//------------------------------// // A Part of Me Stayed Behind // Story: Thomas and Friends: Tales from the Mainland Volume 2 // by The Blue EM2 //------------------------------// Why couldn't she move? She was on a beach somewhere, looking out to sea as the sun rose. Her eyes looked about to try and find answers, but she couldn't find any. The beach lay empty. Boulders and rocks lay about the scene, and they were scattered like toys thrown about by a child. The sun continued to climb through the sky, and was up in the air before too long. It seemed a perfectly normal scene in Cornwall coastal towns. The waves continued to lap at the beach and moved about. So why couldn't she move? She was on a beach somewhere, looking out to sea as the sun rose. Her eyes looked about to try and find answers, but she couldn't find any. The beach lay empty. Boulders and rocks lay about the scene, and they were scattered like toys thrown about by a child. The sun continued to climb through the sky, and was up in the air before too long. It seemed a perfectly normal scene in Cornwall coastal towns. The waves continued to lap at the beach and moved about. So why couldn't she move? Before the dream had any chance to progress further, Sunny woke up, most certainly not on a beach, her alarm blaring at her to get out of bed. She rubbed her head in confusion and looked around. "At least there's no glitter this time," she said, as she hauled herself out of bed, pushing the covers aside and placing her feet on the floor. This place was special to her. Her room was a place where she had complete control over her environment, and could place objects as she saw fit. Whilst organising the interior space of the house was something of a series of negotiations with her parents, this was one space she could customise as she wanted to, and as such the walls and fittings truly reflected her personality. What did it matter what others thought? They weren't the ones living in it. Sunny popped off to the shower next to wash, then returned to her room to get dressed for the day. She'd set her clothes for the day out on the wardrobe the previous day, and as a result saved time getting them out for proceedings. Once that was done, she popped downstairs to get breakfast, which Argyle was already preparing. "Morning, Sunny!" he said. "Did you sleep well?" Sunny took a seat at her usual spot as the question processed in her mind. "I had a strange dream, actually." Goldie looked over. "What happened in it?" "Well," Sunny began, "I was on a beach and couldn't move, and so therefore I tried to but I couldn't. I was stuck in place. The sun rose and the sea began to move, and then it repeated and then I woke up." Argyle's face narrowed as he thought it through. "Well, that does seem a bit odd, but I wouldn't read too much into it. Often the dreams we have are simply our brains trying to process the things we've seen in the day." Sunny nodded as she dug into her breakfast. "Thanks, dad." "No problem." Later on, work was back underway on the dockside. The volume of freight moving about the dockside was characteristic of the time of year, as the demand for fish hadn't gone away despite it being January. Salty had, naturally, switched to his usual method of keeping the trucks in line. "Music is a good way of keeping this lot in line!" he said, with a smile. "Good on them for behaving!" Sunny smiled, feeling the sea breeze on her face as she hopped out to uncouple something. Before she suddenly felt a shift in the winds. "That was odd," she said, as she looked in the direction of the new wind. Her eyes were drawn to something strange on the beach, and her eyes focused on it almost immediately. As she focused closer, she spotted something sticking out of the water, and felt an urge to take a look. "Just wait here a moment, Salty," she said, as she switched his engine off. "I'll struggle to go anywhere without a driver," Salty replied. Sunny set off on her journey, stepping across the road. "SUNNY! LOOK OUT!" Sunny looked to her left. She had no time to react as the car slammed into her, and everything went black. Sunny's vision was drifting, confused, a series of strange lights and occurrances as her brain fought to regain consciousness. She knew she was in a place with white walls, and was being moved. But she couldn't recognise any of it. Voices were speaking behind her, unclear and indistinct. They seemed to be saying something about an accident or a possible coma. Also a mention of bones. What could that possibly mean? Sunny groaned, the first sound she had made the entire time, and then the scene around her faded to nothing. Sunny was suddenly woken by a loud explosion, and some shouting. She looked around and tried to establish where she was. She looked up and down, and realised her body was transparent, like a ghost. And then she saw herself clambering into Salty's cab, hearing Salty's engine splutter into life, and then just as suddenly die. NO NO NO! NOT NOW!" It was in that moment Sunny realised what she was seeing. It was a vision of the night of the rockfall that had nearly killed both her and Salty. She looked over when she heard loud puffing, and Porter crashed down the track and came to a stop behind Salty, before Izzy jumped out to couple him up. "Let's go!" Izzy called, as they began to reverse out of the area. Rocks were falling from above, and a cloud of dust was rising as the sirens continued to blare loudly all around. The engines bounced up and down as they flew along. "I don't believe I've ever