Hello fellow readers, here now is the 20th chapter of Sodor High School. We are now ten episodes away from completing the first 30 chapters, then at long last, the 31st chapter and many others will start coming out. This story was written back in 2012 by yours truely, and this edited version was done in 2016 by SF64Rules.
Sodor High School: Thomas & Friends Tales
Written by: ThomasZoey3000/Edited by: SF64Rules
Based on the Railway Series by: The Rev. W. and Christopher Awdry
Based on the Television Series by: Britt AllCroft, David Mitton, Lionsgate, and Universal Pictures
Episode 20: Gordon's Part Time Job
Based on the Episode "O the Indignity"
It was now April. Spring had returned with nice warm, though still rather cool, weather. Many home owners were in the process of doing 'spring cleaning'. Not Gordon though, he was merely riding his bike along his favourite bike path in Henry's Forest.
"Ahh..." he sighed happily. "What a glorious day."
"You can say that again," said a voice from nearby.
Gordon looked to see who the voice belonged to. It was Thomas and he wasn't alone as Emily was with him.
"Hello, you two. What brings you both out here?" Gordon asked kindly.
"Thomas said he wanted show me this forest," Emily answered. "I've heard a great deal about it, but I haven't really gotten the chance to see it for myself...except that one day when we saved Mr. Hiro."
"Yeah, but you didn't get a chance to check out the beauty of this forest," Thomas pointed out. "Remember, we were trying hard to get away from Spencer."
"Yes, I remember," she muttered, then she had a question regarding the forest. "Why is this forest called 'Henry's Forest' anyways?"
"It's called Henry's Forest cause many years ago after a strong gale had blown down some of the trees, Henry took some time off from school to come out here and plant some new trees here," explained Gordon. "Well, that and Henry is often seen in this forest during his free time, especially in the spring time."
"Henry really did all that?" Emily gasped.
"He sure did," Thomas nodded. "And if I remember correctly, we all pitched in and gave him a hand with planting some of those trees."
"Right you are, little Thomas," Gordon smiled, but then stopped and sniffed the air. "Yuck! What in the name of Sodor is that horrible smell?!"
The answer came rolling past on the road nearby. It was a rubbish lorry driven by Scott, otherwise known to everyone as Whiff. Riding in the cab with him was Celvin, otherwise known as Scruff because he had a scruffy voice and a scruffy hairstyle.
"That answers your question, Gordon," said Thomas in a nasally voice, who had covered his nose due to the smell. "Whiff and Scruff are taking rubbish to the waste dump to be recycled. It is spring cleaning time."
"Whew, what a pong!" groaned Gordon, not liking the smell one bit. "I'm sure glad I don't work there. Henry and James would both never let me live it down if they knew."
"It may be a smelly job," said Emily, while also holding onto her nose due to the smell, "but someone's gotta do it."
"True, I'm just glad it's not me," Gordon said importantly, before riding away.
"Same old Gordon," chuckled Thomas. "Some things about him just won't change. Now come on Emily, I'll show you around the forest, just remember to stay close to me. It's really easy to get lost in here."
"Don't worry Thomas, I won't leave your side," Emily replied carefully.
With that said, the two teenagers continued on with their little bike ride through the forest. All the while, Emily kept thinking about that kiss she gave to Thomas in February.
"He still thinks it was all a dream," she thought to herself, "Should I go and tell him that it was no dream?"
"Emily? Are you feeling okay?"
Emily snapped out of her thoughts and looked over to Thomas, who had a look of concern on his face.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine Thomas," she said. "I just got a lot on my mind right now. I'm okay. There's no need to worry, and like I just said; I won't leave your side."
"Alright, just checking."
"He's such a kind, caring person. It's no wonder why he has so many friends," Emily thought to herself.
Later on, it was nearly seven in the evening when Gordon returned back to his house. He found his parents in the kitchen waiting for him.
"Now Gordon," said Gordon's father. "Do you remember the other night when you told us you were planning on getting a part time job?"
"Yes, I remember," Gordon answered with a nod.
"Well your mother and I have been asking some of our friends to see if you could work for them part-time, and one of them said that you can come work at his workplace. He'll pay you a great deal if you work really hard."
"Oh, don't you worry, I will work hard," Gordon smiled reassuringly. "So, who's this friend of yours and where does he work?"
"It's our old friend, Scott," his mother answered. "I think you know where he works..."
Gordon's eyes widened with horror. "Oh no, not there..."
"It's Whiff's rubbish dump," Gordon's father said.
"The rubbish dump?" Gordon was in shock.
"Yes, the rubbish dump. Scott has been saying that with everyone doing spring cleaning, both he and Celvin have their work cut out for them," said his mother, "and he says that they really need the help. So what do you say Gordon, do you want to give them a hand? It'll mean you'll get work experience which is what you will need for when getting a full-time job."
