Well guys, here it is. What is possibly my biggest story yet is here. After writing "Fireball's Train Table" a few days ago, I wrote this to act as a sort-of sequel to it. Only when I was trying to upload it did I realize that I had forgotten to upload the train table story. So I posted that one first, and now here I am with this story.

Here, Fireball ends a busy day with the Thomas Wooden Railway, and then dreams about another busy day with them, but this one is a bit different. This story tells you all about it...

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One night, Fireball was playing with his and his family's Thomas Wooden Railway collection in their playroom. Fireball had recently gotten a train table from his dads, Jake and Cobalt, so he could store the toys he played with easier, and so he could keep it all in one place. However, Fireball had, with the help of his dads, managed to make a bigger layout that went beyond the train table and all around the playroom.

Fireball pushed Thomas to Ellsbridge to drop off passengers from Annie and Clarabel, which were 2D wooden shapes with prints of people on both sides. "Alright." said Fireball "The passengers reached their destination safely, what's next." He got his answer when he heard Jake calling "Fireball, bedtime!". "Coming Daddy!" Fireball called back. The little fox then took Annie and Clarabel, and placed them on a siding on the train table, then pushed Thomas into the center berth of the roundhouse which was also on the train table. "Goodnight Thomas." Said Fireball "I'll be back tomorrow." he promised. With that, he rushed off to Jake's room.

When Fireball arrived, he saw Jake and Cobalt sitting on the bed. "Had fun today?" asked Cobalt. "I sure did, Papa." Fireball replied. "I was busy all day with Thomas. Taking passengers to different stations, and delivering all sorts of cargo." "Sounds like you had quite a busy day today." Jake said. "It was a pretty busy day. " Fireball agreed "But it was fun too. I wish I could keep busy into the night." Cobalt chucked "Then you'd be too tired to be really useful the next day." Fireball knew his papa was right. "But neither of us have to go to work tomorrow." Jake added "So we'll play with you tomorrow." he promised "For now, let's get some rest for it." The three got under the covers, said their goodnights, and went to sleep.

When Fireball awoke the next morning, he could immediately sense that something was off. Instead of waking up in bed and between his dads, he was on what felt like a wooden surface, and Jake and Cobalt weren't there. Fireball got up and looked around, he found out that not only had he woken up on his train table, but had shrunk down to the point where the wooden tracks on the table looked to be the same size as the standard gauge tracks he had seen during family excursions. He walked up to the roundhouse and to the center berth. He could see that Thomas was in the berth, right where Fireball had placed him the previous night. Then, to Fireball's surprise, Thomas started talking.

"Hello Fireball." Said Thomas "Ready for another busy day?" "How are you talking?" Fireball asked, he was surprised. Thomas chuckled "Who knows?" he replied "But what I do know is that we've got a lot to do today, so let's get started. Could you turn the table around?" Fireball gave Thomas a look "How do I do that?" the fox asked. "The same way you'd do it if you were your normal size." Thomas laughed. "Just turn the crank to get the table to face me." the wooden tank engine instructed. Fireball looked to the other side of the roundhouse and could see the crank on the corner of the turntable base. He ran over to the crank. The crank was as tall as Fireball. The little fox did know how to turn it as he'd done so many times before, but he was also a lot bigger those many times before. He looked over at Thomas and gave him a questioning look. Thomas gave him a reassuring smile "Just nudge the crank with your nose." he said.

Fireball did so, and to his surprise, the turntable moved as easy as pie. The fox continued nudging the crank until the table was facing Thomas. Thomas then rolled onto the turntable "Now, could you turn the crank so that my back is facing that track over there?" he asked, gesturing to another track "Annie and Clarabel are down there." he added. Fireball nodded and nudged the crank the other way until Thomas' bunker was facing the track, then Thomas reversed down it. He returned a moment later with Annie and Clarabel behind him. "Alright." said Thomas "Now Just hop into my cab, and we'll be on our way." Thomas' cab door opened "Hop in." he said. Fireball went over to Thomas and leapt into his cab. He could see that the interior was just painted wood like the outside of Thomas. Thomas then closed his cab door and they set off.

