Thomas and Friends: Christmas Adventures

by The Blue EM2

It's a Wonderful Life

The light had long since faded over Falmouth on a snowy Christmas Eve long, long ago. Well I say long, long ago, but in reality it was probably only about 20 years ago. But it felt like longer. The town clocks had only just gone five, but the light had vanished for the day, only to return with the glorious dawn of Christmas Day.

Most people had returned home to start preparations for the next day. Parents were trying to encourage their children to sleep, promising them that Santa Claus was on his way with all sorts of presents for the boys and girls of the world. And if they were very good they may hear the sound of hooves on the rooftops, and the ringing of the bells. The town carousel was switched off, though, so it wouldn't have any lights on it.

At the edge of town sat the old Lighthouse, with the light long since out of action from its old days of guiding ships in and out of the harbour. RADAR had put the lighthouse keeper out of a job, but the building had been nicely kept.

Inside the adjacent house, a young couple were looking out to sea. "Beautiful, isn't it?" said the man.

"It sure is, Argyle," the woman replied. "I can see why you love this part of the world."

"I sure do," Argyle nodded. "But not as much as I love you, Goldie."

The pair had married only six months prior, and had moved in down here as it was convenient for both of their lines of work. Truro was within easy reach, and Argyle worked within the town whilst working towards his PhD in photography. Already he had filled a room upstairs with all sorts of stuff he'd collected. Give him the slightest chance and he'd start excitedly explaining it all. Something about an island called Sodor.

Goldie glanced back to the tree, and sat down gently in a chair. "Our first Christmas together," she said. "It's a bit hard to believe. I'm still getting used to signing my name Mrs Starshine!"

"You remember how much confusion it caused my mother," Argyle smiled. "Every time at the wedding somebody asked for a Mrs Starshine, two people responded!"

Goldie suddenly heard a noise outside, and looked to the window. "Where did the brass band come from?"

Argyle smiled. "I arranged that, actually. And the tree. I know acclimatising to a new country isn't always easy, so I thought that a little slice of home would help you settle in."

As the band swelled into Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, Goldie slipped on a winter coat and stepped outside the door to listen to the players, well, play. It was a marvellous sound to hear, one that came straight out of old commercials.

Argyle stepped out to join her. "Merry Christmas, Goldie. And hopefully someday we can introduce our kids to these traditions as well."

Goldie glanced back at him. "We'll see," she said playfully.

---

Lady Haven was getting ready for the festivities when suddenly there was a message to the station office. "Hello?"

"Corfe Castle box here," said a voice. "Something large and glowing just landed on the line near us. Is it possible if you could dispatch somebody to take a look?"

"I'll investigate myself," Lady Haven replied, and got out of her chair. Ray had been kept in steam as a backup engine in case one for the Santa trains failed, so she would drive him up to the scene of the incident.

As she left the office, Alexandra rolled in with some items onboard. "Costumes for the party!" Alexandra explained.

"Turn around and follow us up to Corfe Castle," Lady Haven instructed her. "There's something on the line that we need to investigate."

Lord Haven looked out of the cab. "Has something happened?"

"Hopefully it's nothing serious," Lady Haven answered. "But I'm not prepared to take a single chance on this issue, especially on a night like tonight when so much is riding on everything going properly."

"A wise idea, my dear," Lord Haven stated, and walked to the other end of Alexandra to prepare her for running back to Corfe Castle.

"It's all come and go tonight!" Alexandra commented, as she watched Ray back out of the shed, snowplough fitted.

The train was now formed, and the set powered away from Swanage and into the whirling snow. The snowdrifts threatened to bring them to a halt, but Ray powered into the drifts with power and determination. "A little bit of snow never stopped me before!" he said, as he smashed into another drift. "Go away, snow! Stop being annoying!"

They continued their climb across the terrain, with the steam and heat from Ray's boiler keeping the engine crews warm and able to concentrate on their duties. The engines powered along until they reached their destination. They rolled slowly into the platform and stopped upon noticing a strange man standing on the platform.

He had a white beard and moustache, and was dressed from head to toe in red and white. He had a pair of glasses on his face, and he was... how do we put it delicately, a bit plump. "I see somebody saw my distress signal!" he said.

Lady Haven looked in amazement. "Could it be?" she asked.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Ray said. "He doesn't exist!"

"Then explain the sleigh and the reindeer!" Alexandra said.

"This may be absurd, based on the evidence, but to use Pipp's approach to reasoning," Lord Haven said, "it would appear that the man with the bag is indeed in front of us. Saint Nicholas. Many names he goes by."