Gordon didn't like the idea of having to work in a rubbish dump, but it did mean getting some extra money and getting work experience too.
"You'd be doing them a great favour Gordon," added his father. "So what do you say?"
"No one else needs any help at their workplaces?" Gordon asked, hoping that his parents had other work opportunities for him.
Sadly, his parents both shook their heads.
"Oh, all right. I'll work at Whiff's rubbish dump."
"That's great," smiled Gordon's mother. "I'll phone Scott and let him know that you've decided to work with him and Celvin."
"Great..." Gordon muttered, but not in a happy way. "If Henry, James, or even Spencer finds out I'm working at the dump, they'll make me the biggest laughing stock on all of the Island of Sodor."
The following next afternoon, after the last class of the day, Gordon snuck away so that no one would see where he was going. He soon arrived at the rubbish dump, although he wasn't happy about being there.
"Hello Gordon," called Whiff as he climbed down from the rubbish lorry. "Are you ready to get down and get your hands dirty?"
"I guess," Gordon sighed. "Where do I start?"
"I'll tell you in a bit. First things first, I got to give you a little tour of the area, so that way you won't get lost around here."
And so, Whiff gave Gordon a little tour of the entire rubbish dump, which proved to be quite bigger than what the blue-haired boy had imagined. There were several buildings in the area, one of which belonged to the dump's recycle center.
"Celvin usually works this area," said Whiff. "His main job is to go threw the rubbish that comes in, and removes anything that's not meant to be recycled."
Eventually, Whif took Gordon to a large building. Inside, there were lots of rubbish machines. Whiff showed Gordon over to one.
"Now, since you can't drive yet Gordon, I'm going to give you this job while Celvin helps me outside."
"Oh joy," muttered Gordon sarcastically and under his breath.
"Now I'll let you get to work, Celvin and I will come by later to see how you're doing." With that said, Whiff turned and walked away.
Gordon groaned sadly as he put on the gloves and then went to work.
"Oh well," he sighed to himself. "At least now no one will see me working in here."
Throughout most of the afternoon, Gordon worked hard in removing what didn't need to be recycled and threw it into a rubbish bin to be taken away to the rubbish crusher later. Then, at around six that evening, he heard footsteps coming into the building. He thought it was Whiff or Scruff. That was until...
"Hello? Is anybody in here?"
Gordon knew who the voice belonged to. "Oh no," he gasped. "It's James! I can't let him see me work here, otherwise he'll go and make me a laughing stock."
He quickly picked up the rubbish bin and walked out the nearest door to the rubbish crusher. The voice was indeed James'. He had come in with a bag of rubbish.
"Weird. I thought I heard someone in here," he said quietly. The red-haired boy walked around, looking for someone to talk to, all the while he was holding onto a rubbish bag. "Now where am I suppose to leave this thing? Oh well, I'll just leave it by this machine. Someone should be able to take care of it." And that's what he did. James left the bag by the machine and walked away, but not before getting a large whiff of the area and making him grimace. "Whew! What a pong! I certainly wouldn't want to work here."
Once James was gone, Gordon emerged from his hiding spot and returned to his job.
"Whew! That was close. James is the snootiest person I know...well, next to Spencer. Oh well, I'd better get back to work." He grabbed the rubbish bag and took it out of the building, but he had completely forgotten to shut down the machine.
Gordon returned moments later, only to find Scruff in the building. He had both hands by his sides, taping his left foot multiple times, and also not looking too happy.
"Did I do something wrong?" Gordon asked innocently.
"Yes, you did Gordon. You left your post without shutting off the machine," Scruff said firmly, before giving a sigh of disapproval. "I've already found several items that needed to be removed."
"Oh...well, I'm sorry about that," Gordon said meekly. "I just..."
"Nah, it's okay Gordon," Scruff replied, smiling a bit now. "Nobody is perfect after all. We all make mistakes every now and then. Plus this is your first day after all, so I'll let you off the hook with a warning. Just don't leave your post like that again without turning off the machine."
"Yes sir," Gordon said quietly.
"Very good, now go home and get some rest. You've earned it after a long day's work."
"Thank you sir," Gordon turned and walked away to get his bike.
When he got home, he found his mother waiting for him outside on the porch.
"Did you have a good day at work, Gordon?" she asked him. Gordon nodded, but didn't answer. Regardless, his mother smiled. "That's good to hear. Oh, and James called earlier, he was asking of where you were. Didn't you tell him of where you were?"
"Uh...no, I forgot. Did you tell him?"
"I only told James that you were working at your part-time job," Gordon's mother stated. "He said he would talk to you tomorrow at school, and then he said he had to go to the rubbish dump...didn't you see him?"
