Escape From Reality - ThomasNATION Fanstory [Part 1]
September 17, 2021
It was a particularly boring day on Sodor. Thomas trundled slowly along his branch line, bored of the same old scenery with the same old engines on the same old tracks on the same old island.
“...and there’s Gordon’s Hill...” Thomas sighed as he made his way, “…and there’s the watermill…and there’s Tidmouth Sheds over the horizon.”
It was all the same routine as always. He just wanted to see more. But here’s the thing: he’d already seen the world. He already travelled to different continents, to different islands and to different areas of the globe. So if that’s it, what more could he want?
“How was your holiday?” a passenger asked another man as he disembarked from Thomas’ train.
“It was gobsmacking, mate,” the man’s friend replied. “You won’t believe how massive the Colosseum is in person!”
“I can only imagine. I’ve only been to Italy once, I’ve only seen the place from outside.”
“Oh, believe me, it’s much bigger inside!”
Thomas, overhearing the two’s conversation, sighed. Humans always got to see and do the coolest things, things an engine could never do. He started to wish for some form of excitement, until…
“Move it, will ya?!” a strange new engine called out. “It’s bad enough we have to be on this silly little peasant island!”
“Cool it, alright?” another strange engine responded. “And for the last time, Wilson, you’re not a royal engine!”
“Pah! Am too! Her Royal Highness doesn’t know it yet.” Wilson sneered. He glanced at Thomas and scoffed. “Pathetic.”
“Whoa, Wilson, what’s the deal?” the other engine cried. “That guy’s Thomas! He was the first engine to travel the world!”
“Oh, please,” Wilson scoffed. “the things they’ll let peasants do nowadays.”
“I’m not a peasant!” Thomas rebutted.
“Are you royal?”
“No, but…”
“Then you’re a peasant. Make haste, servant!”
Wilson left the platform, but the other engine stayed behind to talk to Thomas. “Hey, listen, I’m real sorry about Wilson over there. He says he’s royalty, but we both know he isn’t.”
“Trust me,” Thomas chuckled. “I know an engine named Rajiv he might like.”
“Believe me, kid, Rajiv would be nothing compared to this guy. The name’s Gene. You got a name?”
“Thomas.”
“Nice meetin’ ya, Thomas.”
“GENE!” Wilson cried.
Gene groaned and left. “See ya, kid.”
Thomas was left confused as Gene left. An engine who thinks he’s royal? Did his wish come true?
The next day, a harsh storm hit Sodor, and yet even that wasn’t enough to satisfy Thomas. His morning commute was the same old. There was Gordon’s Hill, and there was the watermill, and over there was Tidmouth Sheds on the horizon. But on his way, he noticed Paxton had derailed. Gene was there with Rocky helping him up.
“We’re almost done, buddy, just hang on!” Gene called.
“Thanks, Gene,” said Paxton. “I just wish there were an easier way to get back onto the rails, am I right?”
“Yeah, of course.” Thomas chuckled before seeing the two gentlemen from yesterday. One of them tripped a little on the path.
“Whoa, you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” the man said as he picked himself up and walked on. Thomas sighed once more, which Gene noticed.
“What’s wrong, buddy?” Gene asked.
“Nothing, I…I’m just a little damp.”
“Come on, you can tell me. Hit me with it, come on.”
“I’m just…tired of being confined by all these rails, they never let me do anything exciting. Meanwhile, the humans on Sodor do all these cool things that someone like me could never do! I just…I wish I could just see what it was like to be in their shoes. Even for just one day.”
Gene listened carefully before chuckling. “Y’know, kid…you really gotta be careful what you wish for.”
And with a flash of lightning, Gene was gone.
“Huh?” Thomas asked. “Gene? Where’d you go?!”
He then saw Gene racing off into the rain and quickly gave chase. “Hey! Wait! What did you mean?!”
As Thomas chased Gene, a bunch of leaves swirled around Thomas’ face. “Whoa, what the…”
But before he could question further, he was diverted onto another track, straight into a set of buffers. He tried to stop, but the tracks were too slippery, and…
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Thomas woke up in his bed the next morning, but he was still a little sleepy, so he hit snooze on his alarm and went back to…
“Wait, what?!”
