The Fantasy Express

Jumping out of his seat after an invigorating sleep, Jack woke up to the ear-piercing sound of a train whistle. He looked around confused, the last thing he could remember was being at the bar with his friends celebrating his 22nd birthday. He had short, messy, dark brown hair and wore a black hoodie with a pair of Khakis. He was sitting on a train, beside the window, without any idea of how he got there.

Looking out the window he noticed bright green grass and a forest filled with bright green leaves on magnificent trees. This was particularly strange considering Jack lived in Canada and it was the middle of February. The night before he could remember the frozen streets of Toronto being covered in a soft blanket of snow, now it looked like the middle of summer in a completely different country. He searched his pockets for a train ticket, hoping for an explanation, but they were empty. He didn't have his phone, his wallet, or the ticket for the train he was on!

Meanwhile, across the aisle from Jack, Emily was also waking up to find herself on a mysterious train. Emily had beautiful blonde hair and wore blue jeans with a white tank top. She was quick to realize she was no longer on her quiet ranch in Texas, instead on a fast moving train in a forest she couldn't recognize. She looked around the train car and saw a young boy, around the same age as her, sitting across the aisle in a panic as he searched his pockets. Emily reached down into her jean pockets to find they were empty, she was also missing her phone!

"Where am I?!?" A woman's voice cried out from the back of the train car. Jack and Emily both swung their heads back to see the commotion. A white woman in her forties stood up at the back of the train car. "You!" she said pointing at the black man a few seats in front of her, "you kidnapped me!" "Excuse me!" He replied, "I don't know who you are or how I even got on this train, what makes you think I would kidnap you?" The man folded his arms and looked at her in disgust. "Well," she said pointing at the rest of the train, "nobody else here looks like a kidnapper."

The black man was wearing a business suit, a golden Rolex, prescription glasses, and generic businessman haircut. "What's that supposed to mean?" He questioned. Being the only black person in the train car the rest of the passengers sat back in disbelief, appalled that she would say such a thing. "Well, you just look like a criminal," said the lady. "And what exactly does a criminal look like?" The man said in an irritated tone of voice. "Well..." She said, unsure what to say next. "Exactly, you shouldn't judge someone because of the colour of their skin, what's your name?" said the man. "Karen," she replied, "Nice to meet Karen, my name is Jerome, I was up late last night working on a new project for my company and I fell asleep at the office, only to wake up on this train," explained Jerome.

"I was on a date last night," a young Korean woman chimed in, "we made it back to my place and started to watch a movie and I must've fallen asleep. Next thing I knew I was on this train," she exclaimed. "My name is Elina by the way." She was 27 with short black hair, wearing a long, loose white t-shirt and dark skinny jeans. "I fell asleep in the stable with my horses after a long day of riding," said Emily. "I was drinking at the bars celebrating my birthday with my friends," Jack added. "Happy birthday," Emily replied with a smile, "how old are you?" She added. "Thank you," Jack said as he cheeks started turning red, "I just turned 22." "Oh, nice I'm 20," Emily responded with another smile.

"Mommy?" They all heard, a little voice came from the front of the train car. Looking towards the front of the train car there was an old white man who was still fast asleep, an attractive Brazilian woman in a red bikini, and a young white man in a white muscle shirt covered with tattoos. "Mommy?" they heard again. A little 7 year old boy walked out into the aisle in his pajamas. "Where's my mommy?" he asked with tears running down his face and fear in his voice.

"Oh shit," said the man with the tattoos. "Watch your language, there's a kid here," replied the Brazilian woman in disgust. "Whatever, I don't even know how I got here, the last thing I remember was getting high with the homies in my mom's basement," the man with tattoo's said. "None of us know how we got here," Emily added from a few seats back, "My name is Emily, this is Jerome, Karen, Elina," a small smile crossed her face as she turned towards Jack, "and Jack," Emily added, introducing the rest of the group.

