Disclaimer: All characters belong to HiT Entertainment.

Chapter 1

It had been a quiet day in Pontypandy, for a change, but now that it was evening, a wild storm had blown in to cool everything down. Inside the fire station, Elvis and I were getting settled to begin the night shift. Station Officer Steele was downstairs in his office, preparing to head on home for the night. I didn't envy him walking home in this downpour though.

Elvis had planned to spend the night shift writing a new song, while I had a new book I'd been wanting to read for several days now. Naturally, I'd just made myself comfortable at the kitchen table, when we both heard the unmistakable beeping sound coming from the fax machine in the office downstairs. I reluctantly put my book down, just as the alarm began ringing.

"So much for a quiet evening to ourselves," I muttered as I leapt up.

Station Officer Steele's voice came over the loudspeakers while Elvis and I slid down the fireman's pole. "Charlie Jones is dangling from the lighthouse!"

I promptly felt a knot form in the pit of my stomach. That always happened whenever I knew that a member of my own family was in peril. Unfortunately, my brother had a knack for getting into difficulties.

"We'll take Jupiter!" I immediately decided as I grabbed my firefighting helmet. I then pulled the lever to open the garage door, before I dashed over to Jupiter. Elvis was already in the passenger seat by the time I climbed up. He turned on Jupiter's siren as I put her into gear. I then turned on the wipers as I drove the faithful old fire engine out of the garage and down the driveway.

It was difficult to drive quickly and safely in the downpour, but my years of experience had taught me just how far I could push Jupiter. This time, I pushed her to her limits along the tight, slippery country roads.

After what seemed like an eternity, we arrived at the lighthouse. The storm had whipped the sea into a frenzy, and it was crashing over the rocks. Elvis grabbed a torch as we both leapt out of Jupiter. I was soaked to my skin within seconds, but I didn't care. Right now, I just needed to find Charlie.

"HEEELP!"

I could hear Charlie screaming, but in the driving torrent of rain, I couldn't see much. Elvis aimed his torch at the top of the lighthouse, and he gasped. In the dim torchlight, I finally saw my brother, dangling from the platform.

"HEEELP!" Charlie screamed again.

"Great fires of London!" I exclaimed as the full realisation of Charlie's predicament became clear. "Hang in there, Charlie!" I turned to Elvis. "Urgh! The wind's too fierce to use the ladder, or the helicopter."

"So how will we get your brother down?" Elvis asked worriedly.

I frowned determinedly when I realised I only had one option left. "Keep the light on him, Elvis!" Looking back up at my brother, I shouted, "I'm coming, Charlie!" Then, I ran inside the lighthouse.

Taking the stairs two at a time, I raced to the top of the lighthouse. I reached the top, just in time to see Charlie's right hand disappear. He wouldn't be able to hold on for more than a few more seconds.

I leaned over the railing just as Charlie's left hand slipped from its grip. Miraculously, I managed to grab him by his left wrist.

"Got you!" I exclaimed triumphantly, but I knew it wasn't over yet. Charlie may have been lighter than I was, but he was still heavy. Heaving as hard as I could, I managed to pull him up high enough for him to get another handhold on the railings. Elvis shouted something, but I couldn't hear him clearly because of the storm.

"Come on, Sam!" Charlie encouraged as he scrambled over the railing.

I gave one final heave to pull him over. As soon as he was safely on the right side of the railing, I gave him a scolding. Normally, younger siblings wouldn't be able to get away with scolding their older ones, but my job gave me that entitlement. "That was close! You really should clip yourself on for safety in the future, Charlie."

Charlie didn't seem to be listening to my advice. Instead, he hugged me tightly. "Thanks, Sam! I will!" He let me go. "But it's not over yet! If we don't get this lighthouse working, the ships out there could run aground in the storm."

Hmm… What else has bright lights that we can access quickly? Jupiter! Of course… I removed my walkie-talkie from its pouch on my belt. "I've got an idea." I pressed the push-to-talk button. "Sam to Elvis. Keep Jupiter's lights flashing. Shine the headlights out to sea to warn the ships, until we can get the lighthouse going. There are a lot of people depending on us!"

"Okay, Sam!" Elvis radioed back.

While Elvis positioned Jupiter, I took out my pocket torch, and I turned it on. I wasn't the best at mechanical things, but I hoped I knew enough to be able to help Charlie. After all, we couldn't leave Jupiter at the lighthouse all night. She might be needed elsewhere.

"The light's through here, Sam," Charlie said, stating the obvious as we entered the light room. "I just can't get it to work."

Stepping closer to the light, I shone my torch on the wiring. Ah-huh! One of the wires has come loose. "Hand me that screwdriver, Charlie. See this green wire? It's come loose from the circuit board. We just need to screw it back in."

Charlie slapped his forehead in disbelief. "Why didn't I see that?"

I decided it was best not to answer him, so I set to work. As soon as I'd screwed the green wire back into position, the light came to life.

"Yes!" I exclaimed triumphantly.

