Well, you've been patient since October, and now your patience has payed off. My apologizes for the delay on this one too, it's just life has a tendacy to get in the way, and so does Writer's Block, which stopped me from writing this tale. It's done though, and ready for you all to see. This story is inspired by the events that occured during the 2013 flood in Toronto Ontario Canada when a GO Train got stuck in the flood waters, and it took till one in the morning for all the passengers to get off the train. Another note to point out is that a new character will give you some hints as to what is coming in the future episodes of this second season.
Sodor High School: Thomas & Friends Tales
Written by: ThomasZoey3000
Based on the Railway Series by the: Reverand Wilbert and Christopher Awdry
Based on the Television Series by: Britt AllCroft, David Mitton, Hit Entertainment and Universal
Episode 32: The Flood
(Inspired by the Flood of Toronto Summer 2013)
In the summer, the weather can sometimes be nice with bright sunny days and warm temperatures, but when the weather gets to be too hot, storms can come about with rain, thunder and lightning. Sometimes storms are quick and last maybe less than five minutes, other times it comes down in bucket loads and last for over half an hour.
When that happens, it usually brings about plenty of worrying thoughts from people, especially those who live along the route of the Ffarquhar Branch line. Some of their towns have been known to flood in the past, including the most famous location when Percy, when he was just a little boy, had to drive a bus full of people home. Since then, the ground does get wet, but it's never really flooded, but that was due to change during this summer season.
It all began on a beautiful summer's day. Thomas, his sisters and Emily were on the beach enjoying the weather.
"It's so much better being outside than being inside all the time," sighed Thomas. "This is the way to relax."
Nearby, Emily was laying down on a towel with an umbrella providing shade for her. She looked over to Thomas and nodded in agreement, "and it's certainly better than relaxing by my pool all alone."
"Don't your parents usually join you when you go into the pool?" Thomas asked curiously.
Emily sighed and shook her head, "usually our butler watches over me, they're often too busy or in other areas of the house, so I don't usually get a chance to hang out with them. I often wish I could live a normal life, like you and your sisters."
"Well for the time being you can, cause as far as I know, he hasn't been caught yet."
"No, he hasn't," she muttered.
"He'll slip up though," continued Thomas, "and before you know it, he'll be back behind bars and you'll be back in your home sweet home, living the life you always had. Heck, I bet you won't even need to see us once you go home."
"No I'll still need you guys in my life, all of you," she smiled.
As she layed down on the beach towel and closed her eyes, that horrible nightmare came back into Emily's head. It was a dreadful nightmare, and she hoped with all her might that it would never happen, but given how Diesel 10 acted when he took over Sodor High School not that long ago, it was a possibility. She shook her head, "it can't happen, and it won't," she reminded herself.
"What's that Emily?" Thomas asked looking to his friend.
"Oh, nothing really."
At that moment, Leo, the new kid, arrived at the beach with a volleyball in his left arm. He looked around the beach, hoping to find someone to play the game with him. That's when he spotted Emily resting. He walked over towards her and bowed to show respect, "hello Emily, it's good to see you here today. Enjoying the weather?"
"I sure am. It's sunny, and there's a slight cool breeze to make me feel comfortable," she answered.
"Well don't get used to it. I saw a red sunrise this morning, and you know what they say, red sky at night is a delight, but red sky in the morning is a warning."
"Isn't that something sailors say?" Thomas asked curiously.
"Aye, that they do," nodded Leo. "And it wouldn't surprise me if the weather changes by Mid Afternoon. Until that time, would either of you like to play some volleyball with me?"
"No thanks Leo, I just want to relax," answered Thomas.
Emily though nodded with a smile on her face, "playing volleyball sounds exciting, I'll play a couple rounds with you Leo."
"Well then my lady, let's get started." He held out his hand and she grabbed it with her left hand. Once on her feet, she walked with Leo towards the volleyball net.
Annie and Clarabel, who had been swimming in the water, came over to see Thomas.
"Why aren't you going over to play with them?" Annie asked.
"I'm not really in the mood to play Annie. Besides, I just want to relax for a bit."
"But she's your girlfriend," objected Clarabel. "You can't let her go play volleyball with someone else."
"She's not my girlfriend!" snapped Thomas. "She's just a friend, that's all. Besides, she can do whatever she wants, she doesn't always need me around." He layed back down as his two sisters looked down to him.
"Oh come on Thomas, you can't fool either one of us," said Annie. "We know that look you often show her, you like her a lot, don't you?"