They went up one of an ascending track and over a couple spans of Sodor Bay Bridges before making their way to a T-switch. the stem of the T switch lead off the table and down to the floor. It was a long way down, and Fireball was nervous. Thomas noticed "Don't worry, I've been down this long track many times with you when you were bigger, we'll be fine." he promised. With that, Thomas began slowly making his way down.

"So what are we gonna do today?" Fireball asked Thomas. "Well, first we'll be taking passengers from the Knapford Station Platform to Ellsbridge station & Platform, then we'll be picking up ice cream from the Ice Cream Factory to deliver to the school for the children's last day of school party since summer's arrived, then taking a load of barrels and cargo blocks to the docks, taking aquarium cars to The Aquarium, taking the children to the seaside, taking a log car from Henry's Forest to the Sawmill, and finally taking the children home." Thomas explained. "Wow..." Fireball said softly. "Yeah, it'll be a very busy day today." said Thomas. Just then, Fireball remembered something "Daddy and Papa said they'd be here to help me, but they weren't here when I woke up." "They left early to help out on other parts of the railway." Thomas said "But you'll see them later today." he added reassuringly. "You'll see them later today, you'll see them later today." echoed Annie and Clarabel from behind.

They soon reached the bottom of the slope and made their way to the Knapford Station Platform. The platform had two lanes of track with a plastic canopy above them, and two plastic, green benches between them, it was also between two V-switches. Thomas pulled into the station "Everyone aboard!" he called. The passengers then "walked" next to Annie and Clarabel, and then they disappeared in a snap. "Where did the passengers go?!" exclaimed Fireball, he was surprised. Thomas laughed "They're inside Annie and Clarabel now. They'll reappear once we get to Ellsbridge." he said reassuringly. Thomas then rolled out of the station and down the wooden track.

Fireball looked around from Thomas' cab as they went. Seeing the playroom from the perspective of the toys within it was a new and interesting feeling for him. After leaving the Knapford Station Platform, the went around a bed and past The Windmill. After some more travelling they passed by the Blue Rug Ocean. Fireball could see more spans of the Sodor Bay Bridge going across the pretend water. The group could also see something else in the Blue Rug Ocean. "There's the Sodor Bay Tugboat!" Thomas said, and he whistled to it. The Sodor Bay Tugboat gave a hoot back. "Must be looking for the Sodor Bay Cargo Ship." Thomas added. "Everything's so much bigger here." Fireball observed "I feel like I'm actually on Sodor." "Imagination can help you make tracks to great destinations." Thomas said. Fireball silently agreed.

Soon they reached the Ellsbrige Station and Platform Like with the Knapford Station Platform, there were two lanes of track bookended by V-switches, but instead of a plastic canopy and Plastic benches between both lines, the station and platform buildings of Ellsbridge were on opposite sides of the track. James was also there, on the track next to Ellsbridge Station with the Knapford Express coach, with Bertie next to Ellsbridge Platform. "Hello Thomas." they said as the wooden tank engine pulled into the platform. "Hello you too." Said Thomas "Busy day?" he asked. "Oh yes." answered James. "After this passenger run, I've got to take some trucks from the Coal Station to the Power Station, and that's only the second thing today." "I've also got trips to make around the house with my passengers." Bertie put in. "I'm busy today too." Thomas replied. "Now that I've finished taking these passengers, I've got to deliver some ice cream to the school." "That sounds like fun." James said.

The passengers from the Knapford Station Platform then reappeared next to Annie and Clarabel before going towards and then next to the Knapford Express Coach and Bertie, disappearing again as they did so. "There they are." Fireball said. "See?" said Thomas "They only disappear because they go into the coaches or buses and reappear after exiting them." James and Bertie then left to take their passengers to their destinations. Thomas then pushed Annie and Clarabel into a nearby siding. "I'll come back for you once the children arrive to go to the seaside." he told them as he and Fireball left for the Ice Cream Factory.

