Into the Woods - ThomasNATION Fanstory
October 31, 2022
It was the day before Halloween on Sodor, and as the engines got prepared for the trick-or-treating and the parties, the Sodor Construction Crew were still hard at work building a bank building in Suddery. But the crew were still waiting on a supply of stone, and Max and Monty were growing impatient.
“Where is Thomas?” groaned Max. “He was supposed to be here two hours ago.”
“Yeah, it’s not like him to laze around on the job.” sighed Monty. “…well, except that one time.”
“Patience, lads.” said Jenny Packard. “I just heard from Sir Topham that Thomas is held up in Wellsworth. Right now, we got more dirt for you to take to the dump.”
Max groaned. “I hate the dump! It’s always cluttered, and the machines never work, and don’t get me started on the smell!”
“Agreed”, replied Monty. “we ain’t goin’ there, no way, no how!”
“But you have to put the dirt somewhere.” said Alfie. “I don’t think Brenda can move it out the way anymore.”
“Besides, ya gotta pitch in one way or another,” Jack added on, “so we can get this bank built quicker.”
“Fiiiiine…” groaned Max and Monty.
Miss Jenny chuckled. “Load ‘em up, Oliver. You too, Jack.”
Oliver and Jack loaded Max and Monty up with dirt and they were on their way. But neither of them wanted to go to the dump.
“There’s gotta be somewhere we can put all this.” thought Monty. “If I have to endure that dump’s smell, I’m gonna go crazy.”
“Yeah, I’m with you.” said Max. “But where are we gonna find somewhere to put all this junk?”
“We need to find somewhere deep in the backside of Sodor, somewhere where they’d never notice a pile of dirt.”
“And if they do?”
“Well, they’d just call it part of the scenery.”
Max and Monty thought for a second. They thought of all the hidden areas on the island. Hiro’s old hideout. The Ulfstead mines. Even the old quarry. But none of them seemed right…until…
“I got it!” cried Max. “What if we dump it in the Whistling Woods?”
“The Whistling Woods?” Monty pondered. “I dunno. It’s a little spooky in there.”
“Spooky? Come on, Monty, don’t tell me you actually buy all those ghost stories.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s the day before Halloween, and you know how that sorta thing goes.”
“But it’s not Halloween yet…is it?”
Monty chuckled. He liked what Max was thinking. “I see your point. Alright, you’re on. Let’s move!”
Max and Monty made it into the Whistling Woods. It was starting to get late and they’d been gone from the rest of the Pack for a while, but the two had to find the perfect spot to dump all the dirt. Soon, they found a great area, hidden from the tracks.
“It’s beautiful!” Max chuckled evilly. “And it’s ripe for the dumpin’!”
“I get to go first!” chirped Monty.
“What? No! This was my idea! I’m goin’ first!” shouted Max as he barged Monty out of the way.
“Hey! No fair!” cried Monty.
“Ya snooze, ya lose, brother!” Max laughed as he dumped the dirt and sped off. “Meet ya back there!”
As Max left, Monty groaned in anger at his brother’s antics. But soon he dumped his dirt onto the spot and prepared to leave. But then, he heard a strange noise. “roooaaaarrrrggghhhh…”
Monty gulped. “Hello? Wh-h-ho’s t-t-there?”
The noise repeated. It was like a loud mechanical whir, blaring through the forest. Monty was almost too scared to move. “H-h-hello?!”
The noise continued until Monty was absolutely terrified. He sped out of the woods, screaming for his life.
That night, most of the Pack were tucked away in their sheds, but there was still no sign of Monty.
“Where’s Monty?” asked Oliver. “He should be back by now.”
“It’s insane,” said Max, “he was with me at the wo-“ He stopped when he saw the Pack staring at him. “…uh, dump! He was with me at the dump.”
Elsewhere, Alfie had collected the stone from Thomas’ train. “What was with the holdup, Thomas?”
“Ah, you know. Broken crossing at Wellsworth.” Thomas explained. “I only had Toby to keep me company, but he kept yammering on about hearing a ghost in the Whistling Woods.”
“Ghosts? He does know ghosts aren’t real, right?”
“That’s what me and Henrietta said.” Thomas laughed.
Just then, Monty came racing in, still screaming until he raced into his shed.
“Whoa!” cried Jack. “Monty, what’s wrong?”
“I heard a…a g-g-g-g-g-g…”
“Uh…you heard a grape?” asked Darcy.
“A goat!” shouted Jack.
“A grill?” requested Oliver.
“…g-g-g-ghooost!” cried Monty.
The Pack laughed at Monty. “You can’t be serious, Monty!” laughed Max. “There’s no such thing!”
“It’s true! I heard it in the Whistling Woods!”
The Pack continued laughing, all except Alfie. “Now, hold on. I thought you were at the dump all day.”
“We took the scenic route!” said Max, quickly.
“But the Whistling Woods isn’t anywhere near the dump.” Oliver thought.
“Anyway,” said Alfie as he put the last of the stone down. “let’s discuss this more in the morning. For now, we need our sleep.”
“Alfie’s right,” Jack said. “we can discuss Max and Monty disregarding their tasks later.”
“Hey!” said Max and Monty.
“Well, you did.” protested Jack.
The next morning, the worksite was decorated for Halloween, but while the Pack was constructing the bank, Miss Jenny was reprimanding Max and Monty.
“You two are in a heap of trouble,” Miss Jenny scowled. “you were specifically told to go straight to the dump, and you couldn’t even do that!”
“But, Miss Jenny…” Max and Monty pouted.
“No buts.” continued Miss Jenny. “When all the dirt’s piled up at the end of the day, you’re both going to the dump. No shortcuts.”
