We have such a wide variety of Thomas the Tank Engine trains today, it seems like it must be your destiny to buy one. DO. NOT. TEMPT. DESTINY.

Thomas always smiled at those little trains when he saw them. The faces made him happy, just happy to be a train enthusiast. Many was the day when he would dream of spending a few hours in the basement, pushing around Victor or Emily or Henry. But there was never time, was there? Always on the go, schedules to keep, someone else's timetable. Why, if he didn't know better, he'd say he was a train himself!

It was a Wednesday when he first noticed the strange Candy Cane Car in his parking space. He tapped the magnet on each end: they'd work, he supposed. But in his space? Was it some sort of prank? Everyone in the office shrugged their shoulders but he had his suspicions. Still, all in good fun he supposed.

But on Thursday, Thomas felt a strange lump on the back of his neck. He looked in the mirror. Was it a battery port, like the one he'd seen on that toy train in the window? The one with the die-cast metal chassis and body? Thomas pulled on a scarf and made it through the day. On Monday, if it was still there, he'd see the doctor.

Friday morning, Thomas could barely get out of bed. He dragged himself to the door, down the stairs, to his car. It was only at the office, when he stood on two pieces of metal at once, that he felt like moving again. Maybe it was the flu? Maybe he was just exhausted? Thomas sighed as the work week came to a close. If only he could just take a day and play with his trains.

On Monday, there was much surprise in the office. Loyal Thomas was nowhere to be found. He hadn't called, he hadn't emailed, he didn't answer his phone. It was as though he had just vanished!

After a few days, one of Thomas' work friends came to the house. The door was unlocked, so he went inside. The house was empty, as though no one had ever lived there. But on the floor, with a big, happy grin, was a previously-unnoticed Thomas the Tank Engine, zipping back and forth as though there was nothing else in the world greater than living the life of a speeding train.

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