"And I need your help," the man said. "I am indeed Santa Claus, and I have still many presents to deliver. But we had a bad landing near here, and I need level ground to launch my sleigh from. Can you help me move it to flat ground?"

Lady Haven nodded. "We have something that will suit your needs." She opened the regulator. "I never imagined that I'd be saving Christmas, but life's no fun without a few curveballs!"

---

"Reminiscing about Christmas?" Sunny asked, noticing her parents looking at a photo album.

"Our first Christmas together," Goldie replied. "It seems surreal that it was 20 years ago now, but I guess time flies at an alarming speed. So much has changed, and much of it in the last year. Whether it's for the best or not I don't know, but at least we have each other to see the days through."

"That's the spirit!" Argyle smiled, as he heard a familiar sound outside. "It sounds as though they've arrived!"

He stepped over to the door and opened it, letting the wonderful sound of a brass band flow into the house. "The magic of Christmas, everybody."

Sunny walked over as well and smiled as, even though the cold air was coming in, it was lit by the warmth of the season and the heating. Realising moments later that Hitch and Izzy were among the performers below, she called out to them. "Hey guys!"

"Merry Christmas Sunny!" Izzy called. "May you have a cup of good cheer!"

Sunny smiled. "I thought we were supposed to give you the cup of good cheer."

"If we both give each other cups of good cheer there'll be double the cheerfulness to go around!"

Argyle chuckled. "Can't fault the logic of that one." He glanced up. "Goodness! What's that?"

---

Ray and Alexandra rattled back into the platforms at Swanage with the sleigh attached to a flatbed. A group of bewildered station staff looked at it in a state of confusion.

As the train stopped, Lady Haven was already issuing instructions. "Get this sleigh moved to the fields below the town so that they have a clear launch. The reindeer will arrive as well shortly."

Alexandra rolled into the other platform and stopped, and Lord Haven stepped out to open the doors. Several reindeer stepped out onto the platform and wandered in the direction of the field.

He glanced back to Santa. "It's a good thing they didn't start eating the upholstery. That was not cheap to put back in."

"They're very well behaved and trained," Santa replied. "They have to be in order to fly around the world in on night."

"I always wondered how you pulled that off," Lord Haven admitted. "You'd have to fly awfully fast to visit every single house in one night."

Santa winked. "Trade secret, I'm afraid."

"Robert?" called Lady Haven. "We need to get ready quickly. It's nearly midnight!"

"Is there a gathering?" Santa asked.

"Yes there is," Lord Haven replied. "All the citizens of the town have turned out for the tree lighing ceremony."

Santa smiled at that. "I think I can spare some time to make an appearance," he said.

After they had changed into Victorian clothing to match the revellers, Lord and Lady Haven made their way onto a nearby platform overlooking the town square. "pologies for the delay!" Lord Haven called. "We had a bit of an issue to deal with!"

His wife spoke next, taking the stand and the microphone. "Thank you for joining us tonight, on this most festive and special of evenings," she said. "And now, I would like to introduce our special guest!" She looked to the band. "Number 26!"

She indicated to the guest, and Santa Claus stepped out to adress the crowd. "Merry Christmas, all of you!" he said in a booming, jolly voice. "I am glad to join you this evening, but the Christmas magic is what keeps us all together. May you always keep it in your heart!"

Just then, the reindeer flew overhead, with the sleigh, and Santa hopped in as it flew past. "Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

Pipp tapped her sister. "I got that all on my phone!" she said. "Nobody is ever gonna forget this!"

Zipp was too stunned to drop a snarky comment in the scene. "Never thought I'd see the man with the bag," she said to herself. "Clearly magic does exist."

"Well, duh!" Pipp said. "The last year has more than proved that!" She ran the footage back- only to see nothing at all. "Oh, come on! This would have been a perfect seasonal post!"

---

Back in Falmouth, Argyle looked through a pair of binoculars to see a sleigh and reindeer flying through the sky. "It's Santa Claus!" he said. "And he's waving at us!"

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" boomed a voice through the night sky.

Argyle shook his head. "Considering all the things we've seen, Santa being real is one of the least difficult things to accept right now."

"Not engaging in arbitrary skepticism?" Goldie asked jokingly, as she stepped alongside him. The brass band continued to play as Sunny, Hitch, and Izzy joined them in watching the light streak across the sky.

"Quick, somebody wish for something!" Izzy said.

Sunny smiled and looked over. "It already came true. I wonder what gifts he's distributing across the world?"

"Hopefully what the children of the world wished for," Argyle said.

"But we already received the greatest gift of all," Goldie added.

"What was that?" Sunny asked.

Goldie smiled and looked down at her daughter. "You."