"So where is the Ice Cream Factory? asked Fireball. "In the kitchen of course." Replied Thomas. "But the tracks don't go to the kitchen." Fireball protested "They do now." Thomas said. They reached the doorway to the playroom, on the other side was another T-switch. "Left leads to the kitchen." Thomas said "So left's where we'll go." finished Fireball. Thomas then trundled down the left side of the T-switch. "How are you able to go through switches without having to be pushed down the right way?" asked Fireball. "The same way a car can outside of our little world; by steering." Thomas explained "As for how we're able to do that here and not when you're bigger, I guess with magic." "I see." Fireball replied. "Though there's a few switches where you have to manually change them." Thomas continued "they're referred to as "Action Switch Tracks" and they come in handy for stopping runaways." On their way to the kitchen, they passed Wellsworth Station. "Looks like Edward's busy elsewhere right now." Said Fireball when he noticed that the blue engine wasn't there. "Probably pushing another train up a hill." Thomas said "Probably one of Gordon's trains" he added with a laugh.

They reached the kitchen a couple minutes later and began climbing up another long slope. This time, Fireball was less nervous. "A lot of the food-making destinations are on the counter and table here." said Thomas. They reached the top and could see the Ice Cream Factory. Sir Handel was waiting there with a barrel car that was already loaded. "Hello Thomas." he said "Come to help me deliver the Ice Cream?" "We sure did." Thomas answered. "We?" asked Sir Handel, confused. Fireball popped his head out of Thomas' cab. "I'm here too." he cried. "Ah, I remember now, You were to work with Thomas today." Sir Handel replied. "Indeed he is." said Thomas. "We've both got a busy day ahead of us." "I'll bet." Sir Handel replied "I'd better get this ice cream delivered before it melts. You know what to do." he added, and left with the barrels of ice cream behind him.

"You'll love this." Thomas said to Fireball as he got a barrel car from a nearby siding and positioned it next to the loading area. "Watch this." He said, gesturing to a red part on the left side of the factory. A barrel appeared and the red part, which turned out to be an elevator, raised the barrel to the top of the factory, from there, the barrel rolled down a long, yellow ramp and landed top-first into right part of the factory. A smokestack above it lowered and with it a hose that filled the barrel with what Fireball assumed to be chocolate ice cream. Then the smokestack and hose raised up, and the barrel was ejected into the loading area, where a bell sounded the moment it reached the end of the platform. Fireball was amazed. Then the process happened again, but this time with a barrel of strawberry ice cream. "It's fun watching the Ice Cream Factory at work." Thomas commented "Now, could you load them into my car please?" Fireball hopped out of Thomas cab, and pushed the barrels into the car. "Alright, to the school!" said Thomas. Fireball hopped back into Thomas' cab and they rolled away.

They made their way to the school and dropped off the ice cream. The children were delighted to see them. they left the car and made their way down the line again. "where will we be picking up the barrels and cargo?" asked Fireball. "We'll be picking them up from Wellsworth and then taking them to the docks." Thomas answered. "Where are the docks?" Fireball asked. "They're in the backyard." Thomas answered "Along with the seaside, but we won't be going there until later." They arrived at Wellsworth just as Edward pulled in with the train of barrel and cargo cars. "Hello Thomas." greeted Edward "I believe these are for you." he added, referring to the train behind him. "Indeed they are." Thomas replied "We didn't see you when we passed by here earlier. Did Gordon get stuck on his hill again?" Edward chuckled "Yes. So I had to push him up, then I got these cars from the playroom and brought them here." he answered. Edward then uncoupled, he and Thomas said goodbye, and Edward rolled away. Thomas then coupled up to the train and he and Fireball made their way to the docks.

They reached the docks after going down the the middle line of yet another T-switch that led outside, and then down towards a makeshift porch next to a pool. "Here's the docks." Thomas said to Fireball as they pulled in. "About time you showed up." Said Cranky from above. "We came here as soon as we could, Cranky." huffed Thomas. "There you are." Said another voice as another engine, Neil, pulled up. In his cab, Fireball could see Jake. "Daddy!" he cried as he leapt from Thomas' cab. Jake got down from Neil's cab and hugged Fireball. "I'm so glad to see you." the little fox said happily. "As am I." Jake replied, the blue Buizel then putting Fireball down. "Now then, You're here to take the Aquarium Cars now, right? he asked. "We sure are." Said Thomas. "They're over there on that siding." Neil said, gesturing to the train on the furthest siding. Two of the cars were boxy, with a shark in one, and a squid in the other, the other two were tanks carrying clownfish in many colors. "I wish we could have been the one to pull that train." Jake sighed "But I'm glad my little foxy' taking it instead." Fireball smiled.

