As Above So Below

A young man jolts awake in a freezing train car. He's dressed in nothing but a pair of camo shorts and tennis shoes, dazed but alert to his new surroundings. All the windows are down, and he begins to shiver as a constant breeze passes through the car. The train is spotless, timeless, and pristine. Oddly quiet like before a storm but still tense like before the drop of a rollercoaster. It's like waking up from a dream. Instead of waking up to a familiar reality, in this reality, everything seems surreal.

Just as he finds his bearings, three train car attendants rush down the aisle flustered and wail high-pitched screams. The young man stands abruptly to get their attention. "Hey! Excuse Me! Can You...? I Need Some Help..!" All three women pass him, barely making eye contact, and run into the next car behind them. The young man stands in disbelief and stares blankly for a moment, then quickly runs to the adjacent train car door, but no luck. "Hey, let me in." He shrieks. The breeze in the car comes on like a thunderstorm blowing into town. The train moves faster, almost as if being hurled down the tracks by some outside force.

Bracing himself, the young man looks for his luggage or some resemblance to a ticket, but he finds nothing. He makes his way opposite the train car attendants and sets off to find the conductor of this train.

At that moment, there's a crash of thunder and lightning, and it begins to downpour. The young man is now fighting the force of the train, the wind, and the rain, but he fights to make it to the other side of the train car. Grasping hopefully at the gangway connection door, he pushes it open, and surprisingly it's unlocked. He takes a deep breath, and the rain begins to fade away. This car is different, stark, and cold like an empty cargo train but bright like a doctor's office, the bright light floods in the open side door. The young man sees a young girl sitting on the edge of the cargo train, feet dangling off the side as the train slowly rolls down the track.

"Miss - excuse me - are you okay?" utters the young man.

"I wanted to stay longer, but he wouldn't let me." The young girl said softly.

"Who wouldn't let you?" The young man asked. Confused, he walked toward the girl cautiously, "Do you need help?"

"No, but I wish I could stay longer like you." The girl faces the young man, she looks so familiar to him, but he can't seem to place where from. She stands up and off the edge and walks over to the young man, "enjoy the rest of your time for me." She moves directly to the door behind him and says sweetly, "I'll see you later," as she slinks behind the connecting door to the next train car.

The young man quickly rushes to catch up to her. On her heels, he follows her back to the pristine train car. Immediately, it is clear something has changed, and now everything is in tatters. Once perfectly crisp red velvet seats are smudged and torn, the gold detailing on the windows has tarnished and dulled, and a gray hue engulfs the train car. The young man notices an older gentleman sitting alone in the back of the train car, staring off into the distance. "Hey! Mister, what happened here?! The older man looks up wide-eyed and angry. He grunts as he stands up vehemently and rushes up the aisle to the young man. Face to face pointing his finger at the young man, "You shouldn't be here...this isn't your place - you shouldn't be here - get, go get!"

Physically pushing the young man back up the aisle with his words and slow approach, his pointing more and more intent. The young man starts to quiver. "I'm sorry, I didn't know... I want to get home!" "Where's the conductor of this train?" The young man says as he backs up hesitantly. "Which one?" The older man replies as his pointing slowly starts to gesture toward the connecting door. The door shudders and shakes, rattling as if a rabid dog is attacking the door. "Go, Go, GO!!" The man yells, scaring the young man. Feeling trapped, he has no choice but to go through the door.

He enters unscathed, noticing this car must be the bar car. Confused, he surveys the sleek art-deco patterns and colors that create this sophisticated space. He immediately feels out of place and tries to cover his bare chest. "Welcome, and will you be joining us tonight?" A voice chimes in from behind the bar. "You're more than welcome to." "We have a lot of wicked fun here if you get my drift." The cheeky bartender winks at the young man as he polishes the stemware. "We don't judge here." "I'm trying to find the conductor. I need to speak to him." The young man says confidently. "You're in luck! I'm the next best thing. What can I help you with?" replied the bartender. "I'm trying to get home, I want to go home, but I don't have a ticket." The bartender cuts the young man off. "You can stay here as I offered, and we will take care of you. Besides, what do you have waiting for you back at home?" The young man thinks, but the idea of home is fleeting, and he can't seem to pinpoint what that is in his mind. "Then it's settled you'll stay here. What can I get you to drink?" The young man tries harder to remember. The young girl's face from earlier flashes to his mind briefly. "Come have a seat, make yourself comfortable." Then the young girl bursts into the bar car and startles the young man from thought. "You weren't supposed to follow me, but now you must." "We won't be having any of that now." The bartender states in a firm tone. "You must go home now." says the young girl as she runs back through the connecting door. "Wait for me!" The young man exclaims as he runs to the door, breaking his trance.

He flings the door open. It's the caboose. It's pitch black, but he can feel the tracks fly by beneath his feet, the wind swirls, and the rain begins to fall. He feels deep inside his gut that he won't go back inside the train. Risking injury is better than this. He must jump. It's the only way out. He takes a deep breath, thunder crashes, and he leaps off the back of the train into the dark.

The rain falls on the black pavement. The cars drive by on the opposite side of the highway, creating a gentle breeze. The shirtless young man wakes up shivering and freezing. His memory slowly starts to come back to him. He finds his bearings as an EMT lifts him onto a stretcher. "Hey, he's awake!" they yell.

"What happened?" The young man says groggily. "You were in a car crash, about a 15 car pile up. You're lucky you made it out." He's then whisked away into an ambulance.

A few days later, the young man wakes up in the hospital. Seemingly to be making a quick recovery. The TV flickers in the dark and the sound of the news on the TV gently wakes him. The reporter dives into the details of the crash. "The car crash Saturday evening on Highway 60 has devasted the community. Unfortunately, the death toll was last reported at 22, with the youngest casualty only 12 years old." Just then, a picture of the young girl from the train popped up on the screen. The young man immediately recognized her and knew he had seen her around town. He uttered, "Thank you." as the news cast continued.