The Repentance Train

A gasp of air is all that could be heard coming from a man. The type of gasp that someone would have as if they came back from the brink of death. Coughs soon followed as he awoke and looked around to try to make sense of the situation. He had soon realised that he was in the carriage of a train, a brand-new train by the looks of it but with a small monitor suspended above him on the opposite side of the carriage. The monitor then counted down from 5. The man's eyes faced the monitor and the carriage became less relevant with every number that passed.

“Hello? Dr Anderson... Hello?” The voice came from the monitor and a woman, dressed as if she was going for an interview came on the screen. She seemed by her movements on screen that she was an eccentric person but in a fun way. “ahhh. There you are. The Surgeon”. Dr Anderson, the only man on the train, was still trying to piece together with his eyes what was going on and was beginning to come out of the seat he discovered himself in.

“No, no, no... You stay right there Dr Anderson. We need to talk. It would be wise of you to listen because your probably wondering ‘oh... Where am I? Hehe”. She then proceeded to explain as he sat to the seat and listened. “So.. Dr Henry Anderson. Hiii. My name is Bonni. Welcome to what I like to call ‘The Repentance train”. You will be seeing me a lot for the remainder of this journey. You have been chosen by someone who shall not be named to take part in what we like to call a cleanse”.

Henry muttered under his voice “Cleanse? What cleanse?”

“I’m glad you asked! Hehe. Also before you ask, yes, I can hear you. This monitor has a camera that is live. Anywho, this is a train made for people who believe that they can brush through life, constantly lying to themselves and others about matters that hold great importance. This can be church goers to rapists. Innocent or ruthless. It’s sad seeing the good ones go through this but you know... business is business. We also have a 99% success rate when it comes to this business”.

Henry’s voice got clearer and louder simultaneously. “You said business is business. So what, someone paid for this to happen?” Bonni was beginning to become sarcastic. “Oh, look at you. Fast learner. You do have common sense. I'm so proud of you”. Henry knew he wasn’t in the position to argue so he accepted her sarcasm with a blank face.

“The client gives us a significant amount of money based on what they want their chosen person to tell. So, the more information they want us to get for them... the more money we receive. Then the chosen person will eventually wind up upon this train”.

“Then what?” Henry questioned.

“You'll see. But first, let me leave you for 5 minutes and try to stay calm as possible. Your life may depend on those minutes. When I come back, I will ask you 2 questions. BYE”.

Her face disappeared and the young female Bonni that Dr Anderson barely knew was the only person at that time that he could think about. The train he was on was shaking him like a ragdoll repeatedly as it was moving with great speed. The windows were blocked so he couldn’t even see the outside of the train. He could feel the vibrations run through his feet.

Henry calmed down and 5 minutes quickly passed. The monitor switched back on and Bonni appeared once again. “Hii. Ready for your questions Dr Anderson? I just want a yes or no answer”

“Fine. Just say them” he replied in a tired voice.

“Okay then. Question 1... Have you ever cheated on your wife of 15 years”?

In that moment, he realised a reason as to why he might be there. He kept his calm and said no. “Question 2, there was an accident that happened a few years ago with you and your wife’s young 4-year-old child. You said she fell. Is that the truth?”

Henry simply looked down at the floor rather than the one person that appeared to be helping her. “Dr Anderson... any day now”

“Yes”.

“Thank you. That is it. There is a device on your arm. I don’t know if you noticed, but that will tell us if we are starting or not. In other words, if you're lying or not. Don’t take it off or else you'll wish you hadn't. I'll be back in another 5 minutes. See ya”.

She had left again and that gave Henry the luxury to think. All he thought about was why his wife (If it was her) would send him here and choose these questions to ask. She must have paid for him to come there so he thought she must still be hurting after the “accident” 6 months ago.

Another 5 minutes came by relatively quick and Donna came back bearing some news. “Hello Dr Anderson. I’ve got your results back and unfortunately... you didn’t pass them. BOTH of them. The test said you were lying. So now, we shall be proceeding. Throughout this trip there will be two rooms, basically 2 carriages and they will help you with your repentance. At the end there will be a brake to stop this train”.

Henry’s heart started to beat more and more with every detail. He began to enquire “Why? Where is this train going?”

“That’s the fun part! Trust me, I'm not sick in the head. It’s going to fall into the bottom of the river and drown you”. Dr Anderson’s eyes widened as he now struggled to breathe.

“Don’t worry. You can easily survive. You can repent and make it to the brakes in time. It all depends on you. Will you repent or as they say, will you take your secrets to the grave with you? There will be something for you to do at the end when you reach the room where the brake is IF you make it. You have 10 minutes to pull that brake. Anytime beyond that is well... not so great I’m afraid”.

A timer appeared in the corner of the monitor screen showing 10 minutes and counting down. Henry had risen up without hesitation and went over to the other carriage, wobbling and stumbling due to the movement of the train.

Henry enters the carriage and it is the exact same as before except for one addition. From the layout of the 1st carriage to the placement of where the monitor was in the previous room. Right above the door to the next carriage was another monitor but that had numbers on it. It was an amount of money. £3,000,102.

He was puzzled at first so he waited until Bonni came back on the other screen and so she did with a big smile on her face. “Dr Anderson hehe, welcome to the first part of your repentance. I can see by your face that your confused again so allow me to help you”. She then proceeded to speak again.

