Out of the Tunnel

The eastbound train rattled and rocked its passengers as it entered the tunnel. The rusted screws and uneven tracks made for a bumpy ride out of the city. The screech of the old metal tires and the crunch of the rocks underneath urged everyone inside to plug their ears with headphones.

Danny didn't notice any shift that differed from the train's usual lurches when the lights flickered, and his music stopped. His noise cancellation fell away, and the awful din of the train flooded his ears. He opened his eyes and pressed the side button on his phone. It didn't blink.

Shit, he thought to himself, the charger must not have been pushed in all the way last night. He cursed himself when he remembered he also forgot his book on his nightstand.

There was nothing worse than sitting in silence on the train. There was nothing to do, nowhere to look, and nothing to think about.

He leaned back to rest his head against the black window. He looked across the aisle to find the entire row of people slapping and pressing down on their phones. Their eyes flickered with panic. Danny took off his headphones.

"Is yours not working either?" A man asked the tall woman next to him.

"I swear it was at 90 percent just a minute ago."

"Mine too!" someone down the car piped up. "Does anyone have a working signal?"

"Must be the towers," someone offered, their eyes still glued to their black phone.

"Even my portable battery lost its juice."

Everyone grumbled and moaned, but they didn't keep each other's eyes for long. Danny tried to turn his phone on again to no avail. He pressed his headphones' Bluetooth pairing and listened for the robotic voice, but that too remained silent.

"Do you think it's the tunnel?" a pretty young woman asked with a shaking leg.

Danny noticed her stockings were ripped near the ankle. He caught himself imagining her rushing her morning routine to catch the train on time. The eastbound only leaves the station once every hour, so it wasn't a train one would be happy to miss.

"Could be, but I take this train every week and never had something like this happen," an older woman responded.

Danny compared the women. They looked nothing alike, and yet they seemed to make a pair. They were like mismatched socks that still fit snugly around the ankle. The older one was well groomed with an updo that must have taken a long time to complete. She must have strong arms, Danny thought with a chuckle.

"It must be the electricity. I knew these trains were cancerous!" an old man wielding a cane added.

Danny thought that, with the man's large mustache and crooked back, he looked like a curmudgeonly character from his childhood storybooks.

While others rolled their eyes or faced away from him, a few others joined in on his fear-mongering.

"Oh, I believe it! The government is always trying to get us sick. First our food, now this."

"That's right! They keep the medical fees high for a reason. It pays for all our wars!"

"It should pay for our damn schools," a woman whispered to her friend.

Danny snickered along with them but kept his ears on the wild rantings of the fearful passengers. The trains continued to rattle underneath. Danny checked his phone, but only found his smirking reflection in its face.

The woman across the aisle with the torn stockings twisted her hands together. Danny noticed that her breathing had grown shallow.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, leaning forward.

She looked up at him. Her shoulders were raised, and she seemed to be unable to stop her jittering. She shook her head, and the woman beside her put her arm around the young woman's back and started rubbing in a motherly fashion.

"It'll be alright. Look, it's getting lighter." The older woman turned and pointed toward the front of the train. The young woman followed her gaze.

The train rumbled louder, signalling the end of the tunnel.

Light pierced through the train as it ran into the wild green and blue of the countryside. A hush seemed to fall on the tires as rows of birch trees sprang into existence. Down the hill from the tracks was a winding stream that sparkled white against the legs of dancing water skeeters and the kisses of fish. The gray city faded under clouds in the distance behind the tunnel's mouth.

The woman with the torn stockings lowered her shoulders. She thanked the woman under her newfound breath and gave Danny a quick nod. He smiled and flushed when she smiled back, revealing a cute gap between her front teeth.

The passengers stopped their grumbling and turned to face the temperate heat coming in from the windows. Danny blinked, adjusting to the glorious light.

"Awfully nice day," he found himself whispering.

The old man next to him folded his book in his lap, then nodded, "Awfully nice every day."