Thomas climbed out of bed and fell onto the floor, face to face with a mirror. There, he saw not an engine staring back to him, but a human!
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, who is that man?!” Thomas cried in terror, putting his hand on his head. But then he noticed his hand, realizing the man in his mirror was him! As he stared at his new appendage, Thomas could do nothing but scream in horror before slapping himself across the face to wake himself up.
“This isn’t happening! This is just a bad dream! Wake up already, Thomas!” Thomas whimpered as he tumbled out of his house. Soon enough, he pulled himself off the ground and stood on his new feet, just as a school bus was arriving.
“You can do this…” he said as he took a deep breath. He then started to awkwardly walk, one foot after the other. But it was too hard for him as he fell to the ground again. “I can’t do this.”
“Oh, you poor little fellow!” a strange woman said as she held out her hand for Thomas. “Here, let me help you.”
Out of options, Thomas took her hand and stood up once again. “Thanks. I’m not used to these-” Before he could finish his sentence, he got a good look at the lady’s face, realizing it was... “Rebecca?!”
“Yeah, you seem surprised.” Rebecca chuckled. “What, you didn’t recognize me?”
Thomas quickly ran off, before tripping and landing on the bus. “…I hate this new body.”
“You alright, lad?” asked the bus driver.
“No, I’m just…I’m just gonna lay here until the next stop.” Thomas sighed.
“Well, I can’t go until you’re in a seat, so…y’know what to do from here, chuck.”
“Alright, I think I can manage that…” Thomas climbed back up and heaved his heavy, confusing bones onto a nearby seat.
“You okay there?” the lad next to him asked.
“Yeah, just…very confusing times, I don’t know where…” As Thomas spoke, he instantly recognized the guy next to him. “Percy?”
“Wow, good guess,” Percy laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Uh…Thomas.”
“Thomas, of course. Your first day here?”
“First day where?”
As the bus stopped, the other passengers disembarked as Thomas looked up in front of him. The building was strange, large, and most of all, confusing. From all his years of taking passengers to this sort of place, he knew it could only be one thing.
“High school…of course.”
Thomas wandered through the school, lost and confused. He recognized a good sum of people as his old friends on Sodor, but he was still burdened with a million questions. Why was he here? How was he here? What’s happening to his friends on Sodor? Is this Sodor now? Was this real? Was he real? Am I real? Is this story you’re reading real? Is anything real?!
“Hey, new friend!” Percy said as he ran up to Thomas.
“Gah! Percy, don’t scare me like that, I’m completely on edge right now.”
“Whoa, sorry, man. What’s the matter?”
“I can’t say, it’s all too confusing.”
“You can trust me, I’ve once seen James eat a bag of gummy worms through his ear, you can’t get any more confusing than that. Lay it on me, brother!”
Thomas didn’t know what to do. On one hand, it was all too complicated, but on the other, he was his best friend, he’d understand. “Okay…I was once a tank engine on the Island of Sodor, but I wanted to see what the life of a human was like, so I told this other engine about it, but he disappeared in a flash of lightning, and next thing I know, I’m in the body of a human, I don’t know my east from my west, and I barely know who anyone is.”
Percy stared blankly at Thomas for a second. “...okay, that’s a little confusing.”
Just then, another young man approached Thomas and Percy. “What’s up, fellas?”
“James!” Percy shouted in delight as he greeted his friend. “Oh, uh, James, this is Thomas.”
“How’s it going, man?” James said as he gave Thomas a cool handshake. “He a friend of yours, Perce?”
“He is, actually.” responded Percy.
“What just happened?” Thomas asked, confused. “What did you do to my hand?”
“Sorry, bro. You were sayin’, fellas?”
“I was saying, this weird engine disappeared and all of a sudden, I wake up here, in this…wait. Maybe Gene is the answer! Percy, we just need to find…”
But Percy wasn’t paying attention, he was too busy taking a picture with James. “Alright, you gonna take it?”