"As a friend, and nothing more! Now drop the subject!" He firmly believed he could never have a relationship with Emily, and believed once she went home, she'd forget about all the times they shared together. That's why he was trying to not get too close to her.
The day was nice, but as it got close to Mid Afternoon, dark clouds began to roam in, just as Leo predicated. Thomas, his sisters and Emily returned back to the house five minutes before the rain started coming down.
"Whew, that was close," sighed Emily. "Sure glad we left when we did."
"Indeed," nodded Clarabel, "though some people out there aren't so lucky. I swear, this kind of weather is only good for Ducks."
"Try not to mention that around Montaque," Thomas advised, "I don't think he would like that one."
Ten minutes went by, and the rains didn't slow down. Twenty minutes later, it was still coming down hard. Fifty minutes after getting back to the house, the heavy rains weren't letting up.
"If this rain keeps up, there could be floods all around Sodor," said Annie with worry.
"I bet you never had to worry about floods in your home, right Emily?" asked Clarabel.
Emily shook her head, "actually, my family and I do worry about floods. We don't have flood walls, and we're not on a hill, so it could get flooded. Hope my parents are keeping an eye on the place."
They were indeed looking after the house, and with the aid of their staff, were able to protect the house from flood waters. They were lucky, but others across Sodor were not so lucky. The heavy rains did indeed bring about flooding, and more often than not, people had to leave their homes to escape the flood waters. Meanwhile, the mayors of the many towns across Sodor called upon their residants to help build flood walls to keep the water back.
On the Ffarquhar branch line, Daisy was riding home on the line's only Diesel Rail-Car. She and all the passengers had been held up at the junction for some time, due to worries that the line would get flooded, but at last reports came in that the line was clear and they could go.
"It'll be good to get home and get out of this foal weather," she thought to herself. "It's not good for my swerves."
Although she was relaxed, some passengers weren't and neither was the Driver.
"They really shouldn't have sent us out here," the Driver said to the guard. "The wet weather means slippery rails, and we don't know if all of the line is clear to Ffarquhar."
"Have a little faith why don't you?" suggested the Guard. "If the stationmasters said the line is clear, then it's clear."
But it wasn't. One stationmaster was lazy, and only reported in what he could see out his office window, which wasn't flooded at all. But before his station, there was a section of track lower than the rest of the line. By the time the report was sent out, the water was only getting as high as the rails, but now it could reach the height of an engine's bufferbeam.
By the time the passengers and crew knew of this, it was too late.
"FLOOD!" cried the Driver. He slammed on the brakes, but the wet rails made them skid along. Not even sand in the sandboxes could help slow them down. "Come on, stop! STOP! STOP!" It did stop, after it splashed into the water. As the diesel rail-car splashed in, water got into the engine and within moments, it shut down all together.
"No, don't stop here!" cried Daisy, "start her up again!"
The Driver tried, but nothing worked.
"It's no good, the engine is flooded. I'll call for help."
But there was another problem. The voilent weather was preventing signals from getting through, so they had no way of getting help. Worst more was to come as Daisy looked down.
"SNAKES!" she cried.
And she was right. There were indeed snakes coming into the diesel rail-car, and worst still, the water level was still rising.
Back at Ffarquhar, Thomas, Emily and the sisters watched the television of the unfolding events going on across Sodor.
"Goodness me," gasped Emily. "Look at Great Waterton, it's almost completely under water."
"That's going to take them a while to clean up that mess," commented Thomas.
"I still can't believe what I'm seeing here," said the reporter from Great Waterton, "I haven't seen flooding this bad since the late 1990's, but thankfully I've been told that everyone got out of the town before the floods began. Though as you can see, the town itself will need some repairs and much needed cleaning."
"Do you ever get the sense that maybe they're reading our minds?" Thomas asked out loud.
"Sometimes," answered Clarabel.
"Alright and thank you for the report Robert," said the weather man, "and as we continue to bring you updates on the strange events going on across our Island today, there is some good news. Coming in from Knapford, the storm has been letting up, and rains should stop within the hour. We'll continue to bring you more updates as the story goes on."
Suddenly, there was a big flash of lightning and everything went dark.
"What happened to the world?" cried Annie. "I can see a thing."
"Hang on everyone, I got a light," said Emily. Within seconds, a light came on and lit up most of the room. Knowing what storms are like, Emily had grabbed a battery operated lantern for such an event.
"That's better," sighed Thomas. He looked outside and groaned, "well it's no wonder we lost our power. A lightning bolt hit one of the electric posts across the street and snapped the wires."
Annie, Clarabel and Emily walked over to the window and saw that Thomas was indeed correct. A power line was indeed down.
