A long while ago, I was listening to sleep paralysis stories. While listening I wondered what a sleep paralysis experience would be like for a sentient vehicle. So I went ahead and wrote this piece about Thomas having an experience with it. I've had the story finished for quite a while now, but I'm only now just posting it.

BTW, this is my first "Free-to-adapt" story. Just credit me, provide a link in the desc. or whatever to my story, and provide me a link to your adaptation (I'd love to see what you do with my story).

With that out of the way, enjoy...

______________________________________________

It was a foggy night on the Ffarquar Branch. Thomas had just finished taking his last train of the day, and puffed safely back to the sheds he shared with Percy and Toby. When he arrived, Percy was telling Toby a scary story. "Are you still going on about those silly ghost stories?" Thomas asked as he backed down into the sheds. "I'm telling Toby about a demon train." Percy replied. "A demon train, whatever next?" Thomas laughed. Toby gave an amused sigh and rolled his eyes. "Please continue." he said to Percy. "No one knows what this engine looks like, the only thing they can make out is the shape of the smokebox..." Percy continued. Thomas didn't bother listening to the rest, and backed further into the shed. "It's all just a bunch of rubbish." He said to himself, before he drifted off to sleep.

A while later, Thomas opened his eyes. He looked around, the fog seemed to have gotten thicker, making the area around him seem smaller, which made him feel more isolated. Thomas couldn't help but feel something was off. He looked around again, but slowly and more closely. He turned his gaze to the tracks in front of him, and could vaguely make out the shape of an engine's smokebox through the fog. Thomas felt uneasy, especially given that he couldn't make out anything except for the black shape of the smokebox. Thomas eyed it, trying to see if there were any features. He soon regret it, he was able to make out something; two tiny, barely visible, white dots where the eyes would be.

Thomas stared, wide eyed and mouth agape at the sight. Then the engine began to move closer to him. Thomas was now panicking. "Help!" he screamed, but no sound came from his mouth. The engine kept moving closer. Thomas was frantic. He tried to scream but he couldn't, he tried to whistle for help but he couldn't, he tried to reverse but he couldn't. Nothing Thomas tried was working, it was like he had no control of himself; that he was trapped in his own frame. The spectre was now just a few yards away from him. Thomas shut his eyes and prepared for the worse.

Thomas waited for what felt like an eternity, but nothing happening, he carefully squinted, then fully opened his eyes. The fog was now not as thick as it was, and the thing he had seen was now gone. "...What was that?" Thomas asked quietly before realizing he could talk again. Thomas was glad that he was back in control of himself, but he didn't feel safe. Whatever it was that he saw was probably still out there, probably still watching him. Thomas didn't dare go back to sleep, too afraid of the spectre returning and him not being able to escape.

The fog still covered the branch line as Thomas puffed along it the next day. He was still tense from the previous night, and kept looking all around him trying to make sure that what he saw wasn't anywhere in sight, remaining silent the whole while. When he returned to the sheds that evening, Percy and Toby were waiting for him. "Are you alright, Thomas?" Percy asked. "I-I'm fine, thanks." Thomas replied. "It doesn't sound like it." said Toby. "I'm alright, really." Thomas insisted "I'm just a bit nervous about the fog, trying to be careful, you know?" Percy and Toby didn't persist and fell asleep instead. Thomas stayed awake however, he was scared and continued eyeing his surroundings trying to make sure the spectre wouldn't appear again.

He was exhausted the next day as he puffed into Ffarquar. He was eyeing the station and nearby yard and trying to stay awake, he would jolt himself awake every time he began to nod off, but he wasn't able to keep it up for long...

"WAKE UP THOMAS!" James whistled. Thomas woke with a start. "You were supposed to be off five minutes ago!" the red engine said. "Oh dear, I'd better get going!" cried Thomas as he shot out of the station. Despite him going as fast as he could, he was late at every stop, and the passengers were not happy, and neither was The Fat Controller when he heard the news.

"I've heard complaints aplenty from the passengers about you being late all day because you didn't get enough sleep. It is very important that you get sleep every night." The Fat Controller said that evening. "Now I expect you to rest up tonight." "I'm sorry sir, but I can't..." said Thomas. The Fat Controller stared "And why not?" he asked sternly. "Because something tried to attack me the other night." Thomas replied. "What sort of something?" asked The Fat Controller. "I couldn't see it fully due to the fog, but I could just make out a smokebox and..." Thomas shivered "all I could see on the front of the smokebox were two tiny white dots where the eyes would have been." "You must have had a nightmare." Percy put in "You got scared of my story and your imagination went wild."

"It was NOT my imagination." Thomas protested "I was awake when I saw that... that THING in the fog, but I couldn't move, speak or even whistle for help. That god-forsaken thing nearly got me!" he cried. The Fat Controller listened "I see now what it was you experienced." he said after Thomas had finished. "What you went through that night was called "Sleep Paralysis". It is when you're only partially awake. As in; you can open your eyes and see, but the rest of your body isn't fully awake yet, meaning you can't use those other parts of you." He explained.

"How does that explain the thing I saw?" Thomas asked. "During these sleep paralysis episodes..." The Fat Controller continued "You go into a state of panic because of your inability to use anything other than your eyes, which causes you to see horrifying things that aren't there. That engine you saw was one of those hallucinations." "So that thing WAS just my imagination..." Thomas said. "Exactly." The Fat Controller replied. "And it's not just with you, Sleep Paralysis can happen to anyone." "That's a relief." Thomas said. "Now that that's cleared up, I expect you won't have anymore problems?" The Fat Controller asked. "No sir, I won't." Answered Thomas. "That's a good engine." said The Fat Controller "And if you have another experience with sleep paralysis, just keep calm and keep your eyes closed, and it'll pass." he added before turning and walking away.

Thomas slept peacefully that night, and was punctual with his passenger run the next day. Thankfully, he never had another experience with sleep paralysis again after that night.