It's a Wonderful Railway - ThomasNATION Fanstory
December 24, 2023
“You doing okay, Thomas?” asked Percy. “You look like you’re struggling.”
“I’ll be honest, Percy,” said Thomas, “I’ve been a little stressed out with all this work. I’ve got to get this hay to Kellsthorpe Road for their nativity scene, then I need to get the kids’ presents over to Town Hall, then I need to get a sleigh over to Suddery, and if I have to plough through a snowbank one more time, I think I’m gonna burst!”
“Whoa, sorry I can’t help you, Thomas,” replied Percy. “That sounds like a real pain.”
“No kidding.” chuckled Thomas. “Are you sure you can’t help? You’re headed to Suddery, right?”
“I wanna help,” said Percy, “but I’ve still got all this mail to deliver - not to mention the Christmas tree for Ulfstead Castle.”
Thomas was disappointed, but even then, he still understood. “Okay, no worries. I’ll see you back at the shed.”
As Percy left, Thomas was left all alone, with no help and no break in sight, but a heap of work to do. But he still had to keep his head on his footplate. “It’s just some extra work.” he said to himself. “How bad could it be?”
Very bad, evidently. Throughout the day, Thomas kept running into trouble one way or another. Presents kept falling onto the snow. The icy rails made him bump into engines left and right. Snow kept getting sprayed all over him by one of the faster engines. He even nearly derailed on a sharp turn, damaging the sleigh for Suddery. And not a single engine offered to help him. By the end of the day, Thomas was feeling burnt out, weak, and pretty insignificant.
When he came back to Tidmouth Sheds that night, he wasted no time venting his frustrations to Percy. “Today has been one of the worst days of my life.”
“I know it must’ve been hard,” Percy tried to assure his friend, “but it gets better. I promise.”
“Yeah, I’ve had days that bad,” said James, “but it never got me down.”
“You know what the worst part is?” continued Thomas. “No one, no one offered to help or check if I was doing okay. I felt so useless.”
“You’re not useless, Thomas,” said Nia.
“I don’t know,” sighed Thomas, before saying something the engines at Tidmouth were hoping they’d never have to hear anyone say. “Right now, I’m starting to think this railway would be better off if I never came here.”
“Don’t say that!” gasped Percy. “That’s not true at all.”
“How do you know?” grumbled Thomas. “I mean, if I just packed my shed and went back to the Mainland, would anyone even care? Would they even notice?”
“Well, fine. Go back. Come visit once in a while.” Gordon sighed.
“Gordon!” gasped Nia.
“Oh, come on, Nia,” groaned Gordon. “He’s not going to do it. He’ll just moan about it for a couple more minutes, sleep on it and wake up like this conversation never happened.”
“Would it kill you to be a little more sensitive about this?” muttered Percy. “Thomas matters to this railway!”
“You’re just saying that, Percy.” sighed Thomas. “But the truth is, maybe I don’t after all.”
“Well, that’s not true at all.” Gordon rolled his eyes.
“Whose side are you on?!” shouted Nia.
And with that, Thomas drifted off to sleep. He still couldn’t shake his feeling of worthlessness from his mind. And in the state he was in, what could?
“Thomas?” a strange voice called out as he slept. “Wake up, Thomas…”
Thomas slowly woke up to be greeted by… “Hiro?”
“Konnichiwa, old friend!” cried Hiro as he laughed. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
“But…how?” asked Thomas. “How are you here? I saw you leave for Japan three years ago.”
“Let me put it this way.” Hiro explained. “You saved me from worthlessness, so it’s time I return the favor. Think of me as a guardian angel.”
“What in the world are you talking about?”
“I’m here to show you how much of an impact you left on the island of Sodor. I know you’ve been contemplating leaving.”
“Yeah, I’m starting to think everyone here doesn’t care about me.”
“That’s not true.” Hiro began. “You’ve really had a wonderful life on Sodor. Don’t you want to see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?”
Thomas was pretty hesitant. “I’m not sure…”
Hiro chuckled again. “Here, let me show you.”
Hiro then let out a mighty wheesh from his pistons. Steam filled the area, sending Thomas and Hiro…back to Tidmouth Sheds.
“That…didn’t do anything.” said Thomas.