"Whoo!" Charlie cheered. "Wonderful, Sam! Thank you so much!"

"No problem, Charlie. Now, I'm afraid I must get going. There could be more emergencies on a night like tonight. But, I can give you a lift back home, if you'd like?"

"That'd be great, Sam, thank you."

"Right, then. Let's pack up and get going."

…

Sometime later, I drove Jupiter down to the quay, and I parked her outside the Wholefish café. After I'd turned off the engine, Charlie, Elvis and I got out, and we dashed inside the safe to get out of the continuing downpour of rain.

"Here you go, Bronwyn," I said as I patted Charlie's shoulder. "One husband, safely returned."

My sister-in-law dropped what she was doing, and she hurried over to us. "Charlie! You're soaked! What happened?"

"I had a mishap at the lighthouse," Charlie admitted. "Thank goodness Sam managed to save me in time!"

Bronwyn was already fetching blankets for us. "Honestly, Sam, I don't know what we'd do without you, sometimes."

Smiling, I placed a hand on Elvis' shoulder. "I couldn't have done it without Elvis."

Elvis beamed proudly.

"Come on, you two," Bronwyn insisted in her motherly tone. "I have blankets for you too. I won't let you leave here until you've both dried out and had some hot cocoa."

"Oh! I love hot cocoa!" Elvis said as he sat down. I sighed heavily. Despite her fussiness, Bronwyn's offer did sound too good to resist. However, I knew we were needed back at the fire station as soon as possible. Station Officer Steele would be anxious to go home by now.

"Sorry, Bronwyn," I apologised. "We'd love to stay, of course, but we're on duty."

"Samuel Jones!" Bronwyn said sternly, making me cringe. "You will sit down and do what I tell you! The last time I let you go back to the fire station soaked to the bone, you ended up with a nasty cold."

"It wasn't that bad," I muttered as I reluctantly sat down opposite Charlie. "It was just a sniffle…"

"You had a thirty-eight degree fever!" Bronwyn snapped.

"I wouldn't bother trying to argue with Bronwyn, Sam," Charlie warned as Bronwyn went into the kitchen to prepare the hot cocoa. "It's the mother in her."

I shook my head in disbelief. Just then, my walkie-talkie crackled to life.

"Sam? What's going on? Where are you?" Station Officer Steele demanded to know. As soon as he paused for a breath, I pressed the push-to-talk button.

"We're at the café, sir," I replied. "Bronwyn's hijacked us, and she won't let us return until we're no longer in any danger of coming down with a deadly disease, like the common cold."

In retaliation for my teasing, Bronwyn threw a cushion at me. It bounced harmlessly off my shoulder.

"Oof!"

"Oh, I see," Station Officer Steele sighed. "Well, I suppose that's all right. Just come back as quickly as you can. I want to go home to bed."

"Will do, sir." I slipped the walkie-talkie back into my pocket. Seeing that Bronwyn had turned her back to me, I playfully tossed the cushion at her back. Startled, she spun around.

"Who threw that cushion?"

Charlie and Elvis promptly pointed at me. "Traitors!" I muttered.

Sarah and James ran downstairs then.

"What's going on down here?" Sarah wondered.

"Nothing much," I replied. "Your mother started a pillow fight, that's all."

"Oh! Can we join in?" James begged.

Bronwyn gaped at me. I shrugged innocently.

"That's it!" Bronwyn exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air. "Sam? Elvis? Get out of here! I can't believe you woke Sarah and James! Just don't blame me if you both catch a cold!"

"We won't!" I said, leaping up. I didn't need a second invitation. Grabbing Elvis by his arm, I made a bolt for the door.

"Oh! But I didn't get my hot cocoa!" Elvis complained.

"I'll make you one back at the station," I promised as I pulled the door open. "With marshmallows too!"

Elvis and I had just climbed back into Jupiter, when Station Officer Steele radioed me again.

"Sam? Are you going to be much longer?"

"No, sir," I replied. "We're on our way now."

I swear I heard Station Officer Steele breathe a huge sigh of relief!

Okay, okay, so I know I said my next Fireman Sam FanFiction story would be called 'Nightmares', but after I started writing from Sam's POV, I realised how amazing it would be to rewrite the three Fireman Sam movies entirely from Sam's POV! That way, I could get deep into his innermost thoughts and feelings, while also filling in some of the plot gaps in the movies with extended and extra scenes.

Please let me know what you think of this approach. I'll admit that, although I have written a few unpublished novels in first-person, this is my very first attempt at doing so for FanFiction. I must say, I'm really enjoying it so far!

Oh, and for those of you who are keen to see me put Sam and Penny together, I have a few cute and emotional moments coming up between them. However, since this series follows the movies, I'm sorry, but I won't be putting them in a relationship (and I doubt I ever will, primarily because, as some of my regular readers know, I am not very good at romance fiction). So sorry about that, but I do still hope you enjoy the quiet moments they share together as close friends and colleagues.