gone this fast!" Salty said. Porter was red in the face as he continued to put down more effort. Unfortunately, there was a series of sounds like breaking metal. And suddenly- BANG! There was a bang, and suddenly Porter shot away. Izzy looked out. "The coupling's snapped! I'll move in to hook up!" "There's no time!" Salty shouted. "The cliff's almost on top of us!" Porter reversed out of the area as the landslide roared down and struck the diesel. Salty was knocked off the track as a mixture of rocks and dirt and sand roared past his position, soon piling up in a massive pile utterly burying the engine. Sunny knew this moment well. She legitimately thought she'd had it at that point, and although she had been in tougher spots later on she couldn't recall any other moment where she was more scared. Before she could properly react, she was suddenly pulled inside the rubble pile and fully able to see what was happening inside. She couldn't remember much of what had happened in there, so she suspected she'd probably lost consciousness inside before waking up. As she watched, she saw a badly damaged Salty in the pile, and then herself. She had been knocked off the footplate and was lying in a heap on the floor near the engine. But she wasn't breathing. Sunny was stunned. Had she died in the rockfall? But if so, how was she here? Suddenly, a bright light from nearby caught her eye. She saw the three crystals she had been carrying at the time scattered on the floor, but as she watched they fitted themselves together and a blast of energy came from them. The light flowed from them and into the body nearby. The magic flowed over Sunny, slowly filling in and healing her injuries, whilst making some other changes as well. Portions of her hair changed colour to a rainbow effect, which was repeated through her (now rather messy) braid, which had come apart in the accident. Her eyes opened, and she surged to her feet as a pair of translucent wings formed at her side. Seconds later there was a blinding flash, and the rocks were thrown aside as Sunny roared upwards. Sunny suddenly woke up in her hospital bed, utterly confused at what she had just witnessed. The clock on the bedside table revealed several hours had passed, and she quickly checked herself over. Not a scratch to be found anywhere. No broken bones, no scarring, nothing. Just like Misty back in February. Wait, Misty. Misty was able to pony up too, and had healed in similar circumstances after being exposed to a magical substance. And now the same had happened to her. The revelation caused Sunny to slump. "What am I anymore?" Goldie arrived at the hospital as the sun was starting to set. Obviously, she had dropped everything and rushed to Truro Royal Hospital the second she learned Sunny had been taken there after a car crash, but later Argyle had taken on the duty of staying with her. Goldie would stay the night, then when Argyle arrived catch the train to Plymouth for work. As she walked down the corridors, she felt a distinct connection to the place. After all, this was where she'd been taken after she'd gone into labour, and later on had brought Sunny into the world. This place was, in a sense, where her journey as a mother had begun. But there was no time for reflecting on the past. She soon found the ward where Sunny was being kept. "Sunny? It's me." Sunny looked a mess, and simply glanced up at her mother. Her hair was all over the place, as she hadn't had time to properly clean it up. Her face was stained with tears, and fresh ones were still falling. It was what she said next that confused Goldie the most. "It was all a lie," she said quietly. "What was a lie?" Goldie asked, as she stepped into the room and sat down next to the bed. "Sunny, you're not making a lot of sense." "I'm not the child you gave birth to all those years ago," Sunny replied, her chest still shaking. "I died in the landslide, and the crystals somehow healed me. The magic is now a part of me. Now I'm some sort of freak of nature- who am I? What am I? Am I even human anymore?" She collapsed into a fresh wave of tears. "I never asked for this!" Goldie pulled her child into a gentle hug, not wanting to hurt her for obvious reasons. Although she was a bit confused by what she had said, she wanted to help Sunny get through this. "Sunny, I know this is hard for you, but I want you to know something. Even if these changes have happened, I know for a fact it is you who is still in there. Your quirks, beliefs, personality- you're all still in there, and that can never be taken away from you. You are still my daughter, and no matter what happens in this world I will never stop loving you." Sunny sniffled, but otherwise said nothing. Clearly she was going through a lot at the moment, so mother and daughter just stayed there for a few moments, trying to figure out how to move on in this new world. But how could you when the fundamental truths of your life got turned upside down? As the sun began to rise once more over Cornwall, Sunny looked out of the window in the direction of Falmouth, the town she had called home for almost all of her life. She saw the sun rise and the sea swell in response to the tide. And the beach glowed in the morning sun. Her eyes returned to this room. A room in the same building where her life had begun nearly two decades ago, and where her very view of reality had been shattered. Her mind didn't know how she was going to move on from this. All she knew was that she could never leave this world. As a part of her stayed behind.