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Midnight Train

which side of the tracks

By Gen HodgsonPublished 3 years ago 6 min read
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Photo by G Hodgson

Clickity clack get off the track. Clickity clack get off the track. What started as a faint hum was growing louder. Clickity clack get off the track. As the train rounded the corner and the high beams roared through the darkness. Clickity clack get off the track. The train screaming clickity clack get off the track.

Jess steeled herself saying "I will not fail". Adrenaline pumping hard and her heart pounding in her ear drums. "I can do this " she said. Clickity clack get off the track as the train driver blasted their horn.

Jess dived for the undergrowth and her shoulder collided with something hard. "Goddammit" she screamed in a mix anger, pain and relief. "What the hell did I hit" as she rubbed her shoulder gingerly. Sitting there in the darkness Jess found her phone and switched the torch on. Amidst the overgrown grass and small shrubs was a suitcase.

A small laugh gurgled out of her throat as she thought of the irony. What are the chances it's a dead body. She gave the suitcase a good tug and freed it from its grassy web.

Jess found the zips and paused momentarily doubting the contents. Finding what courage she had left she pulled on the zips. They were covered in dirt and stiff to move, with some effort the suitcase opened.

"What" Jess said exasperated. Disbelieving she quickly looked over her shoulder. It was still dark and the middle of nowhere. She looked back at the opened suitcase and exhaled the breath she didn't realise she was holding.

"What" she said again as she started moving the contents around. There has got be thousands in here she thought. Suddenly panicked she closed the suitcase and dragged it back to her car and threw it in her boot. As calmly as possible she got in the drivers seat, screwed up the note she had left and drove cautiously back home.

Once safely in the garage she got out and went to her boot, there she opened the suitcase again and stared at the contents. "Oh my god" she said repeatedly as she started emptying the contents into her boot. Hundreds of notes and one small black notebook fell out. She counted one thousand, two thousand it just kept going. By the time she finished she sat on her boot lip with her head in her hands, "I have twenty thousand dollars sitting my boot".

Jess reached for the small black notebook, somewhat frightened but intrigued about what lay inside. This is it she thought as she turned the first page. It was blank, page after page was blank. Just when she was about to toss the thing aside she noticed the small ribbon marking a page near the back. The page read as follows.

‘3/6/1998 - This is the confession of one Robert Santos in the manslaughter of my best friend and comrade Reginald Paton. Regi and I were off duty one night and out for a drink at the local watering hole. We were walking home when we heard the glass shatter in a warehouse nearby. I took the front entrance Regi took the back. The door wide open I entered without my gun and I picked up a piece of wood as a weapon. I heard the glass crunch behind me and before I turned around I had already started swinging. The wood connected with someone and I heard the grunt. When I realised I'd struck Regi it was too late. I ended his life that day and ran in fear. The money in this suitcase you can keep in exchange for delivering this confession.

Yours faithfully, Robert Santos ‘

Jess read the page again and again. She laughed, she cried and laughed again. "Twenty thousand dollars to pass on a twenty-three year old confession. Done." With the adrenaline wearing off a wave of exhaustion swept over her. Jess slammed the boot closed, locked the car and crashed onto her bed, too tired to bother with the blanket.

As the sun cracked through the already closed blind Jess began to stir and the events of the early morning began to playback in her mind almost like a movie. Tired and sore she dragged herself into the shower and sat there. Letting the water cascade over her. Healing her, easing her mind. Once showered and dressed she took the money and book out of the car. She shoved five hundred dollars into her purse and put the book in her handbag. Determined to fulfill her end of the bargain.

Jess walked to the main street where she stopped at a local cafe. The smell of fresh coffee and bacon filling her nostrils and making her stomach groan. She had not had a meal out in years and with the money burning in her pocket she indulged. The hot coffee running down the back of her throat and the fresh sourdough toast crunching as she bit in. She looked up and noticed her reflection in the mirror. For the first time in years she saw herself. Almost unrecognisable now, except for the glint of hope alive in her eyes.

Jess walked to the post office and purchased a postage bag. Placed the address of the local police station and mailed it. The weight lifted off her shoulders as she had fulfilled the request. The twenty thousand was hers, guilt free money.

Officer Bradley was on duty when the parcel arrived. Cautiously he opened the package; whilst not common for the police to receive parcels it was unlikely to be good news. Wearing gloves and recording the process Officer Bradley pulled out the small black notebook. He too started slowly turning the pages until he found the page marked by the ribbon. The confession to the death of Reginald Paton. The police station went into a flurry of activity as they worked to discover where the parcel had come from. The police wanted answers for the twenty-three year old case. Where did the notebook come from? Officer Bradley called Australia Post to see if they could track the parcel and work out where it was mailed from. The staff obliged and advised Bradley it was from the local post office. Bradley requested all cctv of the area to try and locate who mailed the package.

Jess continued on vowing to change her life. With a fresh haircut and a full belly she walked to the medical centre. As she sat waiting breaking news aired on the television. A mysterious person had posted a notebook to the local police station which contained a twenty-three year old murder confession and the police where on the hunt for the sender. Jess's stomach fell through the floor and a lump formed in her throat that she could not swallow. "Oh no." Escaped her lips in a whisper.

Officer Bradley received very little cctv footage and what he did get was very poor quality. He released two still images of a person, possibly female at a post box. With little hope of identifying the individual it was in the public's hands.

Jess kept her head down as she continued making positive changes in her life. There had been no unwarranted knocks on her door. She had adopted a senior cat named Pounce and taken up studies. Jess maintained her determination for a better life and wanted to help other people like her. People who ended up on the wrong side of the tracks. That twenty thousand dollars positively impacted Jess’s life and gave her that second chance she didn’t know she needed.

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