"So much for getting weather reports," sighed Clarabel.
"So now how are we suppose to get our weather reports?" asked Annie.
"There should be some battery operated radios down in the basement Annie, see if you can find one and bring it back up here for us."
Annie nodded, and after excepting a flashlight from Emily, she went to the basement. She was hardly down the stairs when the teenagers heard a knock on the door. Thomas went to answer it, and was surprised to see Leo on the other side.
"Hey Leo, what brings you here?"
"Mayor's asking for assistance in building the flood-wall. With the rain still coming down hard, he's worried we could get flooded, will you help us?"
"You don't need to ask, of course we'll help." Emily and Clarabel nodded in agreement. Thomas called down to his sister, "forget the radio Annie, we're needed in town!"
Annie came running up, and once they had their rain jackets and boots on, they left the house and followed Leo into town.
Far down the line, the water level was still raising around the diesel rail-car, which meant nobody had anywhere dry to stand. Daisy was fuming, "these are new shoes for crying out loud, and now they're ruined."
"Will you forget about your new shoes?" asked one of the other passengers. "We got bigger problems to deal with."
Meanwhile, the diesel rail-car's Driver was doing all he could to get the water out, but a small bucket wasn't enough as the water continued to come in, along with the snakes.
"Get out you slimey little things!" he snapped. He picked up a snake in the bucket and threw it out the window.
"Actually, snakes aren't slimey at all," said another passenger. "It's just their scales that make them look like they're sli..."
"Not helping here!" snapped Daisy.
The Driver had to agree with Daisy on that one. He grabbed another snake with the bucket and threw it out, only to have it come back in five minutes later.
"Oh for pete's sake!"
One of the other passengers, who was also a new residant to Sodor called Millie, looked out the window and down to the water. "If that water continues rising, we'll have to get to the rooftop."
"We can't," said the Driver. "We have nothing to help get you up there."
"Oh dear," groaned Millie. "Maybe I should've taken the bus."
But the bus wouldn't have been able to help as roads were flooded too, and police had placed baracades to stop drivers from driving into the water.
Back at Ffarquhar, with all the town's residants working together, the flood wall was completed.
"Great job everybody," called the mayor. "Now our town is prepared if a flood comes by."
Percy was shivering, and it wasn't due to the cold winds blowing rain into his face, "I wished a long time to never see another flood, and now there's a threat of another one."
Toby comforted him, "it'll be alright Percy, we're safe with this flood wall in place. Everyone who lives here is safe."
But Toby had spoken too soon. At that moment, two adults came walking up. They were Daisy's parents, "excuse me, but have any of you seen our daughter?"
Everyone shook their heads.
The mother fainted, while the father slapped his forehead, "then that means she's still out there, and probably neck deep in water."
"Walter, please don't say that!" snapped his wife.
"Sorry honey."
"She probably is out there," said the Ffarquhar Stationmaster. He had a clipboard with a timetable on it, "we're missing one train, the diesel rail-car's passenger train."
"And Daisy usually rides the diesel rail-car," gasped Percy. "She never travels on any of the other trains, she says they're bad for her swerves."
The Stationmaster tried phoning the driver of the diesel rail-car, but couldn't get a signal.
"We have to find her," Emily said firmly. "If she and the passengers are trapped, then we need to bring them home."
"We can't send another engine out now, the rains are still coming down and we have no idea how much of the branch line has been flooded. It's better to wait till the weather clears up."
"Who knows how long that can be," said Emily as she looked up to the sky. Heavy rains poured down more water, much of it splashing onto her face. "Yuck," she groaned.
"I'm with Emily on this one," said Thomas. "I say we go find her. We can take the E2 tank engine, it's got a high running board and should be able to puff threw any flood. Assuming it's not too high up."
"It is worth a try," added Leo with a nod.
The Stationmaster gave in and looked back to two people, "Clyde, Jim, get your engine fired up, get a break van and go find that diesel rail-car."
The two men nodded and ran to the railyard.
They returned minutes later with the E2 tank engine and a brake van. Thomas, Emily, Leo, Percy, Toby and even Mavis jumped on board and they set off to the rescue. Annie and Clarabel stayed behind to help in case flood waters came to their town.
Travelling along the branch line, the teenagers could hardly believe the sights all around them. Large puddles covered the ground, and some parts of the countryside were indeed flooded. Some parts of the line were flooded too, but the E2 tank engine puffed on with little trouble.
"Oh I do hope Daisy and the passengers are okay," said Emily with worry. "They must be scared out of their wits."
