Put Upon Percy

Thomas & Friends is copyright to Mattel and the Awdry family. I own nothing.

One day, Percy puffed grumpily into the yards. He was feeling 'put-upon', and said so. "I feel put-upon." he complained to Thomas.

Thomas was confused. "Put upon what? The rails?"

"No, put-upon with too much work. Driver says he is too."

"Put-upon, what a silly saying." replied Thomas, but Annie & Clarabel liked it, and when Thomas took them away, they sang about it.

"Percy's been put-upon, put-upon, put-upon.
Percy's been put-upon. Poor old Percy!"

"Percy is being put-upon. I am, I am, I am!" grumbled Percy as he went back to work. He collected a flat truck loaded with steel pipes from the foundry, coal trucks from the colliery, sacks of flour from the mill, stone trucks from the quarry, and a fuel tanker from the depot, getting dirtier and dirtier at each location, then he delivered the whole ensemble to the docks.

Next, he collected some empty trucks to take back to the yard. "Who's this dirty little green caterpillar?" cried the trucks. "We want Thomas or Duck!"

Percy ignored them. "Put-upon, put-upon, that's what I am." he muttered to himself.

~8~

That night, all the engines laughed at him when he came home to the sheds. "Well, we can see what's been put upon you!" said Thomas cheekily.

"That's enough!" reprimanded the Fat Controller. "Percy, you've done a good day's work today. Now get a good night's rest." he told Percy kindly.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." yawned Percy, and rolled thankfully back into the shed.

~8~

Next morning, Percy took some empty trucks to the colliery. He dropped the brake van off in a siding and pushed the trucks to the mineshaft. Some trucks from yesterday were still there. The foreman spoke to Percy's driver, "Those trucks are stuck on the mechanism. Could you give them a good shove to get them free?"

"We'll do it right away." said Percy's driver, and backed Percy up to where a large canvas barrier was used to protect the running line from loose rocks.

Percy charged at the line of trucks, but he and his driver had misjudged their speed and they hit the trucks too fast and too hard. "Oh, no!" gasped Percy.

The trucks broke free, but ran out of control to the mines below. "On! On! Faster, faster!" they yelled in their silly way. Then there was trouble again; the trucks derailed on a sharp bend and slammed into a wooden support beam, demolishing it and bringing the tunnel roof down.

The miners all ran for the safety of the outside world. One of them hit the alarm button and sirens started as the whole mine began to cave in on itself. "Get out of here fast! The mine's collapsing!" the miner hollered over a loudhailer.

There was a loud rumbling and a cloud of dust erupted from the shaft entrance, spraying Percy all over. "We'll just have to make a run for it, Percy!" called his driver, and Percy reversed as fast as his wheels would let him.

"There's going to be an avalanche!" wailed Percy, and he was right. The mine's collapse had triggered an avalanche on the hillside above. Rocks and dirt tumbled down the slope towards the railway line. Worst still, the track itself began to crumble beneath Percy's wheels. Then, he remembered something he had seen earlier. "There's a canvas barrier by the track. That might save us."

They were just in time. Percy stopped next to the barrier as it teetered over and encased him, protecting him and his crew as half the hillside came down on top of them. When the avalanche subsided, there was no sign of Percy among the mountain of rubble. "The avalanche has buried an engine and it's crew." the foreman told the miners. "We must help them immediately. They brought the diggers over and soon cleared away the rubble to find Percy, his driver and fireman all safe and sound.

Presently, Thomas arrived with the Fat Controller. He spoke to Percy's driver and fireman, then to Percy. "Driver told me how brave and quick-thinking you were, Percy, and I'm very proud of you. As a reward, you will be repainted at the Works."

"Oh, thank you, sir." said Percy gratefully.

~8~

A few days later, Percy came home from the Works sporting a sparkling new coat of green paint. "I'm sorry we teased you, Percy." said Thomas. "You were certainly put-upon by that avalanche."

"Yes, but it was worth it for this new paint." replied Percy. "Now, I don't mind that being put upon me!"

Author's notes: Thought I'd do another TTTE adaptation, this time it's series 5's Put Upon Percy. Series 5 was TTTE's most action-packed series, which makes it quite an interesting challenge to adapt in story form. The mine collapse sequence in this episode posed a bit of a challenge, due to it's mainly visual nature. Still, I've managed it. My most abiding memory of this episode is watching it on Nick Jnr one morning around the turn of the millennium and the mine collapse sequence was certainly memorable. Revisiting the episode in my adult years, I find it funny that the lead truck has Scruffey's face. Wonder if David Mitton used the face deliberately as an Easter egg. Anyway, hope you like the adaptation. Goodbye for now!