"Um...no, I didn't," said Gordon. "I guess I was working somewhere else when he arrived. I'll talk to him tomorrow, now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get washed up. Once that's done, I'll work on my homework and eat something before going to bed."
But Gordon couldn't sleep that well that night. He could only imagine what James, Henry and Spencer would say if they found out he was working at the rubbish dump. The blue-haired boy thought for sure he could hear them laughing at him.
The next morning, Gordon arrived at the school only to find James already in the classroom waiting for him.
"Hey Gordon," he greeted. "I called your place to see if you wanted to hang out and your mom said that you were working at your part-time job."
Gordon cringed...but still kept cool. "Uh...yes, I was. I was working really hard there."
"What do you do at your job?" Henry asked, walking over.
"Um...well, I do some sorting," Gordon said half-truthfully.
"Sorting?" James asked while raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Gah! Um...well, I-I put certain things in one place and putting other items somewhere else."
James nodded understandingly. "Ah okay. I understand perfectly now. So what time do you get off work?"
"I get off between six and six thirty, then I just go home and have a rest...but I'll still let you know if I feel like hanging out," Gordon replied.
"Alright then..." James said in confusion, just before mentioning something else. "Oh, you might want to get into your seat now Gordon, because our teacher is coming in now."
Gordon didn't need to be told twice, he quickly took his seat and sat down just as the teacher walked in.
During class, Emily whispered to Thomas. "Gordon looks a little stressed, don't you think?"
"Yeah. Now that you mention it he..." The blue-haired boy paused briefly because he thought the teacher was looking over to him and Emily, but the teacher didn't hear him. "...he does look a little stressed. I wonder why."
After the long school day was done, Gordon rode his bike all the way to the rubbish dump and got to work in the recycle center. He kept an eye on the machine and made sure to remove anything that wasn't meant to be recycled. Whiff was out collecting more rubbish with his lorry while Scruff worked the crane near the rubbish crusher. At around five that evening, Scruff came in to see how Gordon was doing. To his happiness, the blue-haired boy was working hard and making no mistakes.
"Well now, you're doing quite well Gordon," Scruff said pleasantly. "I'm impressed, but you should really have a break. Why don't you turn off that machine and join me in the office? I got some sodas in the mini-fridge."
"Thanks Scruff. I think I do need a break," Gordon groaned, before walking out of the building, but not before shutting off the machine.
As he was walking out of the building, he spotted a long green-haired boy walking into the dump with two rubbish bags.
"Oh no!" Gordon gasped in shock. "It's Henry. I can't let him see me working here, he'll tell everyone. I just know it!"
Gordon ran and hid behind the building, hoping Henry didn't see him.
"Hello Henry," greeted Scruff. "What brings you to our rubbish dump today?"
"I'm dropping off these rubbish bags," Henry answered, holding up his two rubbish bags. "This is the last of the rubbish coming from my home. We've just finished the spring cleaning."
"So what are you going to do now?" Scruff asked curiously.
"Well, I'm going out to hang out with James, and then see if we can find Gordon."
"Gordon? He's actually around here...somewhere." Scruff turned around, but couldn't find Gordon anywhere. "Huh. He was here a moment ago."
Henry sighed. "Oh well, I'll probably run into him later. See you later Scruff."
Of course, Henry thought that Gordon had been delivering some rubbish to the dump, and took off before he had arrived. Scruff turned and walked off to the office where he found Gordon.
"You know that your friend Henry was out there right?" Scruff said to him.
"Really?" Gordon pretended like he didn't know. "I had no idea."
Scruff raised an eyebrow. "Alright Gordon, what's going on? It seems that whenever your friends drop by with rubbish, you just seem to disappear."
Gordon remained silent for a while, but then finally broke the silence. "Okay, I'll tell you why. It's just that I don't want them to find out that I'm working here. They might...well...they might...well..."
"It's okay, Gordon. I think I understand perfectly," Scruff sat down on a chair on the other side of the table. "You know, when I started working here, I was worried of what my friends would say or think if they found out that I was working at the rubbish dump, and for a long time, I didn't tell them and I would slip away from them whenever I had to come work here. However, they each soon found out and, oh boy, I can tell you Gordon, I was most worried of what they'd say next."
"What did they say next?" Gordon asked curiously.
"Well, Gordon, they first asked me if I was really working here at the dump and I answered 'yes', then I awaited the horrible laughter...but it never came."
"They never laughed once?" Gordon's eyes were wide open in surprise.
"That's right. They never laughed at me. It turns out I had no need to worry," Scuff nodded. "My friends didn't think it was silly to work at a rubbish dump, they thought it was cool."
"What?"