“Yes, Miss Jenny…” Max and Monty sighed.
As she left, Alfie approached the two. “Y’know, the two of you can’t act like you didn’t deserve this, I mean-“
“Can we focus?” interrupted Monty. “I heard a ghost last night!”
“Monty, come on!” Max groaned. “How many times do I need to say? There’s no such things as ghosts!”
“I dunno, Max,” Darcy chimed in. “I heard Thomas say that Toby heard a ghost in the Whistling Woods as well. There might be a ghost in there.”
“Come on, not you too!” sighed Max. “There’s no ghosts in the Woods!”
“Then why don’t we prove it?” Alfie suggested. “Max, you go get Toby. We’re going to find that ghost!”
“Wow! What a totally safe and natural idea!” Monty grinned.
“Really?”
“No!” Monty shouted. “We can’t go in there alone! Not with a ghost!”
“Hey, you aren’t alone, brother,” said Max, “ya got us!”
“Not to mention Toby,” added Alfie.
“Well…if you say so.” sighed Monty. “Fine, we’ll hunt this one ghost, but let’s not make a habit outta this!”
“Would we need to?” asked Max.
Max, Monty and Alfie pulled into Maithwaite where Toby and Henrietta were talking to Emily, Rocky and Flynn.
“You really haven’t seen Harold anywhere?” asked Emily.
“He hasn’t come back to base in two days!” whimpered Flynn.
“I can’t say I have, guys.” said Toby.
“We’ll let you know if we see him, though.” said Henrietta.
As Emily, Rocky and Flynn left, Max and Monty saw their chance to ask Toby. “Psst! Hey, Toby!”
“Eh?” asked Toby. “Oh. Hi, Max. Monty. Alfie. What are you doing here?”
“We need your help,” said Monty. “you said you heard a ghost the other day, right?”
“Yes. I just thought I was hearing things.”
“Well, Monty heard the same thing,” chimed in Max, “so I was thinking: we should all go in and find that ghost.”
“Find that ghost?” Toby shivered. “No, I won’t do it! I don’t want to be possessed!”
“You’ll be fine, Toby,” Max said. “besides, between you and me, there’s really no ghost in there.”
“But I heard it!”
“Are ya sure?”
Toby thought for a moment. “He’s got a point there, Toby.” said Henrietta.
“Hmm…alright.” Toby sighed. “If you say so.”
The four trekked into the Whistling Woods. It was quiet…too quiet. This really concerned Monty and Toby.
“Uh…where do you guys think it’ll be?” whimpered Monty. “And does it eat dump trucks?”
“Will you quit worryin’?” groaned Max. “Let’s just get in here, bust your nonexistent ghost, get out, finish the bank, bada bing, bada boom.”
“Max is right.” Alfie replied. “He said it really weird, but he’s right. Chances are, there’s nothing here!”
As he spoke, the strange moan blared through the forest. “roooaaaarrrrggghhhh…”
“What was that?!” Toby whimpered. “Was that the ghost?”
“How do we know that wasn’t an owl?” asked Alfie.
The moan grew louder and louder until they approached a small bush. The four didn’t know what happened.
“Huh. It stopped.” chuckled Max. “I told you! There’s no-“
The moaning grew louder than before, even frightening Max and Alfie.
“Maybe there is a ghost in there!” Alfie cried.
“Let’s get outta here!” whimpered Toby.
“No! We gotta see what this guy looks like!” Monty yelled out. “One of us has to go in!”
“Yeah! Max responded. “Monty, go in!”
“What, me?! I’m not going in there!”
“You gotta! I don’t wanna get possessed!”
“Me neither!”
“Just go in there! I’ll make sure the pack remembers your name!”
“Oh, real helpful!”
“Both of you!” sighed Alfie. “Stop bickering and go in there!”
Max and Monty swallowed their pride and slowly trudged in. The moan was growing louder, almost deafening, but Max and Monty braved it and…then they saw it. The source of the moaning. The ghost Monty had heard was none other than…
“Harold?!” cried Max and Monty.
“Max? Monty?” asked Harold. “What are you two doing here?”
“We could ask you the same thing.” chuckled Monty.
“I was rescuing some trapped hikers a couple days ago.” Harold explained. “But my rotors got branches lodged between them. I tried restarting my blades, but nothing’s working!”
“Wait, so all that moaning and groaning we heard,” asked Toby, “that was you?”
“Yeah,” replied Harold. “What’d you think it was?”
Harold was soon rescued by the Sodor Search and Rescue team. The Pack even helped out to clear away the branches. As it happened, Miss Jenny spoke to Max and Monty.
“Well done, lads!” commended Miss Jenny. “I don’t think Harold would be freed if it weren’t for you lads.”
“Oh, it was nothing,” boasted Max.
“Really, it was. I’m still not sure how it happened.” said Monty.
“Well, the two of ya would make a mother proud, that’s for sure!” Miss Jenny said as she left.
“Nice work, chaps,” chuckled Oliver. “I never thought you two would save the day.”
“And on Halloween no less.” laughed Jack.
“Well, what can we say?” chuckled Monty.
“It’s all part of our plan.” Max bragged.
“Plan? What plan?” argued Monty. “We found Harold on accident.”
And off the two went to finish the bank, arguing away like always, as Toby and Henrietta stayed behind with the rescue team.
“So there’s really no ghost in here?” Toby asked.
“Nope!” chuckled Emily. “You’re all good. Besides, there’s no such thing as ghosts. You know that, right?”
“Right. Of course.” Toby said as he puffed away.
“You’re finally over your fears, eh?” asked Henrietta.
“Oh, I’m still scared, Henrietta,” chuckled Toby. “But I at least know there’s nothing in here to be scared about.”
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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