"Hmm…well, Alfie and I work together on the same project regularly," Oliver suggested. "And besides, Brenda, Byron has been working on the team a lot longer than you have, so he's a machine who often knows how to get the job done!"
Brenda raised an eyebrow.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she demanded.
Max sniggered.
"It means Byron could be drawing a straight line over your precious artwork right now!"
Brenda gasped with horror.
"Better watch out, Brenda!" Monty tauntingly encouraged. " Max and I would be equally upset if some other machine desecrated our creation!"
"No!" Brenda shouted. "I won't let that happen!"
She rushed off, as Oliver looked over after having poured his current load of dirt.
"Brenda, come back! You haven't finished with paving the area yet!"
He let out a sigh of dismay, as Max and Monty snickered quietly to each other.
Brenda rushed on her way back to the site, unaware of the task that she hadn't finished!
"That Byron!" she huffed to herself, as she inched closer towards the site. "If I find that he's meddled with my neat and tidy pavement, I'll …I'll…"
She arrived back at the site to find what had become of her pavement, then gasped in horror.
Brenda was horrified; while she was away, Byron had made straight lines over the neat and tidy pavement she made and was now nowhere in sight!
"The nerve of him!" she fumed. "I warned him not to mess with my artwork and he did! I'll show him to ruin my creation!"
Brenda proceeded to flatten out the pavement once more, pushing away the straight lines and edges that Byron made.
"Ah," she smiled to herself, as she paved her way around. "This is more like it! Pretty as a picture, clear as crystal!"
Byron had just returned from his most recent task as Brenda finished up.
"There!" she said at last. "All done!"
Byron looked horrified!
"What have you done?!" he demanded.
"What do you mean what have I done?!" Brenda replied.
"You ruined my straight lines!"
"More important question for you, Byron, is: why did you ruin the payment I made when I specifically told you to leave it alone?"
"I'm in charge here!" Byron firmly reminded her. "I knew exactly what I was doing with a task I had been given!"
Brenda widened her eyebrows at him with agitation.
"You may think you know it all, Byron…!" she ranted.
"Mmm…"
Byron raised an eyebrow and smirked as he listened on.
"…but I was asked specifically to work on this project, same as you! Therefore, I have equal rights to make the area as neat and tidy as you do with being rigid and precise over everything!"
Byron was taken aback by this statement, but before the argument could go any further, the foreman walked up.
"Byron! Brenda!" he demanded. What are you both sitting around for? I sent one of the men to deliver Brenda the message regarding the site for the swimming pool a short while ago!"
"The swimming pool!" Brenda gasped, then groaned. "How silly of me to ignore the task at hand!"
Byron rolled his eyes and looked away, as the foreman eyed both of them hard.
"Well, someone has to do the job," he reminded them.
Two bulldozers glanced at each other before starting off suddenly.
"Me first!" Brenda shouted.
"No! Me!" Byron called back.
Byron and Brenda raced each other to the site of the swimming pool! However, their caterpillar wheels could only take them so fast!
"Oi!" gawked Brenda, as Byron's blade knocked into hers. "Watch it!"
"You're in my path!" Byron insisted. "Watch it yourself and move out of my way!"
"Never!" Brenda argued.
She surged ahead, as Byron soar after her, their radiators rumbling fiercely!
The two bulldozers made it to the hill before the swimming pool site, but Byron overtook Brenda as they raced down, and stopped just a few inches before her!
"Oof!" she winced. "Coulda beat ya if you hadn't gone any slower with getting to that last hill!"
"Nonsense!" Byron chortled.
But Oliver was quick to settle the situation.
"That's quite enough, you two! Now, what's got you racing around on site when there's work to be done?!"
"No time to explain, Oliver!" Byron stressed. "All I can say is that I got here before Brenda and now I can straighten edges around the area where the swimming pool will be!"
"Oh, no, you won't!" Brenda argued.
"Mmm," Byron smirked. "Well, I did get here before you, Brenda!"
At last, Oliver emptied the last load of dirt and tapped Monty's bucket.
"Good to go, you two!"
The twins started off.
"Looks like you'll have to keep things neat and tidy someplace else, Brenda!" Max taunted.
Monty giggled along with him as they raced out of sight.
"Hmph!" Brenda fumed.
She rolled quickly away, as Byron watched her hard, before setting about at his job.
"Don't worry, Brenda!" her operator soothed. "There's also work being done on the hiking trail opening near the hotel that will be available to guests!"
"Huh! Convenient!" she remarked. "Unless Byron wants to run his rigid lines over that area as well!"
Her operator chuckled.
"Come now!" he insisted, as he got her going along.
After Brenda left, Byron grumbled about her to Oliver.
"She's stubborn, I tell you, Oliver!" he ranted, as he made straight edges around the pool area. "When will she learn that I'm the one who's in charge?!"