"Well we'll know soon enough," said Jim the fireman, "cause I see the diesel rail-car."
Everyone looked and to their horror, saw the diesel rail-car in deep flood waters. By now, water was getting up to their windows.
"No way our E2 can puff threw that," said Cylde the Driver. "If we try puffing through the water, our fire will go out and we'll be stuck." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He then tossed it into the water, and watched it float away, "and those flood waters are moving too fast to just swim in."
"HELP! HELP!" cried a voice from the diesel rail-car.
"That sounds like Daisy," said Percy, jumping down from the brake van.
"My shoes are ruined, and there are horrible snakes on board. Somebody do something! This is not good for my swerves!"
Percy narrowed his eyes and groaned, "yep, it's Daisy alright. Only she talks like that."
"We'd like to help you Daisy!" Emily called, "but we got no way of getting to you! Don't worry we'll..." but then she saw something out of the corner of her right eye. Flashing lights from the nearby road. They were police cars. Emily ran to the cab of the E2 and blew the whistle. Three Short blasts, followed by three long blasts and finally came three short blasts. It was an S.O.S. to get the attention of the police.
It worked. The police cars drove over to the tracks. They didn't need to ask questions, they could see the situation.
"Oh my, what a predicament," said one officer as she got out of her car. She walked to the back and opened the boot, "I got a raft, we can use that to help them."
The other two police cars also had rafts. They were removed from the boots, blown up and placed into the water. Thomas, Percy and Leo chose to go and help the officers, while the others would help the passengers into the brake van and comfort them if needed.
It was a struggle in the water as the currents hit them hard, trying to float them away, or sink them, but within minutes, the rescue operation was underway.
"Any injuries or medical emergencies on board?" asked the female officer.
"Give me a minute to check," said the Driver. He asked all of them, but there were none, "nope, everyone is okay, we're just terrified right now."
"Well don't worry Sir, we're here to get you out of here."
One by one, the passengers left the diesel rail-car through the open windows and into the rafts. No more than five people per raft. As for the journey back to shore, it was still difficult, but with everyone working together, they were able to get to safe grounds, and the three teenagers and engine crew were able to help the passengers to safety.
All went well, until it came time for Daisy to climb on.
"Miss, you're gonna need to take off your shoes," said the female officer. "Those high heels of yours will poke a hole in our raft."
"I will not remove my shoes!" snapped Daisy. "I don't have any socks on, and I don't like disgusting water to touch my feet. It would be bad for my swerves."
Thomas groaned, "fine then Daisy, you can stay and we'll bring other people back to shore," he said firmly.
And that's what they did. They brought out three more people, and took them back to the shore line. When Percy came around, Daisy gave in. She took off her high heeled shoes and climbed out of the diesel rail-car. Two more passengers followed, and once more, the raft returned to shore.
It was nightfall by the time the rescue operation was finished, and the E2 could finally return to Ffarquhar. They were cheered to the echo when they arrived.
"Fine piece of work right there," said the Stationmaster. "If you lot were engines, I'd say you had been really useful."
"Us as talking engines?" Percy asked with a chuckle. "Right, maybe in another world perhaps."
The passengers thanked the rescuers too, "we thought we'd be stuck all night until you came along," they said. Even a young little boy came up and gave the heroes a hug.
"Merci," said Millie. "I was scared, until you lot came along. Now I feel relieved."
"Just glad to be of assistance," smiled Percy.
Daisy thanked them too, but she was still complaning about her ruined shoes and soaked feet.
"This is really bad for my swerves," she groaned.
Thomas rolled his eyes, "you'd think she's never been in the water before," he said. "Still, what made you decide to change your mind and get out of the rail-car?"
"I told you, I don't like getting my feet wet."
"Really?" Percy asked with a cheeky eyebrow raised. "It doesn't have anything to do with the snakes on board?"
"Absolutly not! I'm not afraid of snakes, it was the water rising that got me out."
"Is that so? Then you won't scream at the sight of the snake that followed you home?"
Daisy jumped and screamed loudly, until she saw there was no snake behind her. Percy had tricked her. Everyone burst into laughter, while Daisy just scowled at them.
"Never mind Daisy, you're safe now, and that's all that really matters right?" asked Emily.
"Indeed," nodded Daisy. But still, it didn't stop her from her usual complaining.
The rain water stopped at around nine that evening, but it took weeks for towns and cities to get rid of the water. There was some damage, but luckily everyone was okay, not even a single scratch. Though the people of Sodor would never forget the day that started off normal, and nearly left them holding their breath.