Persephone and the Track Jumping Train

Percy ate his last bite and since he was wide awake, thought he might like to go about exploring this train he and Persephone found themselves on.

After Miss Mae waved her hand over him, he felt a sort of magical sheild come over him, and after she told him he could go anyhwere now, he scampered out the main door.

The doors swooshed shut behind him and all of a sudden, the train had changed from colorful, vibrant, and warm to cold, industrial. And Percy felt alone.

He slowly went across the floor of the car, exploring under seats that seemed to magically appear as if he had tripped a wire and unhid them by his movement.

Legs appeared too, as well as briefcases and purses, neatly tucked away by the feet of the riders. During the moments of visibility of these seats, Percy could also hear a faint clack clacking of the train moving over tracks.

He moved from car to car, checking out every corner. Some of them had seats appear just like the first one he came to, others were full of trunks and luggage. There was even one car that multiple doors leading who knows where, in places doors were not supposed to be on trains. And those were the ones that sparked Percy's curiousity the most.

He slowly moved around the car, sniffing around each of the doors. There was a plush carpet in this car, and a soft amber light tinged with orangey red around the baseboards, and doors.

All of them stayed closed as he sniffed. "I should really like to see what is behind this door" he whispered aloud to no one.

Suddenly, with a swoosh and a hum, the door in front of him slid open.

It was dark behind this door and he was a little trepidatious about crossing the threshold. After all, he was just a mouse, a tiny creature that tends to come out when everyone else is asleep, it's just safer that way. He had no idea where all of this courage was coming from lately.

He took a deep breath, and went inside.

Immediately the door shut behind him and the room filled with light. Or had the light always been there, but by choosing to go inside, the interior was made known to him. The latter seemed more likely, as the room was filled with creatures the likes of which he had never seen.

They were sitting on seats in front of what looked like windows into space. Some views were of nebulae, some of planets, and others looked out into the vastness of endless stars. In front of them were desks of sorts on which had various instruments that the creatures plinked, plucked, tapped, or banged on the music of which seemed to flicker on the view out of the window.

All the sound came together and the tune was quite lovely. Percy stayed still and listened for a bit, then looked around.

All of them were focused on the job at hand, so he moved through the room to the door at the end. Upon walking up, it opened and he was back in the room he entered from.

"Well now, this is unexpected." He now moved about the car with confidence. Upon arriving at the next door, all he had to do was think he wanted to go in and the door swooshed open.

This time, he walked right in. The door shut and the room became visible to him.

It was filled with old luggage. He could tell because the style of the cases and trunks were of many different times. They were in various stages of decay. Some had only dust on them, others seemed to be turning into dust.

He saw name tags on them and desired to read them. Upon scampering up on the nearest trunk, and flipping the tag over so he could read it, there it was in big, bold letters: Persephone.

He was a little shocked to say the least. He pondered what it could mean, then chuckled. " Of course! There cannot be only one Persephone in this whole, wide Universe."

Curious now, he ran down the trunk, and up on the next case only to find the same.

Persephone.

"Well now. That is quite the coincidence." His chuckle was nervous this time. Down he went and up onto the next case.

Persephone.

He went over all of the cases in the car and they all said the same.

The tags, like the luggage, were in different states of entrophy. The ink on some still vibrant, others so old he could no longer tell the color it once was.

"How strange this is. Something is not right here, and I do not like it."

He was at the back of the room, but unlike the previous one, there was no door here. He ran back the way he had come. There was no door.

Little Percy started to panic. He ran all around the room looking for a door anywhere that might lead him back to the car and found none. He started hyperventilating. His heart was pounding. " Think, Percy, think."

It came to him. The last words Miss Mae said to him. He closed his eyes and said "Miss Mae".

An odd feeling ran through his tiny body. He opened one eye to see Miss Mae. He opened the other and found himself sitting in her hand.

"Oh thank goodness! I was so scared, I was in this room with all kinds of luggage, the door disappe.."

"Shhhh. Everything is alright now, Percy. You are safe, right here in Persephone's rooms."

"Why did the door disappear?"

"When we allow fear to enter our thoughts, it is based on conclusion. When we are operating in conclusion, possibilites disappear. It is not that they are not there, it is that we no longer see them."

" I see. How interesting!" He yawned a huge yawn for a mouse his size.

Miss Mae brought him to Persephone's bedroom and set him down on his pillow next to her.

He yawned again, curled up, and went to sleep. Miss Mae waved her hand and a blanket covered him.

She left the room and the dim light went out.