As the new day rang in and Christmas Day began, there was joy and merriment and laughter all across the world. The unlikely friends, brought together by the magic of friendship and the gold dust, celebrated the end of a rather chaotic year that, although it had been rather intense, had still yielded positive results.

And with a New Year around the corner, there was a real hope that the world would be a more peaceful place.

Over in Swanage, Pipp looked to Zipp. "This may seem weird, but I can hear backing music in the background! Can you?"

"I can too," Zipp said. "I think there's a song coming on."

As the music flowed into a coherent form, and back in Falmouth, Sunny began to sing.

"I remember when I was little/
Every year, on Christmas day!"

Hitch suddenly took over.

"The sights, the sounds/
the foolin' around with friends and family!"

Before Sunny and Hitch began to duet.

"Yeah, every moment spent together/
was filled with winter wish glee!"

And then, out of nowhere, Pipp sang a responding line.

"And twinklin', singin', dancin', laughter filled/
Christmas Day memories!"

Before, out of nowhere they began to all sing together, with Hitch providing backing vocals.

"Yeah, these precious moments/
will make my winter wish come true! (make it come true, yeah)
I'm counting down the days/
'til I get to make somе memories with you!"

Before they then launched into a chorus with the same arrangement.

'Cause thе only thing that's missin'/ (only thing missin')
Is a little bit of you-ooh-ooh-ooh!
So I am gonna keep on wishin'/
for a little bit of you-ooh-ooh-ooh!

"And if we can't be together/
You know I'll send the love to you-ooh-ooh-ooh!
'Cause the only thing that's missin'/
is a little bit of you, ooh-ooh-ooh!

"You-ooh-ooh-ooh, ah-ah-ah!
You-ooh-ooh-ooh/
A little bit!
You-ooh-ooh-ooh, ah-ah!
You-ooh-ooh-ooh/
A little bit!"

Before they all suddenly switched to rap for a brief period.

"Maybe some sleighin'?" Pipp suggested.

"Then Christmas art!" Sunny added.

"Some singin' and carolin'/
That's a good start!" Izzy noted.

"Takin' traditions and making them new!" Zipp quickly contributed, her first solo contribution to the number.

"Makin' it special is my gift to you!" Hitch finished, lending the section a satisfying sense of symmetry.

They then joined in together, with Sunny this time taking on backing vocals.

"These precious moments will make/
My winter wish come true! (make it come true)
I'm counting down the days/
'til I get to make some memories with you!"

Then they returned to the chorus, with the same arrangements as the first chorus.

"'Cause thе only thing that's missin'/ (only thing missin')
Is a little bit of you-ooh-ooh-ooh!
So I am gonna keep on wishin'/
for a little bit of you-ooh-ooh-ooh!

And if we can't be together/
You know I'll send the love to you-ooh-ooh-ooh!
'Cause the only thing that's missin'/
is a little bit of you, ooh-ooh-ooh!

"You-ooh-ooh-ooh, ah-ah-ah!
You-ooh-ooh-ooh/
A little bit!
You-ooh-ooh-ooh, ah-ah!
You-ooh-ooh-ooh/
A little bit!" (a little bit, a little bit)

As the notes faded out, nobody thought to ask how people hundreds of miles apart knew the same song and were singing in perfect time.

Izzy looked out and upwards, as if in acknowledgement. "A Merry Christmas to all of you reading at home! God Bless Us!"

"God Bless Us, Everyone!"

Author's Note:

This is an original story, partially inspired by my own feelings about living in the United States. Seeing as this is the season of goodwill, I also set myself a personal challenge to try and fit as many Christmas cliches into a single story as I could, as given the somewhat crappy state of our world I felt we could use a simple, positive, feel-good story.

Santa has made his debut in this series, and may return. Keep an eye out.

I wish each and every one of you reading this a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hearth's Warming, a Warm Wishiehoof, a Wonderful Wishday, and a Joyous, Joyous Wishentide.

Comments

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

This chapter was awesome! And my guess of the guest came true too!

And those flashbacks were beautiful!

[shining paladin]

Joyous Wishentide my friend great chapter mate keep it up zipp can stop saying she was put upon in the last chapter seeing santa make up the difference

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

Lady Haven nodded. "We have something that will suit your needs." She opened the regulator. "I never imagined that I'd be saving Christmas, but life's no fun without a few curveballs!"

You can say that again.

"Well, duh!" Pipp said. "The last year has more than proved that!" She ran the footage back- only to see nothing at all. "Oh, come on! This would have been a perfect seasonal post!"

At least you got to see the jolly old man himself.

[The Blue EM2]

11782729
1. Life's no fun without a few cur-

Oh? You didn't mean not literally?

2. Sometimes things are best experienced without the camera running.