"My name is Isabella, I was enjoying a beautiful day on the beach tanning in the sun then I heard the train horn," said the Brazilian. "Yeah that sounds similar to what happened to us," said Jack. "I'm Bryce," said the man with the tattoo's, "and I'm glad you were on the beach when this happened," he added with a smirk while staring down Isabella's exquisite figure. "ew," replied Isabella in disgust.

The little boy was still crying in the aisle, holding onto a little blanket and a teddy bear. "And what's your name?" Emily asked him in a calm, elegant voice with a warm, welcoming smile. "Tommy," he said with a sniffle, "I want my mommy," he added. "Don't worry Tommy we will find your mom," Jerome assured. "Don't give him false hope," said Bryce. "Come on man, he's a kid and we're going to get off this train at the next stop to find out what the fu-dge is going on here," replied Jerome catching himself before swearing in front of little Tommy.

"Uh... I wouldn't be so sure of that," said Elina as she looked out the window. The passengers looked out the window to see why she was so doubtful. Ahead of the train they could see the tracks came to a curve and headed directly towards a large river with a broken bridge that only went halfway across. "Oh my God! We're all going to die!" Karen screamed. "Why aren't they stopping the train!" Emily said in horror.

"We need to stop this train!" said Jerome as he ran towards the front of the train car. He tried to open the door between cars, "it's locked!" he yelled out. "This is some birthday," Jack said quietly to himself. "We'll be okay," Emily reassured him with a smile as she put her hand on his knee after overhearing. "On the Brightside I got to see that beautiful smile," Jack said in a smooth tone. Emily's cheeks turned cherry red and her smile widened. "That's the one," Jack added.

"Since we are about to die anyways, what do you say we make these last few minutes count," Bryce said to Isabella with a wink. "Ew, I find you disgusting, I would rather sleep with the old man," replied Isabella pointing at the sleeping man. "Do you want me to wake him up for you?" Bryce asked. Isabella tried not to laugh and cracked a smile, then she jumped towards him and they started making out.

"Keep it PG!" said Elina, taking Tommy to the back of the train with Karen and away from the PDA. Jerome, Jack, and Emily quickly joined them as Bryce and Isabella started to get intimate in one of the train seats.

"What are we going to do?!?" Elina asked. "I have no idea," Jerome replied, trying to open the back door with no luck. "Of course you don't have any ideas, you probably haven't even graduated high school," Karen said to Jerome. "What's that supposed to mean?!" He replied. "Aren't you people too busy robbing and selling drugs to finish school?" She questioned with a snobby attitude. "You can't say that!" Emily said, defending Jerome. "It's fine, let her think whatever she likes, I refuse to lower myself to her level," Jerome expressed.

"Um, guys you might want to hold onto something!" Elina noted as they were heading over the bridge. The front of the train was already over the broken edge and falling towards the river with a tail of train cars trailing it. The passengers gripped onto their seats as the train car became vertical.

Jerome grasped a hold on Tommy as his teddy bear fell to the front. Bryce and Isabella were thrown off the seat into the set of seats in front of them. The old man fell forward, waking up, and landed on the front wall of the train car, knocking him out. As the train descended towards what seemed like a certain doom, Emily lost her grip on the seat and began sliding down the aisle. Seeing this, Jack subconsciously let go and fell so he could catch her. They grab a hold of a seat near the center of the train car.

They could hear the sounds of loud crashing waves as the train hit the water, before they knew it their train car was submerged. However, it wasn't what they had originally expected. As the train was sinking it leveled itself out, and the strangest thing occurred. Under the water the train continued as if it was still on the rails and it appeared they were not in the river but a vast area of open water.

"What the hell is going on! Where am the f*ck am I?" The old man said as he woke up on the floor at the front of the train. Beside him was a red bikini top, a pair of men's shorts, a white tank top, and a teddy bear. Bryce peaked up above the seat he was in, he looked towards the old man and saw the clothes. He stepped out into the aisle wearing nothing but a pair of blue plaid boxers and awkwardly walked towards the old man to grab his clothes. Isabella stood up from the same seat with a blush red face covering her naked chest.

