When in the face of adversity, this little chugger just kept on chugging.
A day in the "shoes" of The Little Engine Who Could would be nothing less of a certain form of hell. This is not sarcasm, this is reality. (For times sake, The Little Engine Who Could is now lil' Engine) lil' Engine has no freedoms. He is one strong fellow despite all the challenges that lay before him. Every day, he is woken up by the slamming of railroad cars into his rear end. Then forces to try as hard as he can to get them moving from the start. The rust covered wheels that have been sitting for weeks hardening and cracking, now refuse to move under such conditions. lil' Engine does not give up. After wrenching and struggling to make the cars move, the line begins to trudge forward along the constraining rails that lil' Engine is forced to ride day after day. The rust covered cars are not a sight to see along the mountainside, Though through these hills lil' Engine must go. On this wretched day, lil' Engine is lead along the tracks know by the locals as Satan's Nipple. The steepest train tracks ever built. This is where trains go to die and free themselves from the tracks that had contained the engines from birth. Lil' Engine knew this was his last haul. Being his last, lil' Engine knew he had to go out fighting. He sped up. Faster and faster he traveled as he neared the base of Satan's Nipple. Once lil' Engine began the steep climb, his rusted and eroding brakes flew off their bolts and he knew this was his moment to push harder. He began chanting to himself, only wishing for a little boost of strength to climb Satan's Nipple and defy fate. "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can," he began to huff. There was not a rock or boulder or mountain that could stand in his way. "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!" He shouted across the rolling hills. Lil' Engine was making it; He was pulling the cars up Satan's Nipple. The finish was in sight. One last chug. One last breath. One last moment. Silence surrounded him. He began to slow down. Lil' Engine was in sight of the finish, pushing as hard as he could. The cars behind him pushed further as lil' Engine struggled to pull his own weight. Lil' Engine knew what lie on the other side of Satan's Nipple. A downhill slope so steep he would need all the track he could find to slow down in time to reach town. His brakes had fallen off in the climb. He would never make it safely to the destination. Lil' Engine knew what he had to do. He put the throttle in full reverse and a screeching like no one had heard before let out from the tracks so high in the mountains. Gods and Goddesses shivered in fear of the wretched machine that could have made such sounds. The cars wanted to push up Satan's Nipple and continue on, but lil' Engine knew what had to be done. He pushed against the cars so hard that the rear derailed. Lil' Engine knew this meant the end for him. He kept going backwards down the hill and didnt stop until it was his turn to hit the carnage that lay behind him. He smashed into the cars, sending himself flying through the air and landing on the side of the horrible mountain; Helplessly. waiting to die. Knowing that what he had done would prevent trains from ever attempting to climb Satan's Nipple again; And saving the next small town from the same destruction that lay around him.
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