The Train to Nowhere

Tick, tick, tick… the sound of stopwatch became deafening in the silence. Arya opened her eyes waking from a wonderful dream. She looked across her where in a gentleman in a clean three-piece suit was reading a newspaper. He seemed engrossed in whatever he was reading. The headline of the paper read: The Future is Here!! The gentleman didn’t seem to notice she was awake only stopping every few minutes or so looking at his stopwatch anxiously. Arya started to think of her dream she just had thinking of how grand it would be if the dream were real. She dreamt of flying in the sky like a superhero and falling onto an island that seemed to be surreal. It seemed untouched by the human population and had rock formations in the water. She began to swim to the arched rock formation in the water and felt the magic of the place surrounding her. Below the arch of the rock formation was flat land and as she pulled herself up to the land mass she noticed a beautifully placed table set for one person. There was a place setting with food she had never seen before and the silver looked like it was brand new. As she sat down to eat this glorious meal, everything went black and she awoke in this strange cabin sitting across from this gentleman she had never met before. As Arya came to full consciousness and looked out the window of her cabin she was jolted back to reality. She was on a train…a train going somewhere that she had no recollection of. In fact, how did she wind up here?

Arya started to feel a shiver go through her body as she tried to recollect how she wound up on a train and what location was she heading to. Did she fall on her head and blackout the entire transaction of purchasing a ticket and boarding a train? The last memory she had was walking outside wandering in a forest looking for a river to swim in. Embarrassed, Arya realized the only way to get answers was to ask the gentleman some questions. “Excuse me sir, I am sorry to bother you” Arya chimed up. The gentleman looked up from his paper and gave her a furious glare that a parent would give to their child when the child does something embarrassing in public. “I know this question will sound…strange, but would you happen to know where this train is heading? Also, do you recall me acting strange or anything when I entered this cabin?” The gentleman looked confused and tilted his head. There was a long pause and it felt as if his eyes were burning into her forehead. Arya blushed and looked to the ground as the gentleman put his newspaper directly in the front of his face. She heard him mumble not so quietly “Some people”. Arya realized she sounded crazy and knew that she wasn’t going to get answers from this stuffy man. She decided she might get more answers from the staff on the train and with that stood up to exit the cabin.

As Arya exited the cabin she noted that the long row of cabins had closed doors. She started to walk down the corridor and look for a dining area where staff might be available. As she walked down what seemed like an endless row of cabins she finally reached a dining area that had place settings on the two rows of tables. The area was completely empty and she thought to herself that she may have been either too late or too early as she didn’t even know the time. Arya then walked past the dining area thinking the staff might be in a break area of some sorts. As she walked through the next door the smell of something burning permeated throughout the entire area. The smell was awful and she couldn’t place what the specific smell was. She covered her nose hoping the smell would lessen but it became a larger presence as she walked further through the area. The area itself was a small dark room with the only light coming from a few tiny windows on each side. It was bare and looked like it had not been cleaned in a few centuries as there were large areas of rust on the walls, floor, and ceiling. “Okay, one more room and if I don’t find anyone I will just walk back to my cabin” Arya said to herself nervously. The door at the other side of this room looked old and dingy and the doorknob looked as if it would break if she tried turning it. Curiosity of the situation at hand overruled any doubts she had about turning this knob. As she opened the door nothing could have prepared her for what she saw next.

On the other side of the door was a large, elegant ballroom with music playing from some location unknown. There was no one in this room but everything looked ship shape and polished. In fact, the smell was completely gone and all she could smell was an overwhelming scent of flowers. Arya could not identify what specific flowers she was smelling but the sense of relaxation instantly overcame her body and she felt as if she could float to the ceiling. Her mission of finding out where she was had left her mind completely. She found herself flowing around the floor as if there was an invisible person leading her through an intricate dance that only they knew the steps to. As she moved around the music started to get livelier and more upbeat as if it wanted her to go faster. All of a sudden it got very dark and jolted Arya back to reality again. She stopped and looked at the large window and saw that the outside was actually very dark. How could this be? It was daylight mere moments ago. There was no sunset or any indication that night had befallen. Where was she? Why was there a ballroom on a train? Should she walk further in an effort to find someone? As she pondered this further Arya saw something out the window that startled her. She saw what she could only describe as demonic eyes peering through the window. Arya began to scream.

Arya bolted through the rooms she went through previously and raced to the cabin hallway. As she reached the first cabin she began knocking frantically on the doors hoping someone, anyone would respond and offer help. “HELP! There is a monster, HELP!” Arya screamed as she knocked on every door she could come into contact with. No one seemed to respond so she started to open the doors, only to find the cabins were unoccupied. How could this be? How could there only be two people on a train this size?! Arya ran to her cabin to find the rude gentleman from earlier to get answers now! As she entered the cabin, the man was gone. “Ok, maybe he went to the restroom”. Arya whispered to herself and sat down keeping her eyes on the window next to her. As the landscape was hard to see in the evening time the only thing she could hope for was that this was all still a dream and that any moment now she would wake up in the forest she was exploring previously.

Time seemed to by quickly as Arya had only closed her eyes for a minute and when she awoke the sun was shining through the window again. She looked at the seat across from her and the man was still gone. Arya made her way to the dining area hoping someone would show up this time. As she entered she saw a plate with little bits of food still left on it as if someone just finished their meal. “Hello? Is anyone here?” Arya called out. Her voice seemed to echo off the walls with no response and no sign of human life. As Arya looked out the windows of the train she saw the landscape quickly pass by and turn into ocean. The entire train seemed to be surrounded by the vast ocean on both sides. Arya thought back to her wonderful dream prior to living this nightmare and wondered if she would eventually make her way to the beautiful land with rock formations in the water. Arya sat down at an empty table and looked out at the ocean with the everlasting longing to be somewhere she had only visited in her dreams. As she sat entranced by the waves, a door shut loudly and the rude gentleman walked in with his newspaper.

