Henry’s Tunnel Train

7-9 min read
15 pages
8+

Henry the mole loves to dig, and one day he has an idea: a little train under the ground to help his forest friends get where they need to go. With Bucky and Emmy, he builds it. Then the carts get stuck, the rain floods the tunnels, and Gloria the owl gets cross about the noise, so the friends work together to fix every problem, one by one.

Deep under the forest, in a cozy little burrow, lived a mole named Henry. More than anything in the whole wide world, Henry loved to dig. Scritch, scratch went his little paws, every single day. And whenever he broke through into a brand-new nook, his eyes went wide. “Oh!” he whispered. “Look at that!”

Henry still loved to dig. But lately, he had a new thought. “What if my digging could help somebody else?” One morning, sunbeams were just peeking through the branches. Henry poked his nose out of the ground. Nearby, Mila the squirrel and Max the hare were grumbling to each other.

“I have to carry my nuts across the whole forest,” sighed Mila. “It’s so far!” “Me too!” said Max. “The fresh grass is way off in the far meadow. It takes forever!” Henry listened.

Henry’s nose twitched. “What if I built a train?” he thought. “A train under the ground! Then everybody could zip all over the forest, fast as anything.” He was so happy, he gave a little hop. Then he got straight to digging.

First, Henry drew a plan. One tunnel would go to the oak meadow for Max. Another would wind past the lake and the mushroom hollow to the far woods for Mila. And one would go under Gloria the owl’s tall rock. It was hard. But Henry kept going.

Henry asked his friends to help. Bucky the beaver made rails from skinny little tree trunks. Emmy the mouse built the carts. Henry dug and dug. They worked day and night. After a few weeks, the first part of the tunnel train was ready!

On opening day, all the forest animals came to see. Henry stood tall by a little cart on the rails. “Push the pedals with your paws,” he said, “like this!” Clickety-clack! Off rolled the cart, loud and jolly. “Ooooh!” cried everyone.

“Henry, it’s wonderful!” cried Mila. “Now my nuts go twice as fast!” “No more running till my paws hurt!” laughed Max. Henry beamed.

The very next day, Henry tried out a brand-new tunnel. Uh-oh! It was too narrow. The carts squeezed in… and stuck tight. Henry’s whiskers drooped. Emmy patted his paw. “Don’t worry, Henry,” she said softly. “We’ll make it wider together.”

Then a big storm came. Rain poured down, and water rushed into the tunnels. Drip, drip, splash! “What if the train can’t go anymore?” the animals cried. Henry dug little ditches right away, so the water could run off. Bucky packed mud and sticks to make the tunnel walls strong.

Then Gloria the owl got cross. The train rumbled under her tall rock all day long. Rumble, rumble, RUMBLE! She couldn’t sleep a wink. “If I wanted this racket,” she huffed, “I’d live by a waterfall!” Henry had a lot to think about.

Henry thought and thought. Then—aha! Soft green moss! “Rumbles get all lost in moss,” he said. So Henry lined the tunnel walls with moss, patch after patch. The next cart came by… hush, hush. Hardly a sound! Gloria stopped grumbling. And the train rolled happily along every day.

Now Mila and Max rode together every day. They snuggled into their cart, cozy as can be. For once, neither one said a word.

Even Gloria liked the train now. When her wings got tired, she climbed into a cart and sat up very straight. “An owl of my importance,” she said, “must take good care of her feathers.”

Now the forest friends rode the train all over the woods. They went visiting, helped each other on and off the carts, and giggled through the tunnels. Henry smiled a big, happy smile. He and his friends had built the train together, and fixed it together, too. “I’m so glad my digging helped my friends,” he whispered.

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