Oliver felt exhausted.
"I put in a good word for you, Byron. I've already explained to Brenda that you've been an active member of the team longer than she has. However, to be a good leader, it requires much responsibility to get through to your peers and show them that you're in charge. Perhaps you should try reasoning with Brenda."
"Have I not already done that?!" Byron spluttered. "She doesn't listen!"
"Hmm…" Oliver thought, smiling at his old friend. "Maybe try calmly and patiently showing her how to get the job done efficiently."
"Pah! Only a miracle can get that through to her!
"I don't know, Byron. My guess is that the two of you have a misunderstanding. For all you know, it may patch things up."
Byron sighed to himself as he went about his edging.
At the site for the hiking trail, Brenda proceeded to complain about Byron to Darcy!
"I say, Darcy!" she began, and she paved her way around the hiking trail area. "That Byron thinks he knows everything! Thinks he can sabotage my neat and tidy pavement with his rough lines! I'll show him!"
Darcy smiled as she got her drill into place!
"Cheer up, Brenda!" she chirped, "perhaps helping prepare the area planned in formation of the trail may help you feel better!"
"It might!" Brenda remarked. "Unless Byron wants to edge his straight lines over this pavement too!"
However, her comments were drowned out by the loud sound of Darcy's drill as she drilled away at the grounds! Brenda coughed and spluttered as the dust blew her way!
As Nelson sat out over the workmen's break, he received an earful from Byron all about Brenda.
"Never listens! Thinks she knows best! I tell you, Nelson! That Brenda's gotten on my last nerve!"
Nelson listened with worry as Byron rambled on.
"Just you wait! I'll show her who's in charge!"
"Oh, goodness," Nelson pondered.
"Break time over, Nelson!" the foreman called, as the men hopped aboard. "Let's get going!"
Nelson honked and started off, as Byron rolled away.
Brenda's next job was to pave the way for the parking lot that would be by the hotel.
"That Byron thinks he knows everything!" she complained to George.
The steamroller listened with interest as he lay down tarmac for the parking lot.
"Thinks he can just stroll onto the site and ruin my craft! Then he has the nerve to take a job from me at the swimming pool site! Now the area will never be neat and tidy with his rigid lines in the way!"
George smirked as he stopped to face Brenda.
"Sounds like you're not having a good day!" he observed. "I have lots of those but it makes me feel better to take it out on the railway!"
Brenda was shocked by what she was hearing.
"Will it make you feel better if I caused a derailment?" George suggested smugly.
Brenda was horrified!
"Good heavens!" she gasped.
George smirked and chuckled silently as he went back about the tarmac.
Byron and Brenda avoided speaking to each other for the rest of the project…
Byron made his way through the site, taking a look at his surroundings when he saw Brenda approach and looked the other way. Brenda proceeded to do the same thing as she passed him. Nelson observed this as he picked up some workmen.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Byron edged his straight lines over the area where the parking lot would be!
"This should do the trick!" he marveled, as he finished at last.
He sighed and smiled at the finished product, feeling very pleased with himself before setting off.
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …
Brenda proceeded to flatten out Byron's straight lines into her own pavement over the area where the café would be!
"Ah!" she sighed, As she got to work. "This should show him to mess with my creation!"
Nelson arrived and watched Oliver sigh with exasperation.
"I say, Oliver," Nelson observed, "don't you think there's a sense of bad atmosphere going around on site?"
"Couldn't have put it any better myself, Nelson!" Oliver agreed, as he had his wrecking ball fitted into place.
Oliver proceeded to aim his wrecking ball towards the old ruined building in order to make space for the cafe!
"Alright, men!" the foreman announced, "once this building is knocked down, we can prepare to make space for the park near the café!"
They proceeded to watch as Oliver's wrecking ball hit the building and proceeded to knock it down to smithereens, much to Brenda's surprise as she stopped in her tracks!
"Oh," she gasped, then chuckled. "Just a building."
She proceeded to continue about the site, humming cheerfully.
Soon enough, Byron returned to the site for the Café just as Brenda was finished flattening out the pavement. He was horrified by what he saw!
Byron widened his eyes and gasped and horror.
"Brenda!" he demanded. "Just look what you've done to my straight lines!"
"I was only keeping the area neat and tidy from your rigid lines, Byron!" Brenda insisted.
"Unbelievable! Now I'll have to do it all again!"
"Oh, no you won't! Not while I'm around to keep things level with the site grounds!"
"Well, it's my responsibility to make the grounds look as precise as possible!" Byron argued.
"Well, go do it somewhere else! And don't make any more mess over my art!"
Byron tightened his eyebrows at her hard, glaring.
Before the debate could proceed, the yard manager showed up.
"Byron!" he said. "Begging your pardon but I just arrived here. I was wondering if you could take a quick look at the hiking trail for me and make sure that it's been done!"
