It was late in the night. It was quiet. Everyone was sleeping at Nana’s house.
Then, out of the quiet, came the big noise. Whoooo-hoooo! Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga! Whoooo-hoooo!
Three-year old Olivia woke up with a start. Olivia was scared.
“Choo-Choo train, Mamma! Choo-Choo train, Nana!” Olivia cried and ran out of her bedroom. Olivia ran down the hall to Nana and Grandad’s room. “Choo-Choo train”, she cried. Olivia was scared of the big noise from the big train.
Mamma woke up with a start. She was sleeping in the bedroom next to Olivia.
Nana and Grandad woke up with a start. They were sleeping in their bedroom down the hall.
“Mamma, Mamma, Nana, Nana, choo-choo train”, yelled the crying little girl.
“Mamma’s here”, called Mamma getting out of her bed.
“Nana’s here”, called Nana picking up the frightened little girl.
“It’s OK, Olivia”, they whispered. “It’s only a train. It won’t come in here.”
“Big…noise”, stuttered the frightened little girl. “Choo-Choo train!”
Grandad made a big snorting noise and grumbled in his sleep.
“Choo-Choo train, Grandad”, sobbed the scared little girl.
“It’s OK”, whispered Mamma. “It’s only a big noise.”
“I sleep a Nana”, whispered Olivia.
Grandad grumbled from under the covers.
Nana tucked Olivia into her big bed.
Grandad snored.
Olivia whispered, “Noise, Nana?”
“It’s OK”, whispered Nana, “Grandad is snoring.”
“Grandad snoring”, whispered the much calmer little girl. It was a rumbly noise, but somehow Olivia knew that noises coming from Grandad were not scary. Olivia decided that it was safe now, and she went back to sleep.
Mamma went to her bed and fell back to sleep.
Nana and Grandad went back to sleep. All was well.
Olivia woke the next morning. It was fun being at Nana’s and Grandad’s house. Olivia ran to the kitchen where her grandparents sat drinking their morning coffee. They always had cheery smiles to welcome Olivia to the new day.
Olivia played inside in the morning, while Mamma went to town.
In the afternoon, Olivia and Nana played outside, while Grandad did busy things in his shed.
In the distance, Olivia heard a low, grumbly rumble. The rumble got louder. The rumble got closer. Olivia ran to Nana and cried, “Noise, noise!”
“Yes, that’s right”, answered Nana, “That is a train coming. Let’s wave to it as it goes by.”
Nana picked Olivia up and stood in the driveway. They waited for the train to go by.
Soon, the train chugged by the house. It went chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga! As it passed by, the long train made its big noise. It blew the big train horns. Whoooo-hoooo! Whoooooo-hoooo!
Olivia clung to her Nana. “Noise! Noise!” shouted the scared little girl.
“Let’s wave to the train.” Nana waved and called, “Hi train! Bye train!”
Olivia wasn’t so scared now. Olivia waved and said, “Hi train! Bye train!”
Yes, the train was very big, and the train was very loud. The horns and whistles were very loud too, but Nana wasn’t scared. Maybe Olivia didn’t need to be scared either.
The big, loud train rumbled past Nana’s house.
Soon, the train was far away, and Olivia could only hear a faint noise in the far away distance.
Olivia and Nana went back to their play.
Grandad worked in his shed.
Mamma came home from town.
Olivia was not scared of the big, noisy train anymore.
All was well.
The End
