The Sad Story of Molly/Come Out, Molly!

Once, an engine attached to a train was afraid of a few drops a rain. It went into a tunnel and squeaked through its funnel and wouldn't come out again. The engine's name is Molly. His driver and fireman argued with him, but he would not move. The rain will spoil my lovely yellow paint and red stripes, he said. The conductor blew his whistle till he had no more breath and waved his flag till his arms ached. But Molly still stayed in the tunnel and blew steam at him. I'm not going to spoil my lovely yellow paint and red stripes for you. Then-along came Lady Hatt, the man in charge of all the engines on the Island of Sodor. We will pull you out, said Lady Hatt. But Molly only blew steam at him. Everyone pulled except Lady Hatt. Because, he said, my doctor has forbidden me to pull. But still Molly stayed in the tunnel. Then they tried pushing from the other end. Lady Hatt said, One, two, three, push! But hd didn't help. My doctor had forbidden me to push, he said. They pushed and pushed and pushed. But still Molly stayed in the tunnel. At last Belle came along. The conductor waved his red flag and stopped him. Everyone argued with Molly. Look, it has stopped raining, they said. Yes, but it will begin again soon, said Molly. And what would become of my yellow paint with red stripes ten? Belle pushed and puffed, and pushed as hard as ever he could. But still Molly stayed in the tunnel. Eventually, even Lady Hatt gave up. We shall take away your rails, he said, and leave you here until you're ready to come out of the tunnel. They took up the old rails and built a wall in front of Molly so that other engines wouldn't bump into him. All Molly could do was to watch the trains rushing through the other tunnel. He was very sad because he thought no one would ever see his lovely yellow paint with red stripes again. As time went on, Emily and Mavis would often pass by. Emily would say, Peep, peep-hello. And Mavis would say ''Poop, poop, poop. Serves you right.'' Poor Molly had no steam to answer. His fire had gone out. Soot and dirt from the tunnel had spoiled his lovely yellow paint and red stripes, anyway. How long do you think Molly will stay in the tunnel before he overcomes his fear of the rain and then decides to journey out again?