Chapter 173: Thomas and the Snowman
Winter had arrived on the Island of Sodor, and snow was in abundance. The village of Toryreck was getting ready for their winter festival. One day, Thomas was passing by the field where some children were helping set up for the party. In the center was the largest snowman Thomas had ever seen!
"Woah! Did you guys build that?"
One of the children laughed.
"No, silly! Its not even a real snowman. Its a balloon to get us in the mood. My daddy helped put it up. There'll be a snowman building competition later, though."
"Well, its pretty impressive. Oh, there's the signal. I need to go."
But then there was trouble. The snowman hadn't been placed in the ground properly. A large gust of wind picked up, sweeping the snowman off the ground until its hooks slipped around the buffers of Thomas's brakevan.
"Thomas, wait!"
But Thomas couldn't hear them, and disappeared from sight with the balloon in tow.
A few minutes later, Thomas stopped at McColl Farm to drop off straw for the animals. Farmer McColl was there to greet him.
"Thanks Thomas! My cow is almost ready to have her calf, and this straw will help make her comfortable."
"Its no problem, Sam. Happy to help."
"Oh, by the way. Terence told me to remind you to make sure your engine has a snowplough. We're supposed to get a lot of snow this year, and he says he can't come out everyday to save you from snowdrifts."
"Oh ha ha, like he's never had trouble with snow before."
Just then, Farmer McColl noticed Thomas's passenger.
"Hey Thomas, who's your friend there?"
"Huh? What do you-"
It was then that Thomas looked back to see the snowman balloon smiling at him. Thomas couldn't help but laugh.
"It must have got picked up by the wind! I better take it back, the children will be looking for it."
Once all of the straw was unloaded, Thomas drove the train back down the line to the field. The children were happy to see their snowman.
"Sorry about that. Its a good thing Farmer McColl's isn't too far from here."
"Its alright, Thomas. We should've made sure the job was done properly. We will this time."
And so the parents, with Thomas's help, put the snowman right back where it belonged, making sure it was secure before going back to decorating.
That Saturday, everyone had a great time at the winter festival. Sir Topham Hatt was the judge of the snowman competition, and recieved a big surprise when the children made a snowman that looked just like him, stout body and all.
"What do you think, sir? Do you like it?"
Sir Topham Hatt's face formed a frown, and the children feared they had done something wrong. But to their surprise, he grinned, took his top hat off and placed it right on their snowman!
"There, now he looks just like a railway controller!"
Everyone laughed, and they all agreed that this had been the best winter festival in years.