“I’m gonna tag you in this, dude.”
“Uh, Percy?” said Thomas.
“Right, sorry.” Percy said as he broke out of his pose. “How do we find this guy anyhow? I mean, the dude’s clearly magic.”
“Magic doesn’t exist, Percy.” James scoffed.
“But it could. Think about it, he could be a wizard, or a dragon, or a genie…what’d you say his name was?”
“Gene.”
“Gene. Ergo, he’s a genie.” Percy concluded.
Thomas and James were surprised by this conclusion. “Weird guess. I mean, do genies really exist in this world?”
“There is one place a genie was sighted. A cave off the south of the coast of town. We go there, we find this genie!”
“You sure this’ll work?” James asked.
“Absolutely!” Percy suggested. “We’ll have to leave first light tomorrow, right after breakfast.”
“...and there’s Gordon’s Hill...” Thomas sighed as he made his way, “…and there’s the watermill…and there’s Tidmouth Sheds over the horizon.”
It was all the same routine as always. He just wanted to see more. But here’s the thing: he’d already seen the world. He already travelled to different continents, to different islands and to different areas of the globe. So if that’s it, what more could he want?
“How was your holiday?” a passenger asked another man as he disembarked from Thomas’ train.
“It was gobsmacking, mate,” the man’s friend replied. “You won’t believe how massive the Colosseum is in person!”
“I can only imagine. I’ve only been to Italy once, I’ve only seen the place from outside.”
“Oh, believe me, it’s much bigger inside!”
Thomas, overhearing the two’s conversation, sighed. Humans always got to see and do the coolest things, things an engine could never do. He started to wish for some form of excitement, until…
“Move it, will ya?!” a strange new engine called out. “It’s bad enough we have to be on this silly little peasant island!”
“Cool it, alright?” another strange engine responded. “And for the last time, Wilson, you’re not a royal engine!”
“Pah! Am too! Her Royal Highness doesn’t know it yet.” Wilson sneered. He glanced at Thomas and scoffed. “Pathetic.”
“Whoa, Wilson, what’s the deal?” the other engine cried. “That guy’s Thomas! He was the first engine to travel the world!”
“Oh, please,” Wilson scoffed. “the things they’ll let peasants do nowadays.”
“I’m not a peasant!” Thomas rebutted.
“Are you royal?”
“No, but…”
“Then you’re a peasant. Make haste, servant!”
Wilson left the platform, but the other engine stayed behind to talk to Thomas. “Hey, listen, I’m real sorry about Wilson over there. He says he’s royalty, but we both know he isn’t.”
“Trust me,” Thomas chuckled. “I know an engine named Rajiv he might like.”
“Believe me, kid, Rajiv would be nothing compared to this guy. The name’s Gene. You got a name?”
“Thomas.”
“Nice meetin’ ya, Thomas.”
“GENE!” Wilson cried.
Gene groaned and left. “See ya, kid.”
Thomas was left confused as Gene left. An engine who thinks he’s royal? Did his wish come true?
The next day, a harsh storm hit Sodor, and yet even that wasn’t enough to satisfy Thomas. His morning commute was the same old. There was Gordon’s Hill, and there was the watermill, and over there was Tidmouth Sheds on the horizon. But on his way, he noticed Paxton had derailed. Gene was there with Rocky helping him up.
“We’re almost done, buddy, just hang on!” Gene called.
“Thanks, Gene,” said Paxton. “I just wish there were an easier way to get back onto the rails, am I right?”
“Yeah, of course.” Thomas chuckled before seeing the two gentlemen from yesterday. One of them tripped a little on the path.
“Whoa, you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” the man said as he picked himself up and walked on. Thomas sighed once more, which Gene noticed.
“What’s wrong, buddy?” Gene asked.
“Nothing, I…I’m just a little damp.”
“Come on, you can tell me. Hit me with it, come on.”
