Sodor's New Worker (Semi-Hiatus Due to an AO3 rewrite)

Peace

   James was left with nothing short of a sickening pit in his boiler. What he still thought was his beloved wife had personally reigned her own curse upon the island, coming down herself to tell him herself that this was his life now, for him and his friends to live with what they did, and there was nothing they could do about it, for the most part.

   He had taken what she had said into consideration. She was human, and that's how she worked, 24/7, all year round. The pain she described, the ache in her bones, feeling exhausted by the end of a long work day. He didn't have to deal with that, at least not to the extent she did. Of course he got tired, of course parts of him would ache, but what he soon came to learn is that it was so much different than what he was used to.

   But, on the bright side, he could finally leave the sheds without falling apart. She was right, there was nothing she could do to the human body, despite what Timothy said about 'having all those breakable bones'. If he got hurt, it was because of himself. The nipping of the cold air against his exposed skin was much more than he bargained for. He no longer had a big ol' boiler to keep him warm. No steam, no power, nothing but his movement and clothing kept him warm, but more often than not, it wasn't enough. 

"Fuck me.." he groaned, flexing his fingers.

   The cold was taking its toll on one of his passenger services. He had no mittens that he knew of, and so his fingers were beginning to stiffen up and redden, and it was both rather annoying and painful. But he still had a job to do. She wouldn't stop just because her fingers were cold, and he knew that all too well.  The job came first, the people both he and her served came before themselves, and the passengers he was due to carry needed places to go, and James had a timetable to keep up with. He had no time to think about himself. She never did until she was done.

   Either way, it beat being broken down, alone in the sheds, barely, but it beat it.

   Wind continued to nip at his skin, sleet barreling down. He knew she meant it. She would drown and/or freeze the island over for what they all did. No matter what he did, no matter what he said, her spirit wouldn't listen. She would simply laugh and tell him this was his life now, and he'd just have to deal with it until she deemed he, as well as everyone else, had suffered enough.

"Goodness." Edward spoke, waiting at a station. "Are you alright?"

   Edward was still quite angry with James, but he knew that the red man was bringing more pain upon himself than what Edward was willing to give.

"Huh?"

"You're out of the sheds. I haven't seen you moving about for so long."

"Ah..that..I-" James began.

   He then remembered what she had said. If he spoke a peep, she'd break him. Then again, it was her dad, so surely she wouldn't actually do anything, would she?

"You..what?" the kindly Number 2 questioned. "I know you want to say something, you have that look on your face.

"..."

   As James struggled with the choice he was given, he was being watched from the roof of the station.

"If you hate him so much, why do you insist on watching him?" A silver-haired man asked.

"..."

"Helloooo. Maddy, I'm talking to you." Tim spoke, snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Sodor to Fifteen. Are you there?"

"Maybe I'm being too cruel.."

"Why the sudden change?"

   Tim's face softened, sitting next to the ghost that watched on. Her brow was furrowed, her face confused. She was angry, deceitful even. She hated him, and she hated everyone else for standing by as she descended into madness. Insanity. She hated it so much. They were just like those awful scientists back home. Right?