Jack was still lying down in the aisle with Emily lying on top of him. "Thank you," she said, staring into his eyes. He gave an awkward smile and said, "no problem!" Sh*t! That was a pathetic response, Jack thought to himself. Thank you really that's all you could think of, Emily thought to herself. They stared into each other's eyes for a few minutes, "oh!" said Emily realizing she was still on top of him. Jack started to laugh as Emily climbed off him.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Jamal. "No! I don't know where the hell I am!" said the old man. "You're on a train, none of us know how we got here," Bryce explained, while getting dressed. "What's your name?" asked Jerome, "Stanley!" replied the old man, in a grumpy tone. "I'm Jerome, nice to meet you!" Jerome said. "Great, I'm stuck on a train with a f**king N***er!" Stanley said. "Another racist, I love this place!" Jerome said sarcastically.

"Woah, check it out!" said Elina looking out the window.

The passengers stood in awe, a magnificent array of sea life surrounded the train. There were tens of thousands of different aquatic species. Many different schools of fish, shivers of sharks, battery's of barracuda's, an audience of squid, a fever of stingrays, a smack of jellyfish, a pod of whales, a pod of dolphins, and a consortium of octopi. There were Enormous underwater volcanoes, seamounts covered with extraordinary coral reefs, and a massive ocean trench descending into the deep darkness.

Little Tommy ran up to the window as a massive humpback whale swam by a few meters from the train. "Woooooaaaaah," he said in amazement. "This is amazing!" said Jack as he watched dolphins dancing around in the water. Jerome watched as a great white shark swam past the train. As he observed the unbelievable view, a woman swam up to the window. She had blonde hair and skin white as snow with ocean blue eyes. She was swimming along at the same speed as the train. "Oh my God!" Jerome said, running to the window. She didn't look to be struggling for air however, and he quickly noticed she had no legs. Her bottom half was a fin, like she was half fish.

"What is that?" Jack said noticing, something swimming with the dolphins. "It looks human!" Replied Emily. "Is that a..." Bryce said, looking out the front window before being interrupted. "A MERMAID!!" Yelled Elina looking out her window at a bald man with white skin and a similar fish fin instead of legs.

The train was quickly surrounded by mermaids swimming along beside it. "They're beautiful," said Bryce. "Wow," Isabella said, giving Bryce a dirty look before turning and walking to the back of the train car. "Now that's a nice piece of a**" said Stanley. "Really dude?" Bryce replied, rolling his eyes.

Tommy started waving at a mermaid, the mermaid waved back and gave him a friendly smile. Then, her friendly smile turned into an evil smile. She grabbed a hold of the side of the train and started bashing her fist on the window. Tommy screamed, fell back into the aisle, and started crying. Elina ran over to help him, Jerome was still mesmerized by the mermaid outside his window until it gave a similar sinister smile and started bashing her fist on the window. Other mermaids joined in and they stared hitting all the windows.

"They're trying to break the glass!" Karen yelled in horror. After she said that one of the windows began to crack, then another one, and another one. The cracks started getting bigger and water started leaking inside the train car. The train horn sounded and all the mermaids scattered. The train was still moving but now they were in open water with no sign of life in any direction. Multiple windows were cracked with water leaking through and the train car was starting to flood.

"I wish I was back in the nursing home," said Stanley. "you're not the only one, I wish I wasn't here either," Bryce added. The pressure began building and water burst through the broken windows. "What are we going to do?!?" Yelled Emily. "It's okay, we'll get through this!" Jack reassured her. "I want my mommy!" Tommy said, crying. "It's going to be okay," Elina said, trying to comfort him. "We'll find a way out of this!" said Jerome. "I wish I was still at home!" said Karen.

The train car was now half full with water continuing to pile in. Jerome quickly made his way to the front and began hitting the window on the door at full force. Jack and Bryce joined him as they tried to force open the door. The water was over little Tommy's head, Emily lifted him up on top of a seat so he could breathe. "You need to hurry!" she yelled to the boys at the front. "It won't budge!" replied Jack. The water was up to their chests now and filling even faster.