“I’m just…tired of being confined by all these rails, they never let me do anything exciting. Meanwhile, the humans on Sodor do all these cool things that someone like me could never do! I just…I wish I could just see what it was like to be in their shoes. Even for just one day.”
Gene listened carefully before chuckling. “Y’know, kid…you really gotta be careful what you wish for.”
And with a flash of lightning, Gene was gone.
“Huh?” Thomas asked. “Gene? Where’d you go?!”
He then saw Gene racing off into the rain and quickly gave chase. “Hey! Wait! What did you mean?!”
As Thomas chased Gene, a bunch of leaves swirled around Thomas’ face. “Whoa, what the…”
But before he could question further, he was diverted onto another track, straight into a set of buffers. He tried to stop, but the tracks were too slippery, and…
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Thomas woke up in his bed the next morning, but he was still a little sleepy, so he hit snooze on his alarm and went back to…
“Wait, what?!”
Thomas climbed out of bed and fell onto the floor, face to face with a mirror. There, he saw not an engine staring back to him, but a human!
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, who is that man?!” Thomas cried in terror, putting his hand on his head. But then he noticed his hand, realizing the man in his mirror was him! As he stared at his new appendage, Thomas could do nothing but scream in horror before slapping himself across the face to wake himself up.
“This isn’t happening! This is just a bad dream! Wake up already, Thomas!” Thomas whimpered as he tumbled out of his house. Soon enough, he pulled himself off the ground and stood on his new feet, just as a school bus was arriving.
“You can do this…” he said as he took a deep breath. He then started to awkwardly walk, one foot after the other. But it was too hard for him as he fell to the ground again. “I can’t do this.”
“Oh, you poor little fellow!” a strange woman said as she held out her hand for Thomas. “Here, let me help you.”
Out of options, Thomas took her hand and stood up once again. “Thanks. I’m not used to these-” Before he could finish his sentence, he got a good look at the lady’s face, realizing it was... “Rebecca?!”
“Yeah, you seem surprised.” Rebecca chuckled. “What, you didn’t recognize me?”
Thomas quickly ran off, before tripping and landing on the bus. “…I hate this new body.”
“You alright, lad?” asked the bus driver.
“No, I’m just…I’m just gonna lay here until the next stop.” Thomas sighed.
“Well, I can’t go until you’re in a seat, so…y’know what to do from here, chuck.”
“Alright, I think I can manage that…” Thomas climbed back up and heaved his heavy, confusing bones onto a nearby seat.
“You okay there?” the lad next to him asked.
“Yeah, just…very confusing times, I don’t know where…” As Thomas spoke, he instantly recognized the guy next to him. “Percy?”
“Wow, good guess,” Percy laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Uh…Thomas.”
“Thomas, of course. Your first day here?”
“First day where?”
As the bus stopped, the other passengers disembarked as Thomas looked up in front of him. The building was strange, large, and most of all, confusing. From all his years of taking passengers to this sort of place, he knew it could only be one thing.
“High school…of course.”
Thomas wandered through the school, lost and confused. He recognized a good sum of people as his old friends on Sodor, but he was still burdened with a million questions. Why was he here? How was he here? What’s happening to his friends on Sodor? Is this Sodor now? Was this real? Was he real? Am I real? Is this story you’re reading real? Is anything real?!
“Hey, new friend!” Percy said as he ran up to Thomas.
“Gah! Percy, don’t scare me like that, I’m completely on edge right now.”
“Whoa, sorry, man. What’s the matter?”
“I can’t say, it’s all too confusing.”
“You can trust me, I’ve once seen James eat a bag of gummy worms through his ear, you can’t get any more confusing than that. Lay it on me, brother!”
Thomas didn’t know what to do. On one hand, it was all too complicated, but on the other, he was his best friend, he’d understand. “Okay…I was once a tank engine on the Island of Sodor, but I wanted to see what the life of a human was like, so I told this other engine about it, but he disappeared in a flash of lightning, and next thing I know, I’m in the body of a human, I don’t know my east from my west, and I barely know who anyone is.”