"With pleasure, sir!" Byron replied.
"Ah! Splendid!" the yard manager beamed
And he took off.
"But…but…" Brenda stammered. "I already flattened out the pavement for that trail!"
"Mmm…, Byron thought aloud. "Perhaps it's best that I head on over and see how you did then!"
"Absolutely not!" Brenda protested. "I did a fine job on the pavement! Don't you dare go making any mess!"
"I'm in charge of this project, Brenda!" Byron reminded her. "If I was asked to do the job, then there must be something about the way you did it that seems a little off!"
He got started with advancing towards the exit of the cafe site.
"Oh, no you don't!" Brenda called. "Not on my watch!"
She threw her blade down towards him to bar his way out of the site. Byron glared at her.
"You're really gonna make this difficult for me, aren't you?" he guessed.
"I will not let you mess up my artwork!" Brenda argued back.
"Move out of my way!" Byron called, revving his blade forward.
"Then stay out of the way of my creation!" Brenda call back, revving her blade back towards him.
"You seem to forget who's in charge with this project!" Byron argued, revving his blade forward.
"Well I got here to the site first!" Brenda fumed.
"I worked on this team longer!" Byron firmly insisted.
"That doesn't give you any right!"
"Yes, it does!" Byron winced, shutting his eyes as he pushed his blade further back towards her.
"Does not!"
"Does too!"
"Does not!"
"Does too!"
Oliver and Nelson watched worriedly as the two bulldozers revved their blades back-and-forth towards each other.
"Please, you two!" Oliver begged. "Stop this at once!"
"You may break something!" Nelson added.
But the two bulldozers wouldn't give up their quarrel as they rub their blades back and forth towards each other until…
"Woah!" Byron wailed.
Brenda's blade knocked suddenly into his and caused him to tip over and land on his side.
"Byron!" Oliver and Nelson both shouted at once.
Brenda gasped and quickly rushed over, as Byron angrily spat and coughed dust from his mouth!
"Byron!" she cried. "Are you okay?"
Byron shot her a sharp look, as she sighed sadly.
"I'm sorry, Byron! I never meant for this to happen! I'll go and get help!"
"Huh?" Byron wondered.
"Help!" Brenda shouted, as she rushed towards the workmen. "Quick! Byron needs help right away!"
The foreman quickly ran to find the nearest telephone.
"Hang tight, Byron!" Brenda called. "We'll have you up and about again in no time!"
Byron listened to this with surprise, then sighed as he lay on his side.
Soon enough, Kelly the Crane was called into action and wasted no time with lifting Byron back over again.
Byron sighed with relief as he was released from the chains of Kelly's crane arm.
"So," Kelly wondered aloud, "however did you get yourself into this mess, Byron?"
Brenda blushed slight shade of red.
"It wasn't his fault, Kelly," she admitted, "I knocked my blade into the way of his and…"
"No, Brenda," Byron cut off, taking her by surprise. "It was my own fault."
"Hmm…" Kelly thought, listening on.
"I haven't been a very good leader like Miss Jenny expected me to be. I was only trying to make the site the best it could be in preparation for the new hotel."
"So was I," Brenda added. "I'm sorry if it caused us any sort of disagreement, Byron."
Byron chuckled.
"There's nothing really to be sorry about, Brenda! You really are able to keep the ground level better than I am! I realized this from watching you work and seeing what a splendid job you've done on the paths that I've made straight lines over!"
Brenda blushed a little, but was nevertheless touched.
"Do you really mean that, Byron?" she wondered.
"Yes!" Byron chuckled. "I wish I'd let you know sooner but I was rather focused on being in charge! You know, keeping the ground level around the site isn't such an easy task but you do a magnificent job with it! I tend to keep things coarse, rather!"
Brenda smiled.
"Thank you, Byron! Please, forgive me for my stubbornness! I was only trying to keep things neat and tidy, but I'm willing to sacrifice at all if we can work together and get the job done by the end of the day!
Byron was surprised.
"Are you sure, Brenda?"
"Sure as I'll ever be! You can lead!"
Byron smiled.
"Come along, Brenda!" he insisted. "I suggest we take each section one-by-one!"
"Oh," Brenda wondered, raising an eyebrow as she followed him along.
"I can show you how to keep my lines precise and neat and tidy!"
"Oh, oh, marvelous!" Brenda chirped with intrigue. "Please, let me handle that second bit!"
The pair chuckled as they made their way across the site.
First, Byron and Brenda took a stroll at the hiking trail!
"Here, Brenda!" Byron suggested, "we can start by me showing you how I keep the line straight!"
Brenda watched as he proceeded to run straight lines over the pavement that she had initially made. She looked puzzled but managed to maintain a smile on her face as she followed in his trail.
"Woah!" Byron wailed, as she caught up beside him.
