BOOSTER

I wrote this story as a Christmas gift for a friend when I was seven. I made him a book, with illustrations! He liked it and I hope you will too!

Once there was a train named Booster. He was a very good train. "What a train!" people said. They bought tickets to ride on Booster. Booster could talk to other trains. He lived a happy life. One night when he was talking about train life with the other trains, the guard heard them. When he checked the trains he saw and heard nothing. "Something is fishy around here," he muttered. Booster and the other trains tried to talk very quietly. But then they couldn't hear each other. Anyway, the guard always heard them. It was no use. When the people of the town heard what the guard had to say, they became frightened of Booster. "The train is haunted!" they screamed. "Run for your life!" All this made Booster feel sad. The trains talked about it when the guard was asleep. "Let's run away," came the first bright idea. "Okay," agreed the other trains. "But the big question is how do we get out when we're in chains?" "Right," said Booster. They had forgotten the chains. "Let's tug until the chains break," said Booster hopefully. "We'll try anything!" cried the trains. So they tugged and they tugged until finally they broke loose. "Now what?" asked the trains. "Now choo-choo away!" said Booster excitedly. So they were out of town in a second. "Hurray!" cried Booster. His plan had worked. "It's starting to snow!" cried the trains fearfully. "Uh-oh," said Booster. "We have to press on quickly." But when they tried to press on, their wheels got stuck in the snow! "Oh-no!" cried Booster. "We're stuck in town forever!" "Please think, Booster!" cried the other trains. "I am thinking," said Booster in a faraway voice. "If we had legs, we could walk," muttered one of the trains. "I know!" cried Booster. "We need to jump really hard!" "We'll try it!" said the trains. So they jumped really hard. "It worked!" cried one of the trains. "Now choo-choo really fast," said Booster. So the trains went on with their journey. Soon they came to a forest. "Let us stop and rest," said Booster. After a while, Booster said," It's time to go on." "We're very rested," chorused the trains. "So am I," said Booster. "This is a nice place," said the trains. "Let's live here," said Booster. "Okay," said the other trains. "Our journey has ended!" said Booster. "Hurray!" cried the other trains. So they lived happily ever after.

Copyright 1996 by Chantessy