The Midnight Train

I've been having this recurring nightmare-ish dream for a few months. Maybe if I tell you, it'll stop or at least finish the dream- or maybe stop watching thespooky channel before bed.

It always starts the same: the sound of a train waking me up- I don't live near any tracks or stations. In the dream, I get out of bed and walk to the bedroom window. I pull back the curtain just enough to peek out. Looking between the houses toward the street, a train has stopped.

'What the? Why is there a train just stopped in the middle of the street?'

I turn around and start to head down to the train to see what is happening, but all of a sudden I'm already at the train. I look up and down the street, and the tracks seem to move along with the train. As the train moves, tracks appear in front of it and disappear behind it.

'Strange,' I thought to myself.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow that shot across the road into the train. I looked up at the train, trying to figure out what I just saw. I took a few steps back from the train because I saw the lights on in the train, and shadows were moving around in there. Strange enough, I didn't see any physical bodies, just shadows.

So, where are the shadows come from then? There have to be people on the train, and from the angle I'm standing at, I can't see anyone. I walk towards the door to get on the train. As I climb the stairs and approach the door, I can hear a crowd of people. Once I turn the corner and see inside the cabin of the train.... It's empty...

I turn around to look outside; maybe everyone got off as I got on... but there's not a soul on the street.

'What is happening?' I walk through the train car into the next one. Maybe they've all gone into the next car?

I've walked through four different cars- still empty.

I started to notice that something was wrong- looking around, noticing how off the car looked and seeing the glass windows. Why is everything odd?

"Miss, can you take your seat? We're about to leave soon," a lady in uniform called out from behind me.

Startled, I spun around so fast I almost got whipflash. "Where did you come from?"

Looking at the conductor more closely, I tried to figure out where she came from because I didn't see or hear her come. It's like she appeared out of thin air.

"Where are we going?" I tried to get any information out of her, but she just seemed to be stuck on a loop- I thought it was odd, actually, but okay.

I took a seat in one of many empty seats, and as quickly as the lady appeared, she disappeared.

'What the hell is happening here?'

I'm starting to think I'm in a dream. "I would stop thinking like that if I were you."

A man appeared sitting across from me. "What?"

The train started moving. "You know what I'm talking about. Stop, or there will be consequences."

"Consequences?"

The man smiled, and I could see over his shoulder- the door between the car I was in and the next one had opened on its own. I had this feeling that that particular car was important, but it was dark inside.

'None of this makes sense.'

"I warned you." The man's face grew dark, and he had this smile that made you feel so uncomfortable.

Startled by the sudden loud music, I looked around to see where it was coming from. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in my bedroom.

'Weirdest dream ever.'

The next time I fell into this dream, it would go the same way, but I was careful to acknowledge that I was in the dream because I wanted to know what was drawing me into the other train car.

I listened to the guy's warning, and once I saw the door to the other car, I stood up and walked over to it. As I reached the door to hold the sliding door open enough to have a peek, the man appeared right behind me and in my ear said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Startled by the loud music playing through the train- I'm awake in my bedroom. Again.

'Goddamnit.'

Third time falling in this horrid loop of a dream plays out the same as the last two times I came into the dream. I make it to the door get a small glimpse of what’s in the next car and getting an odd feeling of it.

As much as I tried to play it off and try to enter the car loud music started to echo through out the train car. Waking up in my own bed. Again.

‘Next time I have to try to shift myself into lucid dreaming to see if I can adjust the dream’

Didn’t have the dream for a while. Because of course I wouldn’t have this dream. Why would reentering this dream to investigate be easy? Someone is hiding something and doesn’t want me to find out. Waiting for enough time to go by so my dream self can’t change anything.

It finally happened. It only took a few weeks but it happened. I made it back to the dream but it was slightly different this time. Because of course it is.

‘I feel like I’ve been here before.’

“That’s because you have. You know you have. Don’t play dumb and try to play it off as you haven't already been here before. I told you to stop acknowledging you are aware that you are here.” It was the same strange man as before.

‘Is he being an asshole or is he actually here to help me?’

“Is there anyway you can help me stall? Or at least help me? What is happening here? Why is there something weird going on and why do I keep coming back here?”

“You’re asking too much. To much talking and thinking and not enough looking,” the man went from being cocky to paranoid real quick. “You need to be just going with the flow if you want to be able to stay. You’re not doing that.”

All of a sudden the power went off on the train. The train came to a sudden stop. The man and I fell over- the man had caught me mid fall preventing me from hitting my head. Which is strange because this is a dream. So, falling in a dream wouldn’t actually hurt. Would it?

The alarm bells started going off in. The train and in the neighbouring train cars we can hear commotion, like the guards are coming.

“I said too much. You need to wake yourself up before they come. If they catch you, you will be stuck here.”

What?

“When you come back, pay attention to detail. This is important for you to be able to move into the next car. Now wake up,” the man sounded scared.

“Wait, I don’t even know your name,” I tried so hard to just hold on for another second before being ripped out of dream land and back to reality.

“You know what it is-” music blaring through the train and I’m back in my bedroom.

‘What does that even mean? What is the point of this dream? Why can’t I know anything?’

The next night on queue I’m back in the train. But this time everything is completely different. The man wasn’t here this time. It was two guards. Standing at each side of the car- at the doors going to the adjoining cars.

Trying not to think and just observing and “paying attention to detail.” I need to get into that car. What if I just get up and walk into the car? People do it all of the time on trains in the awake world. What’s the difference here?

I get up, casually walk to the door to the adjoining car when the guards step in front of the door.

“I’m sorry Miss, this car is off limits. You need to have a seat.”

“She’s with me,” the man appeared and put his arm around my shoulders. He winked at me and looked back at the guards.

“You know the rules, Mr. Andrew, her kind aren’t allowed to move through cars,” I started to think of what the guard just said to me.

‘My kind?’ What does that even mean? Mr. Andrew squeezed my shoulder like he was warning me. I