Percy stared blankly at Thomas for a second. “...okay, that’s a little confusing.”
Just then, another young man approached Thomas and Percy. “What’s up, fellas?”
“James!” Percy shouted in delight as he greeted his friend. “Oh, uh, James, this is Thomas.”
“How’s it going, man?” James said as he gave Thomas a cool handshake. “He a friend of yours, Perce?”
“He is, actually.” responded Percy.
“What just happened?” Thomas asked, confused. “What did you do to my hand?”
“Sorry, bro. You were sayin’, fellas?”
“I was saying, this weird engine disappeared and all of a sudden, I wake up here, in this…wait. Maybe Gene is the answer! Percy, we just need to find…”
But Percy wasn’t paying attention, he was too busy taking a picture with James. “Alright, you gonna take it?”
“I’m gonna tag you in this, dude.”
“Uh, Percy?” said Thomas.
“Right, sorry.” Percy said as he broke out of his pose. “How do we find this guy anyhow? I mean, the dude’s clearly magic.”
“Magic doesn’t exist, Percy.” James scoffed.
“But it could. Think about it, he could be a wizard, or a dragon, or a genie…what’d you say his name was?”
“Gene.”
“Gene. Ergo, he’s a genie.” Percy concluded.
Thomas and James were surprised by this conclusion. “Weird guess. I mean, do genies really exist in this world?”
“There is one place a genie was sighted. A cave off the south of the coast of town. We go there, we find this genie!”
“You sure this’ll work?” James asked.
“Absolutely!” Percy suggested. “We’ll have to leave first light tomorrow, right after breakfast.”
As Percy left, James was left with Thomas, not buying into what Percy was saying. "You really believe this stuff?"
"Hey, I just went from a tank engine to a human," replied Thomas. "I'm willing to believe anything right now."
The next morning came and Thomas and Percy were ready to find Gene, but first they had to pick up James. Percy knocked on his door for a good couple minutes, but no answer.
“I don’t get it,” Percy thought. “He did say 7:15, right?”
“Yeah, it’s not like him to sleep in.” Thomas pondered. “Maybe we should…” As he spoke, a loud parade charged through the neighborhood.
“What?!” Percy called. “Thomas, I can’t hear you!”
“Sorry, I can’t hear you over this parade!”
Thomas and Percy observed the parade. On top of a float was Wilson, dressed in royal clothing. “Make way for Prince Wilson!”
“Ugh. This guy.” Thomas groaned. “He always thinks he’s so great because he’s quote unquote “royalty”. Unbelievable, right?”
“Actually, that guy is royal.” Percy explained. “He’s a prince of a nearby town.”
“What?”
“Yeah…is this guy seriously not awake?!” Percy grumbled as he opened James’ door. As he and Thomas ran up to his room, James was nowhere to be seen. All there was left was a small card.
“I don’t see him,” said Thomas, “but what’s that card?”
“Beats me.” replied Percy. “Hang on, lemme see what it says.”
Percy read the card aloud. The message on the card was “ESPRIA EB IGKN NWOILS”.
“What does that mean?”
“No clue, but…where’s James?”
“I don’t know…wait, I got it! Genies give three wishes, right?”
“Yeah?”
“So, what if,” Thomas explained, “we just use one of the…”
“…wishes to find James!” Percy joined in. “You’re a genius! Come on, we gotta find us this guy.”
“If he exists.”
Thomas and Percy soon arrived at the cave. It was pretty scary, but it was incredibly dark.
“How do we see what’s going on in there?” asked Thomas.
Percy quickly pulled out a rectangular object and shone a light with it.
“Whoa! What is that thing?” Thomas asked curiously.
“It’s…my phone?” responded Percy.
The next morning came and Thomas and Percy were ready to find Gene, but first they had to pick up James. Percy knocked on his door for a good couple minutes, but no answer.
“I don’t get it,” Percy thought. “He did say 7:15, right?”
“Yeah, it’s not like him to sleep in.” Thomas pondered. “Maybe we should…” As he spoke, a loud parade charged through the neighborhood.
