Bad Luck for Emily - ThomasNATION Fanstory
May 13, 2023
It was a pretty hectic morning down at the Sodor Search and Rescue Centre. An early heatwave had been beating down on the island, buckling the tracks and causing several delays and even derailments. Not to mention the fires that were spreading, but Flynn and Belle were on that. Luckily, the Search and Rescue Centre had Rocky on standby to handle the derailments."Rocky, we have a situation!" Harold called out. "I'm getting reports of two derailments on the main line."
"Who's off the rails?" asked Rocky.
"I don't know yet." Harold responded. "I also hear that Emily was called to come collect you."
And speak of the devil, Emily rolled up to Rocky's shed. "I'm here right now, Harold."
"Wow, good timing." gasped Harold. "I just got an updated report on the derailed engines."
"How lucky is that? Who are they?"
"First is James at Wellsworth, and then it's Rosie at Vicarstown. I believe both are cases of buckled rails."
"What are we waiting around here for?" asked Rocky. "Let's hit the road!"
"Right-o!" Emily declared as she and Rocky headed off.
On the way to Wellsworth, Emily had to make a quick pitstop at Knapford to fill up with coal, where she was greeted by Thomas.
"Morning, Emily," said Thomas. "more rescuing duties, huh?"
"Yep. Buckled tracks, heatwave, all that stuff," replied Emily. "it happens all the time this time of year."
"And on Friday the 13th too." Thomas sighed. "I haven't seen a string of luck that bad since that day I spent in Italy. I had to keep touching iron and saying "tocca ferro!" all day!"
"I'm sure it's not that bad," Emily laughed. "Plus, I didn't have anything unlucky happen to me."
As she spoke, a workman placed a tall ladder against Emily so he could clear her boiler. Thomas gasped. "Emily! You're under a ladder!"
"...I know." Emily replied, confused. "What, that can't be unlucky."
"It's very unlucky." Thomas explained. "At least that's what Lorenzo and Beppe told me."
"Well, surely Lorenzo and Beppe don't know everything." Emily chuckled, dismissing the words of Thomas' Italian friends. "Besides, I've had a fairly lucky morning at the Search and Rescue Centre. I'll be fine."
Emily then jolted forward to leave, knocking over the ladder before anyone could climb up, but Rocky's crane arm wasn't secure yet.
"Uh, Emily?" Rocky warned. "My crane arm, it isn't-"
But it was too late, as his crane arm hit the coal hopper, knocking coal dust all over the two of them.
"Oh, dear!" Thomas whimpered. "That wasn't-"
"Okay, before you say anything", Emily said, "I'm sure that wasn't specifically in regard to my luck. Rocky's just a little too tall for that coal hopper...no offense, Rock."
"None taken." said Rocky.
"So...you're okay, right?" asked Thomas.
"Perfectly." smiled Emily as she disembarked. "Now, I'd better get going. First stop, Wellsworth."
The route to Wellsworth wasn't that long, but with what Emily and Rocky went through, it felt like an eternity. Certain tracks were blocked by fallen cargo, branches kept scratching Emily's paintwork, Rocky accidentally knocked over tins of paint all over the two of them, even the water tower at the washdown fell over, covering Emily in water. But alas, they finally made it to Wellsworth, at the cost of Emily's energy...and her paintwork.
"Emily, what happened?!" James cried, horrified at the state of her and Rocky. "You look like a rainbow was sick on you."
"I know. Long story." Emily said as Rocky dropped anchor and had his arm secured. "Rocky, do what you need to do."
Rocky was ready to fit James back onto the track. And at first, it seemed like it was going well.
"How's it going back there, James?" asked Emily.
"Very smoothly, thanks, Emily." replied James. "This might actually be one of the smoothest re-railings I've ever had."
Emily chuckled to herself. "I knew Thomas' friends were making all that up." Maybe her luck was starting to turn around...until a wasp approached Rocky.
"Ah! It's a wasp!" Rocky yelped, jolting back in fear, losing focus and knocking James into Diesel, derailing him as well!
"Rocky!" cried Diesel.
"Sorry, Diesel!" shouted Rocky.
Emily sighed. Why was this happening? She had been the official safety engine for three years now and this had never happened before...unless, was it actually bad luck? Were Lorenzo and Beppe's superstitions about being underneath a ladder correct? No, surely not, there'd have to be definitive proof that this was bad luck...just then, a black cat crawled along Emily's bufferbeam.
