A/N This is my Autumn revival. If you're an old reader of my fics, you may remember her. She's very loosely based on kid me, but a hodgepodge of things, kid me mashed up with plot convenience. Her personality and coloring are from kid me, other than the dreamy aspect of the former, which is plot convenience and some things are things from when I was a kid or in one case, my grown-up life, but Thomas-ized. Like I carried toys, had some toy trains and went to amusement parks as a child and had a train ride, but when I was grown in the latter case, but she did it as a kid. Kid me took a school trip to a place that had a train ride, but I can't say whether or not my class did it.
A snowstorm was going on one evening and Autumn, age 7, was playing with her favorite toys in her room, recreating her favorite show scenes. I've had screen time, as my parents call it, she thought. I've had supper, so now I play until it's time for my bedtime routine.
Her mom found the girl playing and said "Autumn, we got a call from my parents. Their little dog died today."
Autumn began to cry, overwhelmed with grief. I loved their puppy dog, she thought.
Her mother gave her a tissue box. She sensed what the girl was dealing with and putting her arm around her, said, "Your tears are valid. It's okay to cry, so just let it all out. If it takes an ocean of tears, that's fine. I can tell you're full of grief, so let tears fall like rain." She looked at the big picture and thought of some ideas for inspiration, for when her daughter was ready. "I don't like to see you cry," she said compassionately. "But at time same time, I'm not annoyed or frustrated. I just feel bad for you, but it's your right to cry.". She left, sensing her daughter wasn't interested in talking now.
Autumn sniffled and wiped her eyes, face and nose. She drifted away to Sodor, wiping away her tears.
Autumn, on arrival to Sodor, walked around, looking for her friends. She found Thomas.
"Why are you crying?" he asked Autumn, on that siding in Knapford. "I don't like you being sad, but I'm not one to fix your mood, so cry to me. I'm here for you."
Autumn could only sob. Boo-hoo! She did her best to dry her tears, but she continued to cry for a long time. A mound of wet tissues told how immense her grief was.
He told his friend, "Stay here and tell me when you can."
"Grampa's puppy dog died," she said, drying her eyes and cheeks, then blowing her nose loudly, and hugged her friend's face. "I just came here to wipe my eyeballs and all with a friend."
Autumn visited other places on Sodor for a while and then came back to Thomas's branch line to say good-bye to her friend. As she left the island, she heard his good-bye whistle. When she got back home, she put her tissues in her wastebasket and her bedtime routine was next. She fell asleep, hugging her stuffed Thomas as usual.
A/N For any Tales readers, any resemblance between Autumn's mom and my OC Janie from some of my Tales is intentional. My FanFiction buddy typed them sort of similar, saying Autumn's mom could be the same type as Janie. She thinks my mom was maybe the type as Janie is, so I had Autumn's mom say something my mom once said when I was a young girl. "I don't like to see you cry."