“ććć©ććć.” chuckled Hiro. “This is a very…different Sodor. One where you were never brought onto Sir Topham Hatt’s railway. Behold.”
Thomas then witnessed Edward leaving his old berth. “Wait, why’s Edward there? James didn’t crash into the sheds because of me.”
“You never inspired Rosie’s red paint job, so the crash didn’t happen and Edward never moved out.” Hiro explained.
“Really?”
“Yes. And Nia never filled his berth.”
“And what about Rebecca?”
“She still lives here. Just in what was meant to be your berth.”
“…so that means…”
Just as Thomas was speaking, a very nervous Henry was slowly turning around on the turntable, whimpering as he looked up at the cloudy sky. “Oh, come on now! Turn, turn!”
“What’s the matter with him?” Thomas asked as it started raining. Henry, in a panicked frenzy, reversed into his shed.
“Henry never conquered his fear of the rain.” Hiro observed. “Every storm, hurricane, or even light drizzle, he coops up in his berth and never comes out.”
“But why?”
“Don’t you remember? There was no you. You convinced him that the rain was okay.”
Thomas thought about that for a second. “I completely forgot that.”
“We’ve still got a lot to see, Thomas,” Hiro chimed. “This is only the tip of the iceberg.”
In another puff of steam, Thomas and Hiro found themselves at Dryaw.
“So if I never came to this railway, who’s running my branch line?” asked Thomas.
Just then, a familiar whistle blared through the branchline. “Right on cue.” chuckled Hiro.
And speeding down the track was none other than James, still in his black livery and pulling Annie and Clarabel. “Tadaaaa! Here’s James!”
“James? My branch line belongs to James?” gasped Thomas.
“Yes.” Hiro explained. “But he doesn’t get a lot of passengers because of his…reckless manner. This line is more so a laughing stock to the other engines. He doesn’t even have any help for the line - Percy works exclusively in the shunting yards and Toby never came to the island. There wasn’t that issue with the policeman.”
“Huh.” thought Thomas. “I do have another question: what about Glynn?”
“You weren’t there to save him. He was sent away to the scrapyard.”
Thomas gasped. “No!”
“Yes. Not just that, but I would’ve met the same fate…as well as one other.” Hiro let out one last puff of smoke. Now, they were in the plains of Kenya.
“Um…are we in Africa?” Thomas asked, confused.
“Kenya, to be exact.” Hiro said. “Remember how Nia told you that she never found a shed back here?”
“Yeah?”
“Look over there.”
Thomas looked over at an old siding. Over there was the rusty, dilapidated remains of an engine. “Who’s that?”
“Thomas…meet Nia.” Hiro sighed, solemnly.
“What?” Thomas gasped. “So if I never came to Sodor, my friends would be entirely different engines, my branch line would be in ruins, and…”
“Nia never would’ve found a home.” Hiro sighed. “So, you see? It’s strange, isn't it? Each engine’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn't around, he leaves an awful hole…doesn't he?”
Thomas deeply considered Hiro’s words. Maybe he wasn’t worthless. Maybe he affected more lives than he thought. Maybe he actually did belong on the railway.
Nia’s whistle blared through Tidmouth Sheds as she greeted the morning. “Good morning, everyone!”
Thomas woke up with a jolt. He didn’t know how he was back, but he didn’t care. He was over the moon to be back! “I’m back? I’m back!”
“What’s that, Thomas?” asked James.
“Long story,” chuckled Thomas, “but I’m so glad to see you all!”
“Told you he’d wake up like nothing happened.” grumbled Gordon.
“Will you stop?” groaned Nia.
“Glad to see you’re in a better mood.” smiled Percy. “I heard we have even more work to do today than yesterday.”
“Is that so?” asked Thomas.
“Yeah,” replied Percy. “Don’t suppose I can help you out with some of them?”
“Absolutely!” smiled Thomas.
“Great,” said Percy as he rolled onto the turntable. “We should probably get going, though. We gotta be at Knapford immedately. Sir Topham Hatt’s orders.”
“I’ll be there in a bit, Percy.” chuckled Thomas, before looking back up at the sky, thinking of his friend. “Thanks, Hiro.”
And so, Thomas left to get on with his work, overjoyed to feel like he actually belongs with his friends on Sodor.
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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