Story Time with Thomas

Story Time with Thomas is a magazine story.

Plot
One day, Thomas picks up a very tired zookeeper. He explains that although it's his day off the following day, he won't get a rest because it's his son's birthday. The next day, Thomas is surprised to see two boys on the platform with some stick insects and a weasel. They tell Thomas that they are going to a pet party.

Shortly, at a small countryside halt, Thomas spots a boy on the platform with a goat and a bucket. The driver thought the boy was about to milk it, but the boy leads the goat onto Clarabel. Annie and Clarabel are not very pleased about being filled with animals! At the next stop, Thomas sees a girl with a goose. The stationmaster tries to check the girl's ticket, but goose chases him along the platform. Later, Thomas sees a boy at a station with a tortoise. At the next station, there were even more animals. One boy had a dog which barked at Thomas. A boy's parrot then starts to copy the dog. It was quite a racket! Thomas also sees a cat in a basket. He instructs the boy and his dog to board Clarabel and the girl and the cat to go on Annie, as to avoid any fighting.

Finally, the children and their animals got off the train at a station. Thomas remarks that all the animals will need a zookeeper. It turns out that the zookeeper who had boarded the train the day before was there. He escorted the animals and the children from the platform to his nearby garden. It becomes apparent that it is his son who's holding the pet party for his birthday!

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Annie and Clarabel (do not speak)