The Rainbow Train

Lights were flashing behind the drawn curtains, and I heard rushing, and clacking noises…. I jerked upright, hitting my head. "Ow! Dammit!" Rubbing the top of my head, I frowned and saw a door on the other side of this very narrow room. I leaned downward, gripped the scratchy navy wool blanket, and peered over the side. I was in the upper berth of a train sleeping compartment, the only occupant. "What the hell?" I mumbled aloud, then twisted around and swept the curtain to the side. Lights and countryside whizzed past, the train gently rocking on the tracks. My watch was missing, and I had no idea what time it was. How had I fallen asleep on a train; how had I climbed into this upper berth with no memory of doing so? Where am I? What direction is this train heading?

My train ticket! I jumped down searching for it because a ticket would have the train departure, arrival, and date on it. Nothing. I found nothing - no purse, no suitcase, no belongings of any sort. The black jacket crumpled on the floor had empty pockets.

Trying the doorknob, I found the compartment locked. I jiggled the knob and pushed against the heavy solid wood door. The train swerved on its track and slammed me against the bunk. The train whistle was blowing repeatedly, and the clacking of the wheels was becoming louder and louder. Scrambling over the lower bunk, I ripped back that curtain and viewed concrete zipping past. We were doing the zipping, not the concrete, and I was now obviously in a tunnel. I saw nothing living: just graffiti on concrete, the seams of the tunnel walls, yellow lightbulbs beaming out from industrial sconces, a few emergency exit doors, and then total darkness. We had exited the lit tunnel into the night.

Wait! The graffiti…what did it say? What language was it in? I didn't know. We had zipped past quickly, and I had seen pictures, not words; pictures in neon colors: a castle, rabbits, ducks, deer, dogs, a donkey, a lion. Some graphics were visually artistic and had a depth of character and others were less so, appearing to be drawn by a child.

Silence now; no more rail clacking or whooshing, just continued gentle rocking.

Suddenly an old Mickey Mouse cartoon was playing over the walls and ceiling of my compartment. I watched in amazement as memories flooded back from childhood. When Mickey Mouse movies on 8mm reels came out Dad had purchased them to entertain us on hot summer nights or during blizzard days in the winter.

Focus! How did you get on this train? What is going on? My mind was spinning with no answers forthcoming.

I could feel the train picking up speed now. I bent my knees and swayed with its rocking over the rails. The Mickey movie was on a continuous loop and cut to a scene with Mickey on an old rotary phone, at which point, an announcement played through invisible speakers.

"All aboard for your adventure. Buckle up and hang on tight!" It wasn’t Mickey's voice, which I would have expected because of the movie; instead, it was a rich, cultured, female voice, somewhat theatrical.

I scanned the room and suddenly a small seat rose. The seat's arms had Mickey Mouse's white-gloved hands at the end, extended in greeting. A seat belt was waving in the air, inviting me to sit down and buckle in. As I sat, the belt automatically clamped tightly around me and locked, with no visible unlocking mechanism. Great, it's not a normal seat belt. Now I'm locked in a train compartment AND into a trick seat belt! How in the hell do I get out of this? Before I could ponder this further, an announcement blared out.

"Good Morning Folks, here we go! We'll climb the mountain and ride above the gorge. You'll see waterfalls and amazing sights." The train was picking up speed and it was daylight outside the window.

Gazing up, I watched the roof slide open, revealing a clear fisheye bubble above. Tree branches arched above the train and a flying cup and saucer floated past. Huh? I must be dreaming! Wake up!

The curtains disappeared completely, revealing a full viewing window. Vivid colors of green jungle and purple jacaranda trees surrounded the train tracks which snaked upward, the bright red engine chugging out its steam to climb the mountain. I saw Vervet and Colobus Monkeys in the trees, recognizing them due to a recent viewing of a National Geographic special on TV.

Chugga-chugga, click-clack, chugga-chugga - the iron wheels were tapping out a rhythm of their own, and the unfamiliar sounds of tropical birds exploded around my head in the compartment, my eyes glued to the lush views outside the window.

Climbing, faster and faster, swaying harder, the train continued climbing and rocking on the rail, while the trees around the tracks swayed more and more in the wind. The sky was darkening, and I heard cracks of thunder.

"Don't worry, folks, we are entering a thunderstorm, but you are safe. Relax and enjoy the ride."

