George's Giant

One day, George was puffing along, towing Bobby barge. It was easy going for George. In an hour, George finished his job with Bobby Barge. After that, he returned to the Great Ocean Docks. "All right," said George, "Bobby is now happy."

"Is that all you have to say, George?" said Hank. "Oh," said George, "The job was easy as pie. No problem. Then, I'll move 4 ships." "Okay," said the Dispatcher, "You can start now." "All right!" boomed George, "4 ships, no problem."

George set off to move the ships. George had no problem moving the big ships. First, he moved Freda, whom George moved from a cargo bay to a oil dock. Next, he towed Seabright from the container terminal to another dock, for resting.

Next, George towed Cocomagh out of the harbour because her job is finished at a grain dock. Last, but not least, George moved Canso from the oil docks and sent him on his way to another harbour. And also, after Seabright rested up for his trip to another harbour, George towed him out of the harbour. "I knew this would be easy!" boasted George.

So George returned to the Great Ocean Docks for a rest. However, George's rest was cut short when the Dispatcher called all of the other tugboats back to the Great Ocean Docks. He also told George to wake up as well. "Yes sir!" he said the moment he woke up.

"I have a special announcement," said the Dispatcher, "Chester has just arrived by now." "Well!" said Foduck. "Great!" said Hank. "He brought one big container," said the Dispatcher, "Proceed to bring him into the Big Harbour. "Yes, sir!" said George out loud. He raced off to meet Chester.

"Okay," said Emily. Theodore, Foduck and Hank followed as well. The tugboats set out to meet Chester. "I wonder what's he got," thought Hank. "Maybe something big," said Emily. "Nothing too big for me!" boasted George. "Something got into his smokestack," thought Emily.

That's when she heard a rattle in one George's two engines. The tugboats puffed by Fundy the fishing boat, ready to go fishing.

"Remember not to over do it," he said to George, "You weren't built in a second." "Come on!" said George, ignoring Fundy. Emily just stared at George and listened to the rattle.

The tugs reached Chester, where he was waiting at the harbour entrance. "I'm going to tow! I'm going to tow!" sang George. George sang his little song along the way. "Oh boy," said Emily. As soon as they reached the entrance, they saw Chester.

They were surprised. Chester didn't have a stack of containers. Instead, he was carrying one, huge, giant, humongous container that filled his whole container deck. "Wow!" said Hank, "Talk about carrying an elephant."

Foduck was too surprised to say anything. "Wow!" said George out loud. "What could be in it?" asked Hank. "I don't know," said Theodore. "And no," said Foduck to Hank, "There is no elephant in that container." "Oh," Hank sighed. "Let's go!" roared George, with a rattle in his engine.

"Fine," said Emily. George got in front. Theodore and Emily tugged from the sides. And Foduck and Hank pushed from the back. The tugboats started bringing Chester into the Big Harbour. "Now we're going!" boasted George. Emily said nothing and continued to listen to the rattle inside of George.

Chester was enjoying the tugging. "I'll have this big container delivered in no time," he smiled. That's when trouble happened. The tugboats were almost close to Benjamin bridge when the rattle in one of George's engines became a clanking sound. Emily noticed this.

"George!" she called out, "Stop!" "There's no danger ahead," said George. "Not with what's in front of us," said Emily, "With you!" That's when the clanking in one of George's engines turned into a crashing sound. "What's happening to me?!" cried George.

Then, black smoke blasted from George's smokestack. "Oh no!" said Theodore and Hank. One of George's twin engines suddenly broke down. "Oh!" coughed George. George quickly turned off his other engine before it breaks down, too.

"George!" said Theodore and Emily. "Oh no!" said George, "It's one of my engines!" "I must have collapsed when you were working all day today and yesterday," said Foduck. "Now what?" asked Theodore. "I have to deliver my container," said Chester. "Hold on," said Foduck. George looked sad.

So, Foduck took George to the repair yards. The other tugboats could only move Chester to a nearby dock. It was the best they could do without George. After Theodore, Hank, Emily and Foduck docked Chester, they went to see George.

"I'm sorry," said George. "For what?" asked Emily. "Fro acting all invincible and acting like an idiot," said George. "What are you talking about?" asked Theodore. "I thought I could do everything," said George, "But I was wrong and I broke one of my engines as a dumb action."

"George," said Theodore, "You're not an all-boasting know-it-all. You're our friend. We're sorry that you broke on of your engines."

"We're all sorry," said Emily, "And I'm sorry for not saying anything about the rattle inside of you." "I forgive you," said George. "We forgive you as well," said the other tugs. "I'll take it easy from now on," said George. The other tugs agreed.

The following day, George's engine had been repaired and he was ready to go back to work. However, today, something different happened. The Dispatcher told the tugs to go to the dock where Chester was docked. When the tugs returned to Chester's dock, they were in for a giant surprise.

"There's a fun fair!" said Hank. Near the dock, a fun fair was being built. "So that's what was inside of that giant container," said Foduck. "I think it'll be a great funfair," said Chester.

"So," said Theodore, "Where were we supposed to take you yesterday?" "Over at dock 15," said Chester. "That's a really boring place," said Hank.

"So, George," said Emily, "If your engine hadn't broke down yesterday, we would have taken Chester at dock 15 instead of here."

"I guess I really did help out," said George. So, in 2 days, the tugs finally got to see the funfair finished on time. The tugs enjoyed watching the whole fun. However, no one was more happier than George.