"Oh no!" Emily cried. "Aw, why me? Why now?!"
Emily's luck had gotten from bad to worse when the mess at Wellsworth got so bad that the stationmaster had to call Judy and Jerome to clean up. And even on her journey to Vicarstown, she wasn't doing so great. There were rail repairs at Maron, meaning Emily had to be held up even longer. At this rate, she was just plain fed up. She just wanted to go home in one piece.
"Of all the times to have a wave of bad luck," Emily groaned, "it had to be when I'm rescuing engines? Couldn't this have happened when I was at the Great Railway Show, or when I had to deliver football kits?"
"There has to be some sort of explanation for this," Rocky thought. "I mean, why us? Why now?"
Emily and Rocky thought and thought. They couldn't think of the right answer, or the right explanation for their bad luck. It was then when Emily remembered the ladder. That superstition didn't make a lick of sense. Surely that couldn't be the reason behind their misfortune, since it was a ladder...but then it hit her.
"Actually," thought Emily, "maybe it was the ladder.
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it, what's the biggest worry people have regarding ladders?"
"Falling off?"
"Falling off. And I was pretty worried the lads that were going to polish my boiler were going to fall off. That's why I rushed off so quick before your crane arm could be secured."
"You could be onto something," added Rocky. "and that thing with the bee? That was because I was scared of being stung by that wasp! I had no problem putting James back onto the tracks until that wasp came along."
"Nice thinking, Rock." chuckled Emily. "So...then what? How can we carry on after all this?"
Rocky thought for a second but couldn't think of an answer. "I got nothing."
Just then, Thomas pulled up next to them pulling coal trucks. He quickly noticed Emily's messy paintwork. "Emily, what happened to you?"
"You would not believe the day we've had." Emily explained.
"Hey, Thomas? I gotta ask," asked Rocky, "when you had that spot of bad luck in Italy, how did you overcome it?"
Thomas chuckled. "Funny story. Turned out, luck had nothing to do with it! I was just feeling positive, so that's why my luck turned around."
"Huh. That could work." Emily thought. "I mean, me and Rocky were having bad luck because of our own fears and worries. The ladder, that wasp, you get the idea."
"Right!" Thomas smiled. "Shouldn't be too hard. It might help to touch iron, though. Lorenzo and Beppe did that to improve their luck."
Emily considered this and lightly bumped Rocky's buffers. "Tocca ferro! Thanks, Thomas."
"Any more superstitions your friends told you about?" asked Rocky.
Thomas told Emily and Rocky about his friends' superstitions and soon enough, the rail repairs were done and Emily and Rocky were on their way to help Rosie.
This time, the two of them weren't taking any chances. They weren't going to let their worries get in the way. It also helped to follow the superstitions. Every right turn that led to Vicarstown they found, they took it. Any tunnel they came across, they held their breath. Finally, they made it to Vicarstown ahead of schedule. Sir Topham Hatt was inspecting the derailment as the two rolled in.
"Oh, my!" cried Sir Topham Hatt. "Emily, you're a mess!"
"I know, I'll get a wash as soon as I'm done helping Rosie here."
Soon, Rocky got to work. He slowly lifted Rosie back onto the rails, and at first, it seemed to be going okay...until another wasp flew over and landed right on Rocky's nose.
"Uh, Emily?" Rocky whimpered.
"Don't panic, Rock," Emily said, trying to calm the crane. "just don't make any sudden movements and it'll fly away. Keep calm."
Rocky tried his best not to panic. He kept staring directly at the wasp. But soon, the wasp flied away. "Phew!"
"Are you alright, Rocky?" asked Rosie.
"I'm alright," he explained, "just not a fan of wasps."
Rocky continued and soon enough, Rosie was back on the rails. Emily and Rocky were greeted with the cheers of the passengers, the engines and Sir Topham Hatt.
"Nicely done, you two!" Sir Topham Hatt cheered. "I have to say, I'm especially proud of you for overcoming your bad luck. I did hear what happened at Wellsworth."
"Yeah, I'm not proud of all that," Emily chuckled, "but the important thing is everyone's safe. Now, I should probably get to the washdown."
"Um, actually, Emily," suggested Sir Topham Hatt, "I think it may be best if you get repainted."
"...yeah, good point." Emily laughed. And with that, Emily puffed away from Vicarstown, happy to have overcome such bad luck...even if it did cost her her paintwork.
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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