//------------------------------//
// Can you Line Them Track? 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: Legends of Strasburg 
// by The Blue EM2 
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Valentina could sense something wasn't right that morning. The yard staff had already brought her up to operating temperature to hand over to the drivers in the morning, so whomever came in didn't have to worry about that, but as she looked about there was nobody there. "She's running late," she said to herself. "That's unlike her."

She certainly heard the sounds of doors opening and closing, and then Sunny appeared, looking a bit worse for wear. Her eyes were red and a bit puffy, and there seemed to be something smeared on her face.

Valentina called out to her. "Sunny? Are you OK?"

Sunny gave no reply, instead hopping onto the footplate and getting Valentina ready to go. She opened the regulator and released the brakes- too aggresively, as it turned out, as the wheels slipped on the rails.

"Careful!" Timber shouted from across the workshop. "These engines are priceless artefacts of the past!"

"Sorry!" Sunny called back, her voice higher in pitch than normal. It was obvious to Valentina that something was very wrong, but there wasn't exactly a lot that she could do. Hopefully this would clear up after the first run of the day.

Valentina was moved about the yard to couple to the passenger cars at the platform, but as before something was wrong. She was run into them going much too fast, causing them to jump backwards.

"Enough with the aggressive coupling!" the conductor shouted. "You're lucky nobody was trying to board!"

"Passengers aren't allowed to board until the engine is coupled!" Valentina replied.

"And that's a good thing, given your driving," the conductor replied, before heading off to conduct a brake check.

After a few minutes, the passengers started to board and take their seats. Valentina decided to check in on her engineer. "Sunny? Is everything OK? You haven't said very much today. Normally you'd be happily chatting away!"

There was no reply. Valentina focused and realised Sunny wasn't saying anything at all. The complete lack of communication was very jarring, to say the least.

Once boarding was complete, the train set off- a bit more gently this time, but still enough to jolt the passengers. Upon arrival at Leaman Place, Valentina was uncoupled and run round the train, where once again the engine was run into the coaches a little too quickly.

The conductor was very suspicious. Gloriosa Daisy also happened to be there, conducting a track inspection on the loop, and witnessed the collision incident. Both of them headed to the cab. "What are you playing at?" the conductor called.

Sunny shuffled over to that side of the cab and looked down at them. "Please don't yell at me," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

Gloriosa looked up and could see something wasn't right. "Come on, Sunny," she said, indicating to a bench. "Can we talk for a bit?" She glanced to the conductor. "Keep an eye on the engine until we get another engineer down here."

The conductor nodded, and climbed into the cab.

Meanwhile, the older woman had indicated Sunny take a seat. "I can tell something is wrong," she said to the young girl. "Something's clearly happened to have you in such a state. It's not healthy to keep things like this bottled up, and when you tell somebody else how you feel it can often help your own recovery."

There was a sigh. "Sorry for messing up. I guess I'm not in the right head space right now." 

"Is something happening at home?"

Another pause. "Mom was acting really weirdly this morning. I've not been sleeping well, but last night mom woke up screaming and then started begging me for forgiveness. " Sunny rubbed her eyes. "I can't think straight when I'm this worried."

Gloriosa nodded. "Would going home help?"

Sunny shook her head. "I don't think I can right now. She probably wants some space to herself."

Gloriosa was surprised. "Perhaps being with her could help."

"I'm scared I'd just irritate her," Sunny replied, with the same, dull tone of voice. "She can be pretty scary when mad."

"Sometimes when people look angry, they're just scared," Gloriosa explained. "I know I was plenty of times, especially if Timber was off doing something reckless."

Sunny nodded. "OK. I'll try at some point. I can't avoid her forever." But Sunny had severe guilt on her mind- was Goldie acting weirdly because of something she'd done?





Argyle glanced up from the kitchen table to see the door opening. "Ah! Goldie! How'd it go?"

He stopped when he saw her face. His wife looked downtrodden and worried. "Goldie?"

Goldie simply sat down and looked across the table. "No. It went terribly." She sighed. "I had a nightmare last night."

"What happened?" Argyle asked.

"I was walking Sunny to the depot, and... I lost my temper over something completely ridiculous. Can't even remember what it was now, exactly what it was doesn't matter. What does matter is Sunny ran off crying and was then hit by a truck." She looked down, and closed her eyes, the sound of Sunny's tears running through her mind like a film played on repeat. "I didn't have a chance to tell her I was sorry."

"Goldie, we all make mistakes," Argyle said. "I've made my fair share-"

"But not the 'my own child is scared of me' variety!" Goldie snapped, before realising what she'd done. "Sorry. I'm her mother. I'm supposed to help care for and nurture her. Instead, I fear I'm driving her away. I've been away for so long I don't really know her." She looked away, her eyes painful, recalling Sunny had been oddly subdued during the walk to the depot. "I only wanted the best for her- and now my own child is scared of me. I'm a terrible parent!"

She broke down all at once. Anybody in the same situation would have done so. Argyle walked around the table and put his arm around her shoulder. "You're not a terrible parent. This isn't a game over for any of us. You both have a chance to start again, and that's not an option everybody gets. I never really had a chance to reconcile with my grandfather before he died- and it's something I've regretted ever since."

"How can I reconnect?" Goldie asked, quietly, once she had dried her eyes. "She probably doesn't want to talk to me- not that I blame her. She didn't say a word the entire way."