Soon, Thomas and Fireball coupled up the the Aquarium Cars and made their way back into the house, and back down the hall, passing the playroom and reaching the end of the hallway, there was the doorway to the bathroom. They rolled in and next to the bathtub was the Aquarium. Duncan was also there delivering a car of fish food. "Good thing you've arrived." he said as Thomas and Fireball pulled in "The visitors have been waiting to see your fish come in." "We're happy to have helped." Said Thomas. He and Fireball uncoupled from the Aquarium Cars and left as the people began looking at the fish, shark, and octopus inside them. "Now we'll head back to Ellsbridge to pick up the children and take them to the seaside." Thomas said. "I can't wait to see the seaside." Fireball said excitedly. Thomas chuckled at Fireball unintentional pun.

As they made their way back to the playroom, they stopped at a signal. Then two streaks of blue and silver thundered by. "Looks like Gordon and Spencer are racing again. Thomas mused. Fireball gulped when he heard the name "Spencer." Thomas noticed "What's wrong?" he asked "Did Spencer do something to you?" "Not that Spencer." Fireball answered. "There's another Spencer who's an enemy of Daddy and his brother, Matt. He chased after me one day because he wanted to kill me." Thomas was horrified "Luckily Matt stopped him and sent him packing. And he gave me some chicken to calm me down." "I've seen Matt before a couple times." Thomas said "From what I've seen, he's a good rat. I'm glad he looks out for you." "So am I." Fireball replied "I hope I won't see rat Spencer again anytime soon. "I don't think we will." Thomas replied "The most dangerous one here is Diesel 10, who's always out to destroy the harmony of the railway." Just then, the signal changed, and Thomas and Fireball made their way to the playroom and to Ellsbridge.

They picked up the children and made their way to the backyard. The seaside was on another makeshift porch on the opposite side of the pool from the docks. This porch had sand covering it's surface. Fireball thought it was a nice sight. The children exited Annie and Clarabel and made it onto the beach. Thomas then shunted his coaches into a siding and he and Fireball headed back to the playroom. They went into a corner on the opposite end from the Blue Rug Ocean. In that corner was a forest of many different trees. In a siding was a long, green car with a giant log loaded in it. "There it is, now let's make our way to the sawmill." said Thomas "That's in the living room." Thomas backed down into the siding and coupled up to the log car.

As he began puffing away, he and Fireball heard malicious laughing coming from behind them. they looked back and saw, to their horror, that Diesel 10 was approaching them, and riding on top of his claw was Spencer the rat. "Oh no!" Cried Fireball "We have to get away!" Thomas took off down the line, but Diesel 10 and Spencer were hot on their tails "I've got you now, puffball!" Shouted Diesel 10. "I'll get you fox! and this time I won't fail!" Yelled Spencer. Thomas raced Through the Knapford Station Platform, but Diesel 10 and Spencer were catching up. "What do we do?!" cried Fireball. "All we can do is run and hope that we lose them, maybe by going down a different track." Fireball then remembered what Thomas had said about the Action Switch Tracks and had an idea. "Where's the nearest set of Action Switch Tracks?" He asked. "The nearest one is on top of the shelves where Culdee works." Said Thomas, then he caught on to what Fireball was thinking. "Let's go!" he said fiercely as he began to pick up speed. "Pretty fast for a puffball!" Diesel 10 growled from behind.

Thomas and Fireball found another long slope that led to the shelves and they began climbing. Diesel 10 and Spencer were not far behind them. "When I get my paws on you, I'll turn you into a fur coat!" Spencer threatened. Thomas and Fireball reached the Action Switch tracks. "Switch it now!" Thomas shouted once he passed them. Fireball leapt out of Thomas' cab and pulled the switch bar, the points were now set to a track that ended at the edge of the shelf and had no buffers. Diesel 10 saw the tank engine and fox waiting at the switch, then realized that they were set to go off the shelf. "I've gotta stop!" he cried. Spencer saw it too and screamed like a girl. Diesel 10 tried to stop, but he and Spencer couldn't, and they went off the shelf and fell to the floor below.

