The Legends of Sodor

Chapter 23: A Stranger Beyond The Arlesburgh Harbour

Stephanie completed carving one of the hiking poles she recently found during her stay at Culdee Fell Railway and looked at the finished work.

It is a carving of a hooded snake, the body as the handle and the head as the cane as it has its mouth open, fangs showing and tongue flickering.

Once the carving had finished, Stephanie placed the masterpiece down on her desk for work later.

Then, she looked down at her hands to check the state of her hands after working on the pole.

Her hands were covered in tiny drops of blood that could be from the splinters or accidentally nicking herself with the knives and wood dust from sanding the hiking pole.

So Stephanie decided that now is the perfect time to stop carving and mend her hands from bleeding too much.

She stood up from her chair as she winced a little, noticing that her legs were a bit sore from sitting too long in it from carving.

But she got used to her soreness after walking for a moment, getting feeling back into her legs as she headed into the bathroom to mend her hands.

Once she was inside, Stephanie first pulled the splinters out of her palms with medical tweezers, not wincing a single bit after getting one out.

After the last splinter came out of her hand, Stephanie wiped her hands with rubbing alcohol to clean her wounds.

There was a slight stinging sensation to her wounds as she cleaned them from carving the hiking pole, but she did not mind the tingle as she continued wiping her wounds.

Once the last of her wounds were cleaned, Stephanie started bandaging her wounds with band-aids, using different colors to make herself feel like a child again.

The last band-aid was placed onto the wound of her right hand and cleaned up the mess she made of mending them.

After throwing away the garbage with band-aid covers and the half-blood, half-hydrogen peroxide cotton balls, Stephanie was about to head back to her room to continue with her project when Alice walked up to her.

"Oh, hello, Alice." Stephanie greeted with a smile. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, there is nothing wrong," Alice responded to Stephanie. "But, aren't you a little... uncomfortable with having to stay in your room all the time?"

Stephanie paused a little after Alice asked, responding with honesty, "Alice, I have stayed home all the time with homeschool, so I'm fine with staying inside."

Alice cocked an eyebrow after Stephanie assured her of staying inside before saying, "I think staying inside is long enough. Try going outside! You can adventure around the stations and find something new with your carving skills."

Stephanie paused a little after Alice suggested, before remembering the hiking poles she had recently made, even the one that is halfway done.

"That gives me an idea!" Stephanie smiled. "Do you remember the other hiking poles I recently made in my room?"

Alice nodded her head after Stephanie asked, as she continued, "I could sell my hiking poles to the hikers at Culdee's Railway since, heh, well, the umbrella stand is almost full of all the carvings I made."

Stephanie chuckled a little after mentioning the carved canes she had recently made after sketching some designs on some blank pieces of paper while in Sir Topham Hatt's office.

"That's a wonderful idea, Stephanie!" Alice remarked before thinking to herself. "Gather the carvings you made in your room, and I'll go get something for you to carry all that."