Arya stared for a few minutes wide-eyed hoping this was not an illusion of her mind. Happy to see someone finally after what felt like an eternity of being alone she smiled and stated firmly “Good morning sir, I am happy to see you. I know that I seemed crazy when we last spoke but alas I have walked through several areas of this train and have found not a single soul. I understand you might want peace and quiet on your trip but I must know where we are heading. I need to know how long we will be on this ride. I have no recollection of boarding this train and seem to have had a lapse in memory. I would sincerely appreciate any answers that will help me solve this puzzle”. The man gave a similar look towards her this time but rather than a glare it was more of a look of curiosity. He tilted his head forward and said something that made Arya’s blood run cold. “We are never getting off this ride. This is the end of the road for you and I. You won’t find any comfort or answers from me, but rest assured that if this ride were to end, your path will be a different one than mine”. With that his face turned back down towards his paper as if he had just had a normal conversation with an acquaintance. No hint of fear or sadness. Just a matter-of-fact conversation not worth wallowing over further.

Arya started to panic internally trying to remember what occurred prior to boarding this train. She tried to remember the peaceful sound of the wind lightly flowing through the tree branches and the unseen birds chirping up high. She remembered feeling the soft moss beneath her feet and the beautiful ambiance of the forest. She remembered coming across a fallen tree and feeling the bark as she climbed over it. Then, nothing. It was all blank from there. Just a wonderful dream and then waking up on a train that seemed to never pause or stop. A train that contained only two passengers. “Wait”, Arya thought to herself, “Someone must be navigating this train, after all, what is a train without a conductor?” Arya smiled with this realization and made her way through the next door determined to find someone who had answers to her quandary.

Arya began her journey through the different rooms of the train and found herself trying to move forward with much difficulty when passing through the ballroom. She knew if she dawdled there was a possibility of seeing those eyes again. She couldn’t risk being afraid from stopping her from this important task. The next door lead to a gorgeous green room. She pondered if this was where the smell of flowers came from yesterday. The green room had more than just flowers of course. It had vegetables and what appeared to be fruits. Arya continued on her way and found another hallway of cabins. Maybe this was where the staff resided, she thought to herself. Unlike the hall that her cabin resided in, the doors were missing entirely. The cabins seemed to have personal belongings in them such as suitcases, bedding, and pictures hanging on the walls. Alas, not a single person was in sight. This gave Arya hope that she would find others on this train that never seemed to stop. Arya walked through the next door and found a room made completely of windows and benches. She felt a sudden bout of nausea as she felt the room spinning around her. The scenery had not changed and the train was still hovering over the large mass of water. She steadied herself and went to one of the benches to calm her nerves. As she looked out the window, she saw a large whale shaped shadow swim near the surface of the water. A chill went through her body again. Something didn’t seem right. Suddenly, everything became dark again.

Confused by the sudden bought of darkness, Arya began to scream as she saw the demonic eyes again peering into the window. Arya jumped up and ran through the next door hoping there would be no windows. As she opened the door she froze. She was at the front of the train, and there was someone or some thing navigating the train. Frightened and unable to speak, Arya stood in the dark room looking at the shadowy outline of the person or thing that was leading this train through the endless route. Suddenly light burst through the front of the train and Arya screamed again when the creature was in full view. It had white hair and human like skin. But when it turned his head his eyes were yellow with pupils like a cat. The same eyes that terrorized Arya in the dark.

A deep growl came from the creature and then he pointed to the seat next to him as if he was beckoning Arya to sit. Arya had two options. Run away in fear and hide in the cabin or sit with this creature. She carefully and cautiously walked toward the seat keeping her eyes fixated on this terrifying creature. He seemed to be pleased by this as he grinned and looked toward the front of the train again focusing on his task. Silence followed for about thirty minutes but to Arya it felt like an eternity. She looked through the front window of the train and saw the tracks ahead. They seemed to float above the ocean with no real foundation holding them to the earth. As they proceeded she saw what appeared to be a cave. As they entered darkness followed. Arya realized that it had never been nighttime. The train was simply going through the dark cave like formations that were likely excavated for safe pathway of the train.

Arya realized she was still sitting next to this creature and had let her guard down. She decided that if he wanted to harm her he would have already done so. “Uhm, sir, uhm, if you don’t mind me asking, where are we going?” Arya asked cautiously. The creature said in a slight crackled voice “We are on the road that is paved with good intentions. I have no idea where you will wind up, but I do know that this train will never stop. You humans are such fickle things. You know life is short and one day you will be gone, yet you all take your lives for granted. You harm each other, worry only about yourselves, and point your finger at someone else when something goes wrong. That’s the great thing about this train. You have no one else to blame but yourself”. He started to laugh deeply and at that point the train started to go faster. The darkness of the cave was illuminated by the demonic eyes that Arya saw previously. She started to panic as she felt the train physically going faster. Arya remembered what the man said earlier and her thoughts started to race. What happened in the forest? What have I done with my life? There is no one home that will miss me! The train continued to speed faster and faster. As it left the cave there was a large wall of rock ahead blocking the tracks. Arya’s eyes widened and started to scream “STOOOOOOP!” and then everything went dark again.

THE END