A.N: Hey guys, it's me again! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but with College starting again my writing schedule has to be changed. Anyway, here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own Thomas the Tank Engine.
Chapter 3: The Sad Story of Henry
Once a driver in charge of a train was afraid of a few drops of rain. He went into a tunnel, made the engine squeak through its funnel, and would not move it out again. The driver's name was Henry, who was in a very bad mood. His engine had been given a new coat of paint last night and was afraid the rain would ruin it. Of course, if the rain were to do anything to his engine it would have done so by now, but Henry is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Anyway, the guard and the passengers all argued with him, but it was no good.
"The rain will spoil my engine's lovely green paint and red stripes," he said.
The guard proceeded to blow his whistle to he had no more breath, and waved his flag to his arm ached. But Henry stayed in the tunnel and blew steam from the engine at him. In all honesty though, what made the guard think that his plan would work?
"I'm not going to spoil my engine's lovely green paint and red stripes for you!" He said.
A door banged from the back of the train. The passengers all looked back to see Sir Topham Hatt, who was not very impressed. He was making his way to Vicarstown for a meeting, and did not want to be late.
"What is going on here?" He boomed.
"It's Henry, sir," said the guard. "He refuses to start up again.
"Oh, bother," said STH (I'm going to call him that from now on just to save space. Sorry). "I knew it was a bad idea to give his engine a new coat of paint."
He strode up to the cab and stared intently at Henry.
"Henry, move your engine at once. These people need to get to their destinations."
"Too bad," Henry sniffed, "I won't spoil my engine's lovely green paint with red stripes just because of a bunch of people's bad planning."
"Have it your way," STH said. "We'll pull you out!"
But Henry just made his engine blow steam at him. STH, undeterred, got all the passengers out of the coaches and told them of his plan. They all thought he was crazy, but agreed to help. The guard got some rope and they tied it to one of the engine's buffers.
"One, two, three, pull!" STH commanded, although he didn't help.
"My, erm, doctor has forbidden me to pull," he said in a way that made it obvious that he was lying. Fortunately for him, everyone was too busy pulling to pay any mind. They pulled and they pulled, yet Henry's engine still stayed in the tunnel.
Next they tried pushing the train out from the other end.
"One, two, three, push!" STH commanded, yet he didn't help.
"My, erm, doctor had forbidden me to push," he lied. Again, no one had time to question it. They pushed and they pushed, yet the train did not move an inch. Eventually, STH called for an engine to come and help. In a few minutes, Thomas pulled up. STH explained the situation to him while the passengers tried to bring Henry to his senses.
"Look, it has stopped raining," said one.
"Yes, but it will begin again soon, "Henry pointed out. "And what will become of my engine's green paint with red stripes then?"
After Thomas built up his engine's fire he began to push. No matter how hard he tried, though, Henry remained where he was.
Eventually everyone just gave up.
"We shall leave your engine here for always and always," STH said. "And for your blatant disregard for the passengers, you will be suspended from duty until further notice."
A bus came to take the passengers to their destinations, leaving Henry stranded. He managed to get a ride home with Edward who felt some sympathy for Henry after seeing how sorry he was. Gordon, on the other hand, was rude and tormented Henry to no end. True to STH's word Henry's engine was bricked up and left to rust. Everyday Henry visits his engine and regrets his actions. The Engine's paint had been ruined by the soot anyway. Henry can only hope that STH will forgive him. But that is another story.
A/N: Well, how was it? I tried to lighten the story a little bit while still trying to capture the feel of the original story. As you may have noticed, I added a little bit of snark to the narraration at points. I did this because there were points of the story that made me scratch my head. For starters, how would the rain spoil Henry's paint? Even if it was a new coat, it would be fine as long as it had enough time to dry, which I imagine it did. Secondly, why did the guard think blowing his whistle and waving his flag would do anything? If anything, it would only further anger Henry. Finally, why did Sir Topham Hatt think that they would be able to move Henry and the coaches? I don't know how much they would weigh all together, but I imagine it would be more than a ragtag group of passengers could move. So yeah, if you didn't like it that's fine, I just thought it might add just a little bit of humor to the story. Until next time, read, review, enjoy.