Friday Fiction: by Daddy

Art courtesy of Gclipart.com

Late-arriving story leads to deadline excitement

It was nearly deadline as I glanced at the final proofs of the next day's newspaper.

The cover of The Fayetteville Bugle was filled with hard-hitting stories.

"Mayor of Flavortown implicated in onion ring" read one headline. 

"PAW Patrol rescues snowboard instructor, youth" read another.

"Minnie Mouse tearful in testimony during Pete the Cat racketeering case" read still another.

My newspaperman's heart beat proudly knowing our readers would be better informed because of these important stories.

But I couldn't shake this nagging feeling, a feeling like I'd forgotten something. The newsroom clock read 4:21 p.m., just nine minutes before deadline. (Since the printing press was dismantled a decade ago, our paper is printed on another press more than an hour away, forcing us to have a very early deadline.)

Anyway, I was just about to tell the A1 page designer to send the final proof for plating when I remembered: My ace reporter, Sophie, was still at the scene of a major train derailment near Brendam Docks on the Island of Sodor. She was supposed to file that story by 4 p.m.!

I pulled out my iPhone and popped up a text message to Sophie.

"Where's my story?" I tapped out.

A moment later, "It's on it's way" appeared on my screen, "with photos!"

I hollered over to the page designer and said to pull the feature story about the new stained glass window at the castle in Enchancia and move the PAW Patrol rescue there.

"I'm going to have a new lede centerpiece story with art," I told her.

I hit refresh a dozen times on our content management system until — pop — there it was. The story slug was "062620nwsthomasderailment". I double-clicked and began to read.

"Tank engine derails after 'chasing a rainbow'" the headline read.

"TIDMOUTH, Sodor — A blue tank engine, dispatched to haul engineers to repair telephone lines downed by severe storms, told Sodor Railway Co. officials he derailed after crashing into utility poles across the tracks because he was 'chasing a rainbow.'"

The story went on to detail how the engine, known as Thomas, grew distracted by the rainbow because its terminus seemed to keep changing. 

Through several sources, Sophie learned that Thomas sped along the tracks, ignoring his friends. After crashing, his driver couldn't call anyone because the phone lines were down.

Sophie had a few quotes from another engine, Percy, who heard Thomas' whistle tooting and brought help.

"At first, I thought he was ignoring me, just like I'd ignored him while chasing the rainbow," Thomas said.

Man, I thought, Sophie got some really great quotes.

But then, the last quote of the story is the kicker. Thomas makes it back to Tidmouth, and what does he see? The rainbow ends at the train sheds!

"My friend, Edward, told me that at the end of the rainbow, there's something magical," Thomas said. "And I can tell you, that something magical is my friends."

Wow, I thought. Great story! And the photos with Thomas and Percy looking at each other showed the strength of their friendship.

I checked the time. 4:27 p.m.

A quick spell-check and I sent the story to the page designer, who promptly slapped it on the page. I looked over her shoulder, saving her the time of making another proof. I did the short-short version of my proofing routine. 

Double-check the headline. Cutline looks good. Story ends properly.

"Let 'er go!" I hollered.

The clock ticked over to 4:30 p.m. just as the computer's progress bar hit 100%.

I texted Sophie.

"Great story! It's the A1 lede! You just made deadline."

A few second later, my screen read:

"Yesss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The end