“That screen that you're looking at has a number on it. That is all of the money you have at this current time collected from all of the bank accounts you have. That is probably why you didn’t recognise it at first. Anyway, all you have to do is confess. The longer you take, the more money you lose. Remember, you're fighting against time as well. You have 9 minutes. DID YOU CHEAT?”

Henry felt conflicted. He thought to himself if he should really confess and save his money. The shame and disappointment that he would have on himself would be disgusting. At the same time, he thought maybe that could be better than having no money to his name and starting from scratch.

BUZZ. Henry’s head movement resembled a cat being startled by sound. He looked at the screen and got a wakeup call like no other. “Oh No Dr Anderson. A minute passed and you lost money. How much is that now? £1,500,102. Damn. Just answer the question Dr ‘Anderson’. This isn't a game or a ‘simulation’ Hehehe... I couldn’t help myself. See what I did there? Simulation, Anderson... No? It’s the matrix… Tch, You’re boring”.

“ALRIGHT! I DID CHEAT”. Henry shouted in frustration. He clenched his fists, placed them by his side and looked at Bonni menacingly.

“Duhh. We know this but we need details. NOT like that though. How long have you cheated for?”

“10 years” He uttered in shame. He couldn’t believe what was coming out of his mouth and blamed whoever put him there for confessing.

“WOW” Bonni cried in disbelief. “You are a disgrace. How many people?”

Henry turns to anger instead of remaining in a calm state “Is that even necessary? I said I did it. What more do you want?”

“Don’t hide the truth doctor. Truly repent. How MANY?”

“I don’t know”

BUZZ. “Dr Anderson, just say it. It’s not har-”

“A LOT OF WOMEN. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? I WAS WITH MANY”. He shouted till he had to cough out the spit that built up from within. Then the sound of birds chirping came into the carriage. “Congratulations Dr Anderson, you have done your first repentance. You may now proceed through the doors”.

Bonni disappeared of the monitor. Henry slowly lifted his head up and saw the monitor with the money stated. The balance remaining was £90,102. He had lost an estimate of £2.9 million pounds. It was at this moment he realised that this was not something to be stalling with.

The second carriage carried a frustrated Henry Anderson and a happy Bonni with a monitor and a contraption. The contraption reached up to his waist and it had a box with 8 holes being created into it and a blade hanging above the box. The monitor came on and Bonni was there ready to explain the second and final repentance.

“Here we are. The second and final task of your repentance. If you could be so kind to walk over to the mechanism, please”. Henry keeps his eyes on the contraption as he walks forward slowly unaware of the time he has left and used Bonni’s voice to guide him.

“Put your fingers into the mechanism” She delegated. Henry looked at her and stared as if she was crazy.

“I’m not putting my fingers in there” he pointed out.

“Well I'm NOT the one on borrowed time so if you want to waste time... stand there. I can wait”. He remembered the circumstance he was in and obeyed her orders. His fingers were then locked in place.

“For this task, you will have to confess on what actually happened the day of the accident”. Henry took a deep breath as he knew what he had to say.

“Dr Anderson. This contraption is for you. If for any reason you don’t want to confess you can move on to the next stage but do know in order to do that... you would have to lose all 8 of your fingers”.

A tear fell from his eye because he never thought that he would have to confess such a secret. Bonni felt for him a little, despite hearing what she heard previously.

“I know this is hard Henry but we all have to face our truths one day. Fingers are bad to lose but for a surgeon, That’s a career down the drain with the flick of a button. Just confess. You now have 5 minutes.”

The decision was his. His career, or the truth. More importantly, his life. He took a breath and spoke the most truth he ever did in his life.

“I was a new dad. Excited but very much scared of what was in store for me. It was all going well and we were a family. Years passed and as they did I began to get more stressed at work. There were people I couldn’t save and it got to me over time. I became angry.My wife had to go somewhere so I had to look after our daughter. She was crying and we were next to the steps. I was telling her not to cry and that it would be okay but she wasn’t listening. Because I was angry I… I… nudged her but she went too far”.

Henry was in tears and Bonni was lost for words. She was mortified. “I will never understand people”.

“I’ve regretted the day ever since and I wish I could but I can’t”. There was then a moment of silence. The air suddenly felt uninhabitable. Henry was able to remove his fingers from the mechanism. Bonni allowed him to exit with the sound of birds playing and reach the final stage.

With 2 minutes left on the clock, he walks into the room depressed and ready to find out what was in store for him. Bonni returned to the screen again to explain the final steps and she tried to look at the positives.

“Well that was something. At least you confessed. Now comes the hard part. Right now, the person that sent you here thinks your on a retreat somewhere to help you become a better person. That’s the cover story we have for them which is true but they might know the actual truth”.

“You see… this entire experience was recorded. Recorded at a certain angle at least so that we are protected. The confessions you have given have been documented and will be sent to the person that paid for your experience”.

The moment Dr Anderson heard that, he was ready to beg. “I’m begging you please. I’M BEGGING YOU”!

“The choice is yours Dr Anderson. All you have to do is not pull the leather and fall to your death. Your secrets from this repentance will not be shared as they will die with you,. Literally. One minute left”.

Henry didn’t know what to do. Restart with a new life and probably lose all that is dear to him or have an early death with him being seen as a saint. The problem is that nobody wants to die early. He was trying to envision for a long time a life that would work if he does stop the brakes. What kind of life it would be.

“10 seconds left Dr Anderson. CHOOSE”

Henry Anderson grabbed the leather ready to pull but was hesitant. He then took a deep breath. Bonni smirked as she said the following:

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…