What the hell? Lightening streaked across the sky and rain slammed against the roof and windows, obscuring the view. I estimated the snaking upward had been ongoing for about twenty minutes and the thunderstorm ten. We were speeding along and as we leveled out, the seat belt gently released. I sucked in a huge gulp of air, blowing it out through pursed lips. Some of my tension began to ease.

"Please be sure to look out the window," the train speaker announced.

A rainbow! It was the most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen. This was not a single or double rainbow – it was six rainbows encompassing the entire vista, with colors I couldn't name, but my best try is tangerine, peach, sangria, orchid, sapphire, fluorite. Each rainbow had the primary colors blending down to shades so vivid they hurt my eyes after a minute of viewing, forcing me to blink hard and often. My desire to wake from my dream dissipated from the beauty of it. A wild deep gorge was below us, heavy vines and massive trees lining the hills. I spotted a leopard walking a game path on the hillside and immense raptors and storks gliding on air currents. Far in the distance was a high bridge that the train would cross eventually. We had slowed to a crawl, presumably to observe the rainbow and gorge. The train's brakes hissed as it slowed and stopped. I glanced to my left, and gasped, as two enormous nostrils moved across the window slowly, like a slug. Creeping as slow as a sloth, I inched closer to the window.

To my surprise, I found a female elephant and her calf outside the window. She was leading a small herd along the outer rim of the rail line to a game trail that sloped gently downward. The little one was behind its mama and in front of its auntie, safely tucked between the two matriarchs.

"Rea----dy! Here we go, folks, our ride begins again, and we hope you enjoyed your encounter with the jumbos and the six-tiered rainbow only found here!"

Clackety-clack, whoosh, whoosh, the train was picking up speed slowly and rocking on the tracks gently. I kneeled on the bunk and pressed my nose to the pane, feeling its increasing heat from the sun's rays. The rain freshened foliage was steaming now under the hot sun rays. I watched the last elephant disappear into the woods and suddenly fell onto my side when the train rounded a bend and picked up speed.

"Buckle up Kids, we are going to cross the gorge! Safety first, get into your seats."

The beckoning arms and seat belt waved at me again and I quickly plopped into the seat. The train wheels were screeching, and we could hear the steam engine throttling up. Suddenly, there was a massive burst of speed, shoving me back hard in the seat and my stomach fell out from under me. A huge chasm was beneath us as we entered the high bridge, the train lurching across the viaduct as if we were on a bullet train, and not powered by this steam engine. The speakers were enhancing all the train sounds: clacking wheels, rocking train cars, and the wind whooshing past us. The Mickey Hands firmly clasped my belly, keeping me plastered against the back of the seat. Suddenly the train was careening downward as frightening as a roller coaster ride. The rail cars were violently rocking on the tracks, speed increasing exponentially, and I heard tree branches breaking against the roof and sides.

We are going to crash or derail! "Too fast, too fast, too fast…" I was screaming aloud now, arms covering my face. Wake up, wake up, wake up.

Sudden darkness engulfed me. We're in a tunnel! I was gasping in fright, chest heaving. My knuckles were in a death grip on the seat, my feet pressing into the floor so hard my toes cramped and my ankles were aching from the strain. I felt nauseous and my ears began ringing. Faster and faster we careened, until, finally, we exited this tunnel. Graffiti swept past again, black panthers, gorillas, camels, desert scenes, an oasis, and buildings with minarets. Pulsating colors swirled through the compartment, the colors of the six rainbows.

Now we were going so fast I couldn't turn my head to look out the window. I swear I was pulling Gs, as fighter pilots say. Of course, we couldn't possibly be going that fast, but this damned train experience was ensuring it felt like that. I never went on carnival rides, was deathly afraid of roller coasters, and would not even consider a ride on the slowest of Ferris wheels!

I blacked out.

At least, I guess I blacked out. The next thing I remember is my friend Angie squeezing my cheeks.

"Naomi, wake up, are you OK? C'mon, Girl, you are scaring me. NAOMI!" I shook my head, shoving her hand away. Turning my head, I vomited all over her new pink Keds.

"Dammit Naomi, look what you did!" she exclaimed, jumping backward. My head lolled to the side, eyes alighting on the mostly clear liquid I had spewed over her shoes and shins.

"I'm sorry," I whined. "Where are we?"

"Please be careful exiting the ride, Folks," the train voice piped over the speakers. "We hope you enjoyed our newest Disney World Experience, The Rainbow Train. Thank you for being our Beta Testers. Please follow the turquoise footprints to exit. An attendant will help you complete your Experience Card so that we can provide you with your promised gift for taking the time to Beta test with us."