Quoth the Vain Green Engine “Nevermore.”
Many years ago I was sitting watching videos with my second cousins, who were then three and five years old respectively. They were very keen for me to watch ‘Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends’ with them and, seeing as the alternative was another game of ‘Let’s Wipe Snot on Cousin Phil’, I happily agreed.
The episode we watched was entitled ‘The Sad Story of Henry’ and started off happily enough - perhaps the name of the story should have warned me that this pleasant state of affairs wouldn’t continue. Indeed, the sickening, visceral ending to this tale had a great effect on me that lingers to this day. In fact, in a way, committing this entry to TheBoySaunders is a form of cathartic therapy. But I digress:
Henry, the protagonist of the story, is, as we should all remember, a working locomotive living on the Island of Sodor, under the control of the sinister Fat Controller. (Actually, the Fat Controller was more ‘kind’ than ’sinister’, but the latter term fits better with the tone I am attempting to convey. Work with me here.)
The episode starts with a delighted Henry admiring his new green paint job. However, disaster strikes when the heavens open, and it starts to rain. Henry, unwilling to entertain the possibility that the unexpected downpour should damage his smart new look, wisely seeks shelter in a nearby tunnel.
Due to, presumably, some kind of severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or other mental imbalance, Henry becomes convinced that leaving the safety of the tunnel will place his paintwork in peril. As such, he decides to remain there indefinitely. The Fat Controller and his evil minions attempt to cajole Henry out of the tunnel to no avail. And so, as punishment they brick the tunnel up, presumably trapping Henry for all eternity. I can’t help but think that all the situation warranted was a good psychiatrist.
Although Henry is eventually released later on in the series, anyone seeing this macabre episode on a stand-alone basis could assume that his fate echoes that of Fortunato’s in Edgar Allan Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’. The episode ends with the following shot; Henry’s mad, staring, frightened eyes as his fate is sealed will haunt me to my grave…
Possibly I’m reading too much into this. I can’t rule it out. If it’s any consolation, Bagpuss used to freak me out far worse…