Just then, Culdee approached from where Diesel 10 and Spencer had been and stopped. "What happened?" He asked. Thomas explained what had happened. "That was brave of you." Culdee complimented "But I hope they're alright. That was a big fall." Just then, they heard moaning from underneath them. Fireball peered over the shelf and could see that Diesel 10 and Spencer had landed on the Blue Rug Ocean. "They look alright to me." Fireball answered. "That's good." Said Culdee "Though I can imagine Sir Topham Hatt will be talking to them later." he chuckled. "We'd better get going." said Thomas "Or Sir Topham Hatt will be talking to us later." Fireball switched the Action Switch Track back to it's original position, and he and Thomas resumed their journey.

They made it to the living room without any further mishaps and reached the sawmill. Thomas puffed onto the loading platform, with the log car on the tip. The log car was then tipped over and the log rolled out and down to the cutting section. below and next to the saw they could see Rheneas and Wilbert with two more log cars, one red and one green, waiting to be loaded. The log was then pushed to the saw and cut in half, with both halves loaded onto Rheneas and Wilbert's cars. Fireball could see Cobalt in Wilbert's cab. "Hi Papa!" He called. Cobalt looked up and saw Fireball. "Hey Fireball and Thomas. Thanks for getting us this wood. It's gonna be used to make some toys." "Sounds like fun." Thomas replied. "We'd better get going." Said Wilbert. "Alright." Cobalt replied. "I'll see you at the roundhouse later." He said to Fireball before he, Wilbert, and Rheneas departed with their loads. "Now we've just got one more job to do." Said Thomas. "What's that?" asked Fireball. "We've got to take the children home." Thomas replied. They left the log car in a siding by the Sawmill and left for the backyard.

The sun was setting outside as Thomas and Fireball collected the children and made their way back to the playroom. On their way back to Ellsbridge they passed near the Blue Rug Ocean. Diesel 10 and Spencer were on the shore, the Sodor Bay Tugboat having saw them fall and pushed them there. Rusty had brought the breakdown train, and Sir Topham Hatt. Sir Topham Hatt was furious and letting the wooden diesel engine and rat have it. Thomas and Fireball just looked at each other and laughed as they passed. They reached Ellsbridge Station And Platform where the parents picked the children up. "Today's been a rather busy day, hasn't it?" Thomas asked Fireball, Annie, and Clarabel. "It sure was busy." Fireball replied. "It was indeed, it was indeed." Called Annie and Clarabel. "Now the only thing left to do is go back to the roundhouse." said Thomas. "Come along, come along." he puffed. "We're coming along, we're coming along." sand Annie and Clarabel.

The group of friends made their way up the slop and back onto the train table. When they arrived at the roundhouse, they could see that the engines they had met throughout the day were there, Jake and Cobalt were also waiting for them. Fireball happily leapt into Jake and Cobalt's arms. "I'm glad to see you both again." Fireball said. "As are we." Jake replied. Sir Topham Hatt arrived. "Thomas and Fireball, I've heard all about how busy you were today and I'm very pleased with you, you are both really useful." "Thank you, Sir." Said Fireball and Thomas proudly. "Though there's one more thing for you to do." Sir Topham Hatt said to Fireball. "What would that be?" the little fox asked. "To get up." Jake answered. Fireball was confused "What?" "Get up Fireball..." Said Jake, his voice sounding like he was calling from a distance away. "Come on, puppy." Said Cobalt with the same sort of voice. "Come on now..." they both said.

Fireball opened his eyes. He was now back on the bed, with Jake and Cobalt sat up beside him. "There we go." Said Jake "Glad to see our little foxy is up. Did you sleep well?" Fireball nodded "And are you ready for another busy day on the tracks?" Cobalt asked. "Oh am I?" Fireball answered. Once the three had breakfast, they went to the playroom. "I think I'll take Neil." Jake said. "And I'll take Wilbert." Cobalt said "How about you, Fireball?" "Thomas." he answered simply. Fireball went over to the train table, and there in the center berth where he put him the previous night, was Thomas. Fireball smile, and took Thomas out, ready for another busy day on the wooden railway.