Joe's Glow!

"Joe's glow is as bright as my firebox!"

- Thomas

Joe's Glow! is a magazine story.

Plot
Thomas is working late delivering some animal feed to the hill farms following a big storm. As he passes a factory on a branch line, Thomas sees a light shining in the factory grounds. The driver reassures Thomas that it is only the glow from Joe the night watchman's fire. Thomas has to work late every night for a week and he always watches for the welcoming glow of Joe's fire. Thomas and Joe become good friends.

One night, Thomas sees two glowing lights near the factory. One light is in the usual place, but the other seems smaller and brighter. Suddenly, the beam of light shines into Thomas' eyes. It is Joe shining a torch. He shouts out and Thomas screeches to a halt. Joe explains that there has been a landslide which has blocked the line. Thomas is very grateful; if it were not for Joe and his torch, he would have collided with the fallen earth. Soon, help arrives and Thomas is on his way once more.

The next day, it rains hard. Thomas hopes that Joe has managed to stay dry. As Thomas nears the factory, the rain has stopped, but he finds it is darker than usual. Thomas calls out and Joe replies to explain that the rain has put his fire out and that he is very cold without it. Thomas' fireman fetches a metal bucket and shovels some hot coals from Thomas' firebox into it. Wearing thick gloves, the fireman carries the bucket over to Joe's fire and tips in the coal until the fire is soon burning brightly. Joe is very grateful and Thomas remarks that it is far too dark without Joe's glow!

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Joe

Trivia

 * The 2013 version leaves out the exclamation mark from the title.

Goofs

 * Part of Thomas' coupling is grey instead of red.