the tales of sodor's engine

toby remembers

One evening, Thomas, Toby, and Percy sat outside their shed looking up into the night sky. A storm had caused all the yard lights to go out, and in the calm that followed, the stars in the sky became brighter than they ever had before.

    Thomas and Percy were enjoying themselves, but Toby felt sad as he peered up into the twinkling sky above.

“What’s up, Toby?” asked Thomas.

Toby looked longingly at the stars and gave a deep sigh.

“I haven’t seen the sky this clearly in a long time. Not since I was on my old tramway. This reminds me of an old friend I met many years ago.”

“A friend?” Percy asked.

“Yes, a dear friend, even though we never spoke to one another.”

“How can a friend be a friend if you two never spoke?

Toby chuckled.

“Let me explain. May I tell you two a story?” asked Toby thoughtfully.

“Yes please!” the two engines said.

And so Toby began:

“My old tramway was not very big, nor was it very busy, especially in the last years. It was out in the countryside. It was a slow way of life; no one was ever in a hurry, and that was the way we liked it.

“At night, I sat outside my shed looking up into the night sky. Back in those days we did not have much electricity, and so the moon and the stars shone brightly every night. It was so peaceful, and often I fell asleep right on the spot, waking up in the middle of the night freezing to death!”

Thomas and Percy chuckled.

“One evening, however, I noticed that I was not the only one star-gazing. In a small clearing near the trees sat an old woman, sitting on an old chair, peering up into the sky. I felt sorry for her, sitting all alone in the cool night air. I called to her, but she didn’t answer. After a while, I realized that the old woman was deaf.

“Then, one night, she finally recognized me. She walked over to me with a smile on her face, as if she had been searching for me for a long time. From then on, she and I sat under the stars together, never saying a word, but simply enjoying the time we shared.”

Toby looked up, a tear in his eye.

“The old woman came like clockwork every night, but one night she stopped coming. We learned that she had passed away. I was sad, to be sure, but what made me especially sad was what I learned years later.”

“What was that?” asked Thomas.

“The old woman had been cut off from her loved ones, not because of distance, but because her family didn’t care to be associated with an old woman who couldn’t hear.”

“How awful,” Percy said.

“But…I find solace in the fact that I was able to be with her in her final days.”

Toby paused for a moment, peering back up into the sky. He smiled as the stars twinkled overhead.

“Ah,” he sighed. “That was the way we liked it. No hurry. Just us and the stars.”

Thomas and Percy were moved by Toby’s story. They knew Toby had a kind heart, but they didn’t realize how deep his feelings truly went. They decided it was best to be respectfully silent, and soon the three were fast asleep, resting under the blanket of stars above, and Thomas and Percy were certain that Toby was dreaming of his old friend