He chuckled slightly.
"Caught up with me that time!" he beamed.
Brenda laughed along with him, as they made their way about the trail, side-by-side.
"Wow!" she marveled, as she pushed her blade farther besides Byron's. "It turns out that I can keep my line straight and keep the pavement neat and tidy at the same time!"
"That's the gist of it, Brenda," Byron beamed.
The two bulldozers made their way along the path that was already sat down for the hiking trail. By the time they were finished, Brenda felt very confident in herself!
"How did I do that time?" she wondered.
"Mmmm," Byron thought as he looked at the finished trail, "not bad."
"Really? How, erm…, neat and tidy does it look?"
She smirked as Byron chuckled.
"Come along," he encouraged.
Brenda followed after me.
"But…but…" Brenda insisted, as she caught up with him, "i'm sure that I saw it very clearly!"
Byron chuckled slightly.
"So could I," he quietly admitted.
The pair managed to work well together for the rest of the project; Oliver and Nelson immediately took notice of this.
"I say, Oliver," Nelson pointed out, as they watched them stroll along. "Do you notice any improvement with the atmosphere here on site?"
Oliver chuckled, as he finished dumping a load into Max's loader.
"Yes, I do!" the excavator admitted. "Looks like Byron and Brenda are shaping up to be a fine pair!"
"Might even say so myself!" Nelson added.
"It's about time, though, isn't it?" Oliver wondered, chuckling.
"Huh!" Monty snorted, looking the other way.
"But however did they learn to work together and get the job done so fast?" Nelson wondered.
"Beats me," Oliver replied.
"Ahem!" Max coughed.
He turned his attention towards the two dump trucks, who raised their eyebrows at him.
"More!" they both shouted.
Oliver sighed as he continued loading their loaders full of dirt.
Next, Byron and Brenda decided to work on the area for the tennis court.
"Alright, Brenda," Byron beamed, as they arrived alongside each other. "Go ahead and show me how you can keep things neat and tidy!"
"Are you sure you don't want to do this one together, Byron?" Brenda wondered.
Byron smiled.
"You've done a good job on the site, Brenda! I like to see how you do things for a change!"
Brenda chuckled as she took a stroll at the trail and flattened the area out for the tennis court.
"There!" she said it last. "Flat as a pancake! Pretty as a picture!"
"Mmm…" Byron murmured, rather impressed.
"We can run lines of this one if you'd like, Byron!"
Byron grinned at her.
"Actually, Brenda," he admitted, "I think that looks good enough!"
"Are you sure?" Brenda wondered, raising an eyebrow with surprise.
"Yes!" Byron chuckled. "Besides, I wouldn't want to mess up your artwork!"
The two bulldozers shared a good laugh as they exited the area.
At the end of the afternoon, the project was finished and the grounds for the area were laid down and ready for the hotel to be built. Miss Jenny came to see how the machines progressed.
"Spot on, all of you!" she congratulated. You'd make your mother proud! Construction for the hotel can now be underway! Job well done!"
"Thank you, mum!" Brenda exclaimed.
Miss Jenny turned her eyes towards the two bulldozers.
"By the way, Brenda and Byron," she admitted, "I heard all about your predicament here on site!"
"Oh…"
"Erm…."
The two bulldozers blushed and smiled meekly.
"However," she went on, "I commend the both of you for having resolved it all on your own! That's what it takes to work as part of a team!"
Byron and Brenda glanced at each other with a smile.
"You know, Byron," Brenda admitted, "your method for keeping the lines straight and precise isn't so bad after all!
Byron was rather surprised by this.
"Well, thank you, Brenda! Come to think of it, keeping the area neat and tidy isn't so bad either."
Brenda beamed at him as the big yellow bulldozer smiled and glanced back over at her.
"But then again," he remarked, "I am a pretty good teacher!"
Brenda, Oliver, Nelson, Darcy and Miss Jenny all shared a laugh with him, as Max and Monty glanced at each other with confusion!
"Huh!"
"Right!"
Well, that was a fun write; pairing up Byron and Brenda was an idea that sparked my interest and prove that having two bulldozers in The Pack can work after all. What helps is that Brenda had a character from the get-go in her S23 debut that inspired her dynamic with Byron here. One interesting note about this Pack outing is that it's focused solely on members of the team, with only Nia and BoCo appearing by being the engines who take Brenda and Byron to the site, and also George in his brief little role to get Brenda even more riled up. As for Byron, this is the largest role I've given him since I first had him appear in my stories and he was a lot of fun to write for with his authoritative nature; however, his tendency to take charge and tell other machines what to do causes a problem between him and Brenda here. However, the two bulldozers make up and learn to work together in the end. That pretty much sums up my penultimate entry for Set 3. Be sure to leave thoughts, and come back next week for the epic finale and sit back and watch as...
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