"Well, there were two reasons why. One; it was because I was helping Whiff keep the towns, parks and pretty much every location on Sodor clean and secondly; it was because I was working with amazing machinery. They were quite proud of me, so they had no reason to laugh at me. Nope, they laughed with me," Scruff chuckled, just before continuing on. "I wouldn't worry too much about what your friends will say Gordon. If they are good friends, then I'm sure they won't laugh at you. And so what if someone laughs at you? You just need to ignore them and get on with doing what you're doing."
Gordon was silent for a moment, then at last he broke the silence. "Thanks for telling me that Celvin. Maybe you're right, I probably don't have anything to worry about. Let me finish this drink and I'll go back to work."
"Glad to hear it Gordon, and if you'd like, I could give you a hand with your work until Scott returns," Scruff offered kindly.
"Thank you Celvin. I would really like that."
And so, once they had finished their drinks, Gordon and Scruff both returned back to the recycle center...only to find Spencer, Thomas and Emily there with bags of rubbish.
"Gordon?" gasped Spencer. "What are you doing here?"
"I...I..." Gordon paused and looked to Scruff, who nodded his head. The older blue-haired boy took in a deep breath and answered Spencer's question. "I work here, this is my part-time job."
"You're working at the dump?" Spencer blinked for a few seconds...before bursting in gut busting laughter. "Oh, what a laugh! I guess you're not as grand as you make yourself out to be."
Thomas and Emily were both cross with the silver-haired boy. Just as Thomas was about to snap back, a new voice cut the blue-haired boy off.
"Oh, shut your trap, Spencer!"
Thomas, Emily, Scruff, Gordon and Spencer all looked to see James and Henry both standing in the doorway with a couple of rubbish bags from James' place and looking just as angry with Spencer.
"We will not stand by and just let you insult our friend like that," added Henry firmly.
"Oh, come now..." chuckled Spencer. "You have to admit that this is funny. The great Gordon working in a rubbish dump, one of the smelliest places on Sodor where only stinky, commoner people work." He then added grandly; "I don't understand what makes this place so important, people drop off their rubbish, and they leave it. It's just a waste of space if you ask me."
"Well if we just leave it sitting about, it'll quickly fill up the dump, which means we would have to go and open up a new dump," said Scruff heatedly. "And we could open it anywhere...maybe even next to the Duke and Duchess's house."
Spencer's eyes popped wide open in shock.
"What did you say?" he asked worriedly.
"The purpose of our rubbish dump is to prevent that from ever happening," Scruff continued. "With our recycling center, we recycle some of the rubbish and then send it away to be reused for other purposes. Even the rest of the rubbish has good uses, some people can be use it to make fertilizers for their gardens."
"In other words," James said in a teasing way, "rubbish can be useful at times. So do you understand it now Spencer? Or do we have to use simpler words with you? And just for the record; we don't find it funny that Gordon's working here. We find it very cool."
"And at least he's working hard...unlike you, because your family is super rich and you get spoiled," added Henry.
Spencer, angered at being made a fool of by those commoners, just quietly left his rubbish bags behind and left the dump in a huff.
"So, you guys aren't going to laugh at me just because I'm working at the dump?" Gordon asked in honest surprise.
"Are you kidding man?" James asked in surprise. "Why would we laugh at you for doing something so awesome?"
"We would never laugh at you Gordon," added Henry. "Good friends don't laugh at each other just because of the job they're doing or for any other reason."
"We would only laugh with you," added James. "Though I will admit that if we hadn't learned any personal lessons in the past till now, I guess we would have laughed at you. But not now anymore!"
Just hearing his two best friends saying that made Gordon's worries go right down the drain, but it didn't even stop there.
"You know we would never laugh at you either Gordon," said Emily. Thomas also nodded in agreement.
"I know that now," Gordon smiled. He then turned to Scruff. He didn't need to say anything, Scruff already knew what he was thinking. Gordon turned his attention back to his friends. "Would you guys like a tour of the recycle centre?"
"Is my hair red?" James joked.
Gordon and Henry both chuckled in response.
"All right, then follow me," Gordon stated, before looking to Thomas and Emily. "What about you two? You wanna join in the tour?"
Thomas shook his head. "We would like to stay for that tour Gordon, but we're needed elsewhere, we promised to meet up with Toby and Mavis at Ffarquhar."
"Is it a double date?" Gordon asked cheekily.
"No!" Thomas and Emily both protested in unison.
"We're just hanging out, that's all," said Thomas, his voice full of denial. "Anyways, we'll see you guys tomorrow at school."
"Alright, and have a good time out tonight," James called back, waving goodbye.
The three teenagers watched as Thomas and Emily walked away.
"They're definitely in love," said Henry, knowing full well that Thomas and Emily's denial was a cover-up.
"Yep," agreed both Gordon and James.
"No question about it," James stated. "And I'm not even upset about it now. Well not as much as before."
When the two teens had gone, the three older teens walked off to begin their little tour of the recycle center.