A/N Because drivers comfort their engines in the classics and I'm Thomas sensitive, I'm having that happen for Thomas after he's pulled out.
Hey, it's me, Thomas again. I shall tell the story of how I once fell down a mine now.
One day, I was at the junction when Gordon shuffled in with some freight cars.
"Phew!" I remarked. "What a funny smell. Can you smell a smell?"
"I can't smell a smell", said Annie.
"A funny, musty sort of smell", I said.
"No one noticed it until you did", grumbled Gordon. "It must be yours.".
Not long ago, Gordon had fallen into a dirty ditch. I enjoyed teasing him about it, cheeky little engine I am.
"Annie, Clarabel, do you know what I think it is? It's ditchwater." Before Gordon could answer, I puffed away. Annie and Clarabel could hardly believe their ears.
"He's dreadfully rude, I feel quite ashamed", said Annie
"I feel quite ashamed, he's dreadfully rude", Clarabel said. My coaches were talking to each other about how cheeky I was to my fellow engine. Maybe I was rather cheeky to him, but I liked being that way.
And to me, they said, "You mustn't be rude, you make us ashamed."
But I didn't care one bit. "That was funny, that was funny", I chuckled. I felt very pleased with myself. Annie and Clarabel were deeply shocked. They had great respect for Gordon the Big Engine. I left the coaches at the station and went off to the mine for some cars. Long ago, miners digging for lead had made tunnels under the ground. Their roofs were strong enough to hold up cars but not the weight of engines. A large notice warned them not to enter the area: Danger! Engines must not pass this board.
Silly old board, I thought. I had often tried to pass it, but had never succeeded. But this morning I had made a plan. The fireman went to throw the switch.
Now for my plan, I thought. Bumping the cars fiercely, I jerked Driver off the footplate and followed them into a siding.
"Come back!" yelled Driver.
I fell into the mine with a splash. "Fire and smoke!" I said. "I'm sunk.". And I was. "Oh, dear", I said. "I am a silly engine.".
"And a very naughty one, too. I saw you!", said Sir Topham Hatt.
"Please get me out. I won't be naughty again", I said. I began to cry, feeling bad about what I'd done. He could probably hear my sniffles.
"I'm not sure. We can't lift you out with a crane. The ground's not firm enough. Hmm, let me see. I wonder if Gordon could pull you out."
"Yes, sir", I said. But I didn't want to meet Gordon just yet. I found out what Gordon thought of my accident.
"Down a mine, is he? Ha, ha, ha", laughed Gordon. "What a joke! Boop, bopp! Little Thomas, we'll have you out in a couple of puffs."
Strong cables were fastened between us.
Are you ready? Heave!", said Sir Topham Hatt.
Gordon pulled me out of the mine. It was harder than we thought. Gordon was wrong about me being out in a couple of puffs. He was out of breath and nearly purple. At last, I was free. I cried my eyes out in that mine, but that was just a need to express what I felt. I was rather unhappy and needed to weep.
"I'm sorry I was cheeky", I said.
"That's all right. You made me laugh", replied Gordon. "I'm in disgrace."
"So am I", I huffed.
"Why so you are, Thomas. Shall we form an alliance? You help me and I help you. United we stand, divided we fall."
He was doing that in attempt to cheer me up, his form of comfort and probably wanted an ally. Since we were both in disgrace, he probably saw me as a willing ally. Driver comforted me, too. "Right you are", I agreed.
"Good, that's settled", rumbled Gordon. And buffer to buffer, the allies, Gordon and me, that is, puffed home.
I lost my branch line after that. That made me very sad. I missed Percy, Toby and especially Annie and Clarabel dreadfully. Sometimes, I could see them pulling my coaches to Knapford. Driver comforted me, drying my tears with a cloth when I cried around him, like when my branch line was first taken away and I cried my heart out. My other friends, like Edward, comforted me, too, as they could whenever I had to let myself go. I needed quite a bit of comfort, but I'm not afraid of emotion. But it proved temporary, losing my branch line. I shed a great many tears, including tears of joy when I got my branch line back. However, I shall tell about that later. We've got other stories to tell.
A/N The story that followed this one in the book implies Thomas lost his branch line after the events of this story, which is why I put that at the end. I'm not British, he is, so don't flame me. This fic follows the show timeline of when the stories are told. Thomas canonically cried tears of remorse in the mine, according to TvTropes. He also loves his branch line canonically, which is why I imagine him being emotional about it. Real engines have a heartbeat and I read a fanfic in which the writer said something about a Sodor engine's mechanical heart, which is why more emotional engines cry their hearts out in my Thomasverse.