The train was filled with screams and water as they tried to keep their heads above the water. Bryce went under and watched as bull sharks swam in through the windows. Swimming in the train car with their heads at the roof the water started turning red and the passengers took their last breaths before being submerged under the water.

Waking up on the train again Jack was soaking wet. The train was back on land traveling down the tracks again and completely dry. He looked over to check on Emily.

Emily woke up soaking wet, back on the dry train. She turned her head and noticed Jack was staring at her with a mesmerized look on his face. She wasn't sure why, Is there something on my face? She thought. Then she realized her white tank top was soaking wet, transparent, and she wasn't wearing a bra. "Oh my God!" she said embarrassed covering her chest. Jack quickly pulled off his sweater, "here, you can wear this," he said with a smile. "Thanks," Emily replied with a smile taking him up on the offer.

"What just happened?" asked Elina. Jack and Emily turned around to see Elina and Jerome both soaking wet in their seats. "Where is Bryce!" Isabella yelled from the front. "Tommy?" said Elina. "Karen and Stanley are gone too, not that anyone would miss them." Jerome added. "What happened to them?" Emily asked. "What happened to us?" Jack replied.

"That had to have been real, I'm still wet," Jerome said. "OMG! me too I'm soaked," said Isabella. "At least you have a swimsuit!" Emily said, wearing Jack's wet hoodie. "Where are we?" Elina asked.

The train was driving through a valley surrounded by towering mountains with snowy with peaks. The most beautiful scenery they have ever seen. There were trees spread out across patches of grass and a twisting river off in the distance ran between the mountains.

As they traveled through the valley, they saw a variety of strange, peculiar, and wonderful creatures. They passed a griffin's nest, a stampede of centaur's, unicorns grazing in a field, and saw a Pegasus flying through the sky just to name a few. "Woah, this is unreal," Elina proclaimed in wonderous awe. "How is this even possible?" Jerome added in disbelief. "It's like a fairy tale," noted Isabella mesmerized as she watched pixies fly outside the train window.

Emily was sitting in a window seat admiring all of the mystical creatures and magnificent views. Jack was a few seats away admiring Emily's beautiful nature. She looked towards him, he quickly turned his head out the window, Emily giggled and gave a little smile.

Elina was sitting in the seat behind Jack. She leaned over the seat and whispered, "Hey, she's totally into you." "What? No way, she's just being friendly, we're just friends," replied Jack. "Mmhmm, so you don't have a crush on her?" Elina asked. "What? No! What makes you think that?" Jack said with his face turning red. Elina laughed, "Go over there and talk to her, she definitely finds you attractive," she said. "You really think so?" Jack questioned. "For sure!" Elina reassured him.

Emily noticed Jack and Elina were having a conversation, they looked over at her and she quickly returned her attention to the scenery outside. When she looked back Jack was walking towards her. Oh God is he coming over here? How do I look? Is he going to talk to me? Does he like me? ahhhh, okay calm down just act normal, Emily thought to herself.

Jack walked over nervously, Oh no! Why am I doing this? Is it too late to turn back? Yes, it's definitely too late. Sh*t. What am I going to say? Think of something cool. Come on jack you got this. Hey, I saw you from over there and... No. Hey, are you a magnet because I am attracted to you... No. Wow isn't the view beautiful, I'm talking about you by the way... No. Uh why is this so difficult, whatever just act cool, Jack thought to himself.

"Hi," Jack said, sitting down beside Emily. "Hi," Emily responded. There was a brief moment of awkward silence. "Nice weather we're having," Jack said, breaking the silence. Smooth, real smooth, he thought to himself. "Um, yeah the weather's great," Emily responded, realizing he was just as nervous as she was or completely blind to the fact they were on a train in what seemed like a mythical valley. "Have you noticed these animals? They're like something out of the books I read!" Emily asked. "Yeah! they are spectacular and incomparable! Look at that one!" Said Jack pointing at a white stag with a magnificent set of antlers resembling the branches of a tree. "It's so beautiful," said Emily.