“What?!” Percy called. “Thomas, I can’t hear you!”
“Sorry, I can’t hear you over this parade!”
Thomas and Percy observed the parade. On top of a float was Wilson, dressed in royal clothing. “Make way for Prince Wilson!”
“Ugh. This guy.” Thomas groaned. “He always thinks he’s so great because he’s quote unquote “royalty”. Unbelievable, right?”
“Actually, that guy is royal.” Percy explained. “He’s a prince of a nearby town.”
“What?”
“Yeah…is this guy seriously not awake?!” Percy grumbled as he opened James’ door. As he and Thomas ran up to his room, James was nowhere to be seen. All there was left was a small card.
“I don’t see him,” said Thomas, “but what’s that card?”
“Beats me.” replied Percy. “Hang on, lemme see what it says.”
Percy read the card aloud. The message on the card was “ESPRIA EB IGKN NWOILS”.
“What does that mean?”
“No clue, but…where’s James?”
“I don’t know…wait, I got it! Genies give three wishes, right?”
“Yeah?”
“So, what if,” Thomas explained, “we just use one of the…”
“…wishes to find James!” Percy joined in. “You’re a genius! Come on, we gotta find us this guy.”
“If he exists.”
Thomas and Percy soon arrived at the cave. It was pretty scary, but it was incredibly dark.
“How do we see what’s going on in there?” asked Thomas.
Percy quickly pulled out a rectangular object and shone a light with it.
“Whoa! What is that thing?” Thomas asked curiously.
“It’s…my phone?” responded Percy.
"That thing's a telephone?"
“Yeah. What, don't you have phones in your world?”
“Not ones that look like that.”
Percy handed Thomas the strange phone and he led the way into the cave. Inside was all sorts of jewels and gems, as well as a small lamp.
“Look up there,” Thomas pointed. “Genies usually come in lamps, right?”
“Yeah…although there was this one time one was found in a speaker…yeah, that was weird.”
“Alright, stay down here.” Thomas said as he climbed up to reach the lamp. Soon enough, he grabbed the lamp and brought it back down to Percy. “Got it!”
“Alright! Now what?”
“I dunno, do you rub it? Is that how it goes?” Thomas asked as he started rubbing the lamp. “Nothing’s happening.”
“Maybe you’re rubbing it wrong?”
“Forgive me, I’ve never had hands before. Maybe there’s a sweet spot?”
Thomas tried rubbing the lamp in a different area, and lo and behold, a blue puff of smoke emerged from the lamp, and from the smoke a giant blue genie.
“O, GREAT ONE WHO RELEASED ME,” the genie bellowed, “SEEING AS YOU SUMMONED ME FROM MY SLUMBER, I WILL ABIDE MY OATH TO GIVE THEE THREE WISHES.”
“Whoa, man…” Thomas gasped.
“Not ones that look like that.”
Percy handed Thomas the strange phone and he led the way into the cave. Inside was all sorts of jewels and gems, as well as a small lamp.
“Look up there,” Thomas pointed. “Genies usually come in lamps, right?”
“Yeah…although there was this one time one was found in a speaker…yeah, that was weird.”
“Alright, stay down here.” Thomas said as he climbed up to reach the lamp. Soon enough, he grabbed the lamp and brought it back down to Percy. “Got it!”
“Alright! Now what?”
“I dunno, do you rub it? Is that how it goes?” Thomas asked as he started rubbing the lamp. “Nothing’s happening.”
“Maybe you’re rubbing it wrong?”
“Forgive me, I’ve never had hands before. Maybe there’s a sweet spot?”
Thomas tried rubbing the lamp in a different area, and lo and behold, a blue puff of smoke emerged from the lamp, and from the smoke a giant blue genie.
“O, GREAT ONE WHO RELEASED ME,” the genie bellowed, “SEEING AS YOU SUMMONED ME FROM MY SLUMBER, I WILL ABIDE MY OATH TO GIVE THEE THREE WISHES.”
“Whoa, man…” Thomas gasped.
To be continued.
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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