Tomas has a hectic week

Tomas is a really useful member of the team at Davy Jones Diving. He has the important job of taking all the divers and their tanks down to the beach every day, so that they can have a nice dive in the marine reserve at El Cabron. He loves to show how strong he is by pulling all his friends and their equipment up and down the bumpy track, to and from the playa del Cabrón every day. He is always happy when everybody has had a good dive, and listens in to the chatter as they tell each other how much they enjoyed their dives. Yes, Tomas is a happy tank engine.

At night and in the morning he takes his friends the two dogs for a ride up the mountain, and then watches as they go for a run or chase the rabbits before returning to his normal resting place opposite his drivers house.

Two sundays ago however, Tomas was dozing away when he heard several voices he was not used to. Then suddenly hands started to open his windows and reach in! "Whats happening" thought Tomas! Before he could say anything a strange new driver had got in and started the motor. "but we don't go out at this time of night thought Tomas", as this new driver followed some familiar roads, but then started to leave behind the town of Arinaga and take him to places he no longer new. There was also another car who seemed to be following him; a black car with a knowing leer. Finally they stopped somewhere strange and then opened a big garage, and drove Tomas in rather roughly. "Ouch", said Tomas as one of his shiny front indicators caught on some rubbish in a corner. Just as suddenly as he had been taken, Tomas was left alone again, the door was shut and poor Tomas was alone in the dark. "Is there anyone there? " he whined. Nothing but silence.

Poor old Tomas, none of his friends came, and he sat there for a few days feeling sorry for himself, till several nights later the door of the garage opened again, and a nasty looking man with a long screwdriver in his hand came in, and started looking at Tomas. Finally some more people came, and between them they opened every door and peered inside. 'Careful there' puffed Tomas angrily as somebody wrenched open his glovebox and took everything out, breaking the door off in the process. They took his wooden protectors out of the back and somebody said 'OK it'll do'. Several people jumped in again and they drove through many streets that were unfamiliar to Tomas, till they came to a big gate. They seemed to have a bit of difficulty opening the gate, but as soon as it was open everybody was in a hurry. Tomas was driven quickly up to a big box or package, and reversed up to it. He could not see what was happening but they had got his tailgate open and were getting this inside him - but it was a tight fit! "That'll do" shouted one ugly looking man, and they heaved down on the tailgate. But to Tomas's horror the parcel was not properly in place, and the rear window shattered. The men did not seem to care or notice, but jumped in again and rushed away back to his cold garage where the mysterious parcel was taken out. "What shall we do with him?" shouted one of the men. "Just dump him down the hill by the side of the road" said the skinny man who seemed to be the controller.

So it was at dawn that Tomas found himself on a piece of grass, rear window gone, glovebox and indicator smashed, and they had left the lights on so his strength was failing fast. By the time the policeman found him the next day, Tomas was almost ready to fade out. However after a couple more people had had a look at him a big Grua truck came out and he was towed up onto the hydraulic platform. "Where are they taking me?" asked Tomas. "To the car cemetery, where they break up all the rotten old cars and vans like you" said the tow truck ruthlessly. Tomas was beside himself with grief. "what a terrible way to go he thought". When he got to the cemetary he was parked near the gate, but just outside the scrapping area. He could hear the moans of the other cars as they slowly were taken apart. A few more people came to look at him, and towards the end of the day, just when he thought he was lost, he heard a familiar voice.

Yes his regular driver, Eduardo was here! he felt so happy. Eduardo was less happy, he looked at all the broken bits and then tried some of his switches, which also seemed to be broken. After talking to another man for a bit, somebody arrived with a spare battery. How welcome it felt as new electricity pulsed back into his circuits. He was feeling much better as he drove out of the gates, but after a few kilometers they had to stop as Eduardo listened to a telephone call. Suddenly they were turning round and after a few minutes they had come back to the cemetary. He tried to listen and heard the words 'papers not in order, he'll have to wait here till the Guardia Civil get their finger out'.

Two more days on his own, other cars coming in and going to that dark area at the back where they were slowly taken down. But then here was Eduardo again to take him home along with his normal Controller. Within an hour he had been restarted again and he was back in his familiar streets, and back in front of the dive centre, where everyone came out and tut-tutted about the damage.

James then came back from the first dive looking rather cross. "Where have you been all week" moaned James "I have had to do all your work as well as my own. Look at how my hubcaps have got so dirty this week". James was always proud of the fact that he had three of his hubcaps while Tomas had none of his.

Tomas began to feel better, some wires were connected to his battery, and after a couple of hours away Eduardo came back with a brand new window for the back door, and all the broken glass was cleaned out.

Tomas is now back to work as usual, within a week most of his broken bits were changed (he even got an upgraded switch for his wipers, which made James jealous, as he can now do intermittent wipe while James has only got normal and fast settings. He is happy again with his friends, and happily chugs backwards and forwards to the beach with his divers; and take the dogs for their walks twice a day. Life is back to normal for Tomas, and no more hectic weeks for him!