"So you like to read?" asked Jack. "Yes! I love reading, I read like 4 books a month!" said Emily. "Nice! Read anything fantastic lately?" Jack asked, indulging in the conversation. "I just finished reading The Handmaid's Tale, I loved it, it was so well written and so deep, I would definitely recommend it. It's about a woman who's part of a group of women, the handmaids, who are forced to reproduce for the ruling class. They live in a patriarchal society where women have no individuality or reproductive rights, and they resist and attempt to gain their individuality and independence. It's so amazing, I really enjoyed it. Right now I'm reading The Sparrow and so far it's amazing, I'm hooked. It's a philosophical science-fiction mystery... Oh I'm talking too much aren't I?" Answered Emily with great joy. "No! Of course not, I love hearing about your reading adventures!" Jack replied with a smile.

"Aw, thank you," Emily said with a shy smile, "what about you? Do you like to read?" She asked. "I haven't been reading much lately, but I used to love it! The last book I read was in high school, it's called The Outsiders. It was a good book." Jack replied. "I read that one too! in English class. I enjoyed it." Emily said with excitement.

"Woah! Look at that!" Jack said, pointing out the window. "That has to be the most beautiful creature I have ever seen!" He continued, in a smooth, joyful tone. "Where? I don't see anything! Did I miss it?" Emily asked, not noticing anything. "No, it's still there, do you see it?" he said, moving his finger closer to the window. "I still don't see it, is there actually something out there?" Emily questioned, assuming he was just messing with her.

"It's really there, it looks like an angel with a beauty that's unmatched." Said Jack. "More beautiful than Isabella?" asked Emily. "Way more beautiful, look it's right there in the reflection," Jack said, pointing at Emily's reflection in the window. A smile lit up across Emily's face as her cheeks turned cherry red and she threw her hands over her face.

Emily lowered her hands and her eyes locked into Jack's Eyes. Jack's eyes shifted towards her lips and back into her eyes. Emily began leaning forward and her eyes shifted towards his lips and back to his eyes. Jack closed his eyes, leaned in pressing his lips against hers as she closed her eyes and they kissed for the first time.

The kiss lasted for about a minute, they pulled back staring into each other's eyes again, and they leaned in for a second kiss. The second kiss was a little longer, lasting a few minutes. Before they could get their third kiss in, they were interrupted by the train horn.

"Hey guys, it looks like we're heading for a mountain!" Said Elina. "There must be a tunnel running through it," said Jerome. "That bridge was out, what if the tunnel is caved in?" suggested Jack. Jerome ran to the window to try and see ahead of the tracks, "I can't tell from this angle," he said. "You don't really think that do you?" Isabella asked. A silence fell upon the train car as the passengers questioned their fate. Nothing but the sound of the train engine and the train running along the rails. Emily grabbed the side of Jack's head and got the third kiss she wanted.

As they got closer to the mountain, there was a variety of large rocks with little area's in between that looked like a big bird's nest with giant golden eggs the size of boulders. "What are those?" Elina asked. "I don't know if we want to find out," Jerome responded.

The train had entered the tunnel and everything went dark, the lights on the inside of the car turned on and for about 4 minutes the train ran smoothly through the tunnel with no problems. Then, Suddenly the train went dark as the lights flickered off. The passengers couldn't see the seat in front of them. Emily grabbed ahold of Jack's hand squeezing tightly. "I wish I was still at the beach," said Isabella. "Is everyone alright?" Jerome asked. "Yeah, what happened to the lights?" asked Elina. "I think they shut off," Jack replied, with a sarcastic voice making Emily laughed. "Thanks captain obvious!" said Elina, "You asked," Jack replied.

