Percy and the Parrot!

"Gah! Nonsense!" "Percy's teasing! He can't fool a thoroughly modern Diesel railcar like me!"

- Gordon and Daisy

Percy and the Parrot! is a magazine story.

Plot
It is a cold but bright afternoon on Sodor and Percy is standing in the main station yard, waiting to shunt trucks. His driver is not sure which ones are to be moved, so he has gone to ask the Fat Controller. Then something flies past Percy's face and starts repeating what Percy is saying. Percy is shocked to learn it is a brightly coloured bird mimicking him. The bird flies away as James rolls into the yard. Percy tells him about the talking bird, but James thinks the idea of a talking bird is ridiculous. Soon the driver returns and Percy starts shunting. He does not see the bird for the rest of the afternoon.

That evening in the shed, Percy tells the other engines about the talking bird, but no one believes him. The next morning, the sun shines brightly through an open window in the shed and the bird settles on the sill. It starts copying Percy again and the engines are amazed. When their drivers arrive, they tell them about the talking bird. One of the drivers goes and fetches the Fat Controller as the bird returns. The Fat Controller confirms that the brightly coloured, talking bird is a parrot.

One driver takes an apple, cuts it into small pieces and puts it on the ground. The hungry parrot quickly eats the apple. The Fat Controller knows that parrots are not meant to be out in the wild and telephones the police who confirm that a man had reported a missing parrot. The man soon arrives at the main station and the parrot flies over to him immediately. The man reveals that the parrot's name is Charlie and he had flown away whilst the man had been cleaning his cage. The engines are sorry for not believing Percy and the Fat Controller congratulates Percy for spotting the special bird.

Characters

 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Daisy
 * Sir Topham Hatt