i've been thinking about doing this for a while, and am excited, so please keep this bumped, mostly so I can find it. :P
chapter 1: all aboard
Twister grumbled as he trudged up the stairs to his room, tail thumping against each step, and footclaws faintly tapping on each step. Shoving the last two pieces of honey ham in his mouth, he sat down on the bed and checked his specially-built phone; 11:32 PM, December 24, and a new text from his father, along with a short video of his little sister doing loops around a small turboprop plane; not surprising, since she, like himself, was a Skywing.
His mother and Father, who had adopted the names Kurenai and Rockfall, had been randomly turned into Wings of Fire dragons about 18 years ago along with about 20 others, and sent on a dimention-hopping goose chase, until returning to Earth a year and a half later. Of course, the world went nuts, government tests (completely safe and ethical, thankfully) were done, and they were soon awkwardly labeled an endangered species, which had let his parents set up home in a secluded cave in a national park in the Rockies. They had him 14 years ago, and his sister 4 years later. This would be his first Christmas away from home, but at least his family, both human and dragon, would all be here tomorrow.
The others dispersed to their respective habitats; in fact, there was a patch of woods about 80 miles from the Illinois farming town where Twister’s family farm is located, that is home to a pair of Nightwings.
Twister lay on his back, wings akimbo, and watched the video several times, smiling at Redwood’s adorable giggles. No doubt mom nearly fell out of the sky when she did that, He thought. Then, he read the text, which was a list of rules for the family farm. He skimmed over most, until he got to number 6, which was all uppercase. It read, NO FIRE IN THE GRAIN BIN, and had a link next to it. Clicking on the link, Twister spent 10 minutes reading about a massive grain dust explosion at a Texas grain elevator that had happened several years ago, and was felt and heard over 10 miles away, and killed 13 people.
Turning off the phone, which now read 11:42, he rolled onto his stomach, folded his Ferrari-red wings, and tried to get comfortable on the old, lumpy bed. Staring outside at the smooth coat of brilliant white snow, shimmering in the moonlight, and covering the 2-lane highway the farm was connected to, he thought about another rule he had noticed: practice your flying. Thanks to one of the 22 dragons being an animus, everyone had 2 forms: a ‘four-footed big-toothed’ form, as Twister’s little sister had dubbed it, and a two-legged form, which Twister had to switch to to fit in the house. The two-legged form had wings, a tail, the head shape, and claws of a dragon, but was human-sized. He could still breathe fire, though.
What his dad meant was that Twister needed to practice flying in his two-legged form, because unlike his dad, who was graceful in flight no matter what, a slight breeze could send Twister into a tailspin and end up with him being tangled in the branches of a pine. He snorted smoke at the thought, turned over, and closed his eyes.
Off in the distance, three blasts of an air horn were heard, but he didn’t pay any attention, despite one of Twister’s favorite activities being following trains through the mountains, and talking with crews when they were in Sidings. instead, he focused on the ticking of the old alarm clock on the desk, surrounded by antique farm toys.
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Tick…
Twister’s eyes snapped open, and he drowsily stared at the clock; it had stopped at 5 minutes to midnight. Grabbing his phone, he navigated through it to check the actual time, but only became more confused when it turned out it had also stopped completely at 11:55.
At that moment, a faint rattling sound came to his ears, and he looked to the source; a small toy implement was quivering, causing its parts to make the sound. As Twister tilted his head at it, others started joining in for no apparent reason; then, 3-,4-,5-pound die-cast metal tractors started jumping around on the desk and headboard, a coffee cup full of pencils spilled onto the floor, and a chair started slowly moving across the room.
Suddenly, a bright yellow light from outside filled the room, and was accompanied by a deafening blast of an air horn. Twister leaped out of bed, slipped on a Flannel shirt and a Colombia jacket from a nearby ethanol plant, both with special holes for his wings, slapped on his lucky John Deere hat, and dashed down the stairs, as the squeal of brakes filled the air.
Bursting through the front door, he skidded to a stop, slack-jawed, all 33 teeth showing, at the sight before him.
Slowly appearing from behind a cloud of powdered snow, was a train.
He immediately recognized the trucks, shape, and design of ALCO PA- and PB-1s, 4 PBs and 2 PAs, he mentally noted, in an ABBBBA setup. Looking to his left, he saw a line of passenger cars, maybe 35 (he only guessed that because of the lights from inside) curving off into the distance.
Walking up to the engines, which were just past the farm, he started to see that they were painted with the normal maroon stripe, though on the engine the upper half of the noses were all maroon.
Along with the passenger cars were 4 matching boxcars, presumably holding supplies, and a baggage car. Twister started slowly walking back towards the passenger cars, when he heard a cry of “alllllll aboooooaaarrd!”
Looking for the source, he saw a man waving a lantern from about 10 cars back. Now looking pointedly at him, he yelled again, “ALLLLLLL ABOOOOAARD!”
He started jogging.
chapter 2 coming soon!
(modbot/becky/mods/filter let this through, I beg of you)
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night
king of trucks, trains, diesel, derailments, and over-description
WoFRR! USE IT!
he/him
joined: 3/17/16
one of the few WOFMBers who are country music fans
current mood: tired
JOHN DEERE IS BEST TRACTOR
OH MY FLYING GUAVAS -fairydragon 2019