A loud, sharp scream rang over the sound of the train. Emily wrapped her arms around Jack's gripping him tightly. "What was that? Are you okay?" Jerome shouted out. "Who was that?" asked Isabella. "Wasn't me," replied Elina. "It wasn't us either," replied Jack. Various different lights began flickering on and off in no particular order. There was another sharp scream, it was even louder shattering all the windows on the train.

"Where's Isabella?" Elina yelled out. Isabella seemed to be missing from the train. Another shrieking scream let out his time they saw where it came from. A banshee stood shrieking in the corner of the train car. The passengers moved to the opposite end of the train car in horror. "I really wish I wasn't here right now," said Jerome. Outside the train in the distance fire lit up the darkness. It looked as if they were in a cavern. "What is that?" Elina asked. Stepping forward looking out the window, "it can't be..." Jerome said. Fire blew into the train car through the windows lighting up Jerome as a dragon flew past the train. Jerome was on fire and screaming, the train car was on fire, and Jack, Emily, and Elina were trapped at the front.

"What are we going to do!?!" Emily screamed. "We need to help him!" Elina Yelled. Jack stepped forward, "Jerome!!" he called out. Jerome stubbled out of the fire, he dropped and rolled on the floor until he wasn't on fire. "Oh my God! Are you okay?!" Emily asked. "I..." Jerome was cut off as the dragon broke through the side of the train and took Jerome in its mouth, flying away. The train was now open and fire lit up the massive cave as multiple dragons flew above them. Jack stood in front of Emily as if he could protect her from a dragon.

"I wish I could leave this train!" Elina yelled. A dragon peaked its head around from the side of the train and snatched Elina up with its sharp, massive teeth. "No!" Emily screamed. Jack and Emily crouched down in the corner of the train car, holding each other close, and closing their eyes. They could feel the heat of the dragon's flames and the loud, ferocious roars echoing through the cave.

Everything went silent. They opened their eyes and it was daylight. The train was back to pristine condition and they were chugging along through an endless field of grass. Jack and Emily were the only two left on the train.

Emily was crying, "hey, it's okay, we're still here, we're going to be alright," Jack said trying to cheer her up. She leaned in, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him tightly. The train began to shake and the loud sound of the train horn blasted through the air. They looked out the window and to their awe, the train began to lift off the tracks. "What's happening now?!?" Jack said, exhausted. The train started ascending towards the sky. Emily started to slip and Jack caught her, they quickly sat down beside each other on the closest seats before falling down the steep aisle.

Watching out the window as the ground became further and further away. Emily was holding Jack's hand squeezing tightly, Jack was leaning back against his seat sweating and breathing heavily. "Afraid of heights," Emily asked. "One time, when I was younger, my brothers and I were playing frisbee. I threw it onto the roof of our house, it wasn't a small house either. Our parents weren't home so they sent me up on a ladder to get it. I climbed up and they took the ladder away leaving me up there for 4 hours." He said, "worst 4 hours of my life!" he added. "Even worse than this train ride?" She asked. "This train ride was actually one of my highlights, it may have been a horror story but at least I got to meet you!" He responded. Emily started blushing and with a smile replied, "I'm glad I got to meet you too, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

The train was now up high above the clouds where planes usually fly. "Wow! What a view!" Said Emily. "Never been on a plane before?" Jack asked. "Once when I was a kid, my family went to the Bahamas for a week, what about you?" She replied. "I've been on a few trips, one time.." he was cut off by a loud boom. Ahead of the train was an enormous, dark storm cloud. The train flew directly into a thunderstorm, with rain, lightning, and thunder all around them Jack and Emily held each other close. Then everything went dark.

Jack woke up in his Toronto apartment.

Three years later...

Jack was at a bar and saw a familiar face. Who is that? he thought. "Excuse me, do I know you?" He asked her. "Oh my God, you're real!" she responded. Of course I'm real what's wrong with this chick he thought. "I thought that was just a dream!" She said. "Wait! You're her, you're Emily," Jack said. "Nice to meet you," she responded with a smile.

The end.