"That's unlike her, I'll admit," Argyle answered. "Fear makes us do strange things sometimes. But save words like hate for things that truly deserve it, like that Hoffman guy."

"You know about that?"

"I found out about it from some of the locals. They seem him as a nuisance, but only tolerate him because he owns a lot of local land and has a history of kicking farmers of their properties when they can't pay up. I think it's only fair we show him that you can't always get what you want."

"Maybe not now," Goldie said. "There's another wrong I want to put right first. We have to find a way to talk to her."





A few hours had passed. Sunny had finally built up the courage to return home, and slid her key into the door before turning it. She then opened the door. "Mom? Dad?"

To her surprise, a familiar smell entered her nostrils, and she saw both her parents at the stove. "Huh? What's going on?"

"Afternoon, Sunny!" Argyle said cheerfully, although still with his back turned for obvious reasons. "I can handle the stove from here, dear."

Sunny gulped at the thought of facing her mother, and hung her head as Goldie approached. "Mom, if it's something I did, then I'm so, so sorry-"

"There's nothing to be sorry about. You didn't do anything wrong."

Sunny blinked. "Huh?"

"Sunny, I was the one in the wrong. I shouldn't have given you the cold shoulder, and for that I'm sorry." She stepped closer. "I know this may be a difficult question, but can we start again?"

Sunny knew what to do, and drew her mother into an embrace. "Mom, I forgive you," she said, gently. "We all do silly things we regret, and it's unhealthy to hold grudges."

There was a notable shift in Goldie's body language as they separated. "Thank you," she said. "Now then, shall we move on like this morning never happened?"

Sunny was still a little shaken by the events of the morning, but nodded in response. "Of course."

Argyle glanced over. "I've cooked a bit of home for us! Finding the ingredients was a little tough, but it worked in the end."

Sunny nodded. "I'll set the table."

"Let me help you," Goldie added.





Denver rolled into the platform with the train. "Valentina's out of action for some reason, and Sunny's vanished," he said. "Whatever is the world coming to?"

Hitch shrugged. "Beats me. Family emergency, apparently."

Meanwhile, Misty was oiling Sherman when she heard a strange commotion. She walked over to a nearby building to hear heated voices.

"What were you thinking?" Gloriosa said. "Now people think the line is in a mess!"

"I had to come up with some sort of explanation!" Timber shouted back. "How else are we going to get rid of the sharks around us?"

Misty glanced about. She couldn't see any sharks.

"Well, it didn't work!" Gloriosa replied. "Thanks to that ridiculous story you told we're in real danger! We can't lose the line, if it's the last thing we do!"

Misty was astonished. The railroad was in trouble?





Amongst many annoying things that can happen in life, one of them is waking up in the middle of the night with a dry throat, as having one makes it almost impossible to get back to sleep. Goldie knew this feeling well, and groaned as she came to her senses. "Great. Midnight exactly. Why does this keep happening?"

She knew that struggling to sleep for long periods of time was a sign of ageing, but given she was only in her early forties this was a bit worrying. She pulled herself out of bed, trying not to disturb Argyle- who, true to fashion, was sleeping like a log. Sometimes it seemed like it would take a thunderstorm to wake him from his slumber.

She slipped out of the room and into the kitchen, grabbing a glass on her way and putting it under the tap. As she looked around, Goldie suddenly heard breathing from the other side of the couch. "Hello? Is somebody there?"

Sunny's head popped over the gap. Unlike when she was out and about, Sunny had a very serious case of bed hair, with purple hair strands and rainbow streaks haphazardly mixed together. "Y- yeah?"

"What are you doing up at this time of day?" Goldie asked.

Sunny blinked. "I- I can't sleep, and thought th- that I would, erm, benefit from doing something to, urm, make myself tired."

Goldie could see Sunny's worry in her eyes, and the stammering suggested a certain level of fear. I must have scared her quite badly, she thought to herself, the guilt from the morning returning with a vengeance. "Sunny, can we talk?"

Sunny nodded. "Sure, go ahead."

Goldie walked around the couch and sat down next to her child, putting her arm around her. "Never think we hate you, Sunny. Nothing could be further from the truth. I love you, and I always will."

"Even after what I did?" Sunny asked quietly.

Goldie quickly figured out what Sunny was alluding to. "That wasn't your fault. You weren't in control." She paused. "You are my daughter, and nothing will change that. But I'm scared. Scared by all that's changing, and what's going on. Please, Sunny, answer me truthfully- what is going on?"

Sunny sighed. "I've been having nightmares, and they all have one thing on common- Opaline. She's in there in some capacity."

"Was she the one who mind controlled you?" Goldie asked.

"Yeah," Sunny said, looking down. "She found a way in through the magic inside me. And I'm scared she'll do it again." She looked up. "Why me? Why did this stuff pick some kid from Cornwall for this role? If I'm some sort of chosen one- then I don't want to be."

Goldie pulled Sunny into a hug. "Life often doesn't go the way we expect, and is full of surprises- your father and I meeting is an example. But what defines us is how we respond. But we will always be here to help. So in future, if you have a problem, tell us."

Sunny nodded as best she could. "Thanks, mom."

Goldie smiled, hopeful that her fractured relationship with her daughter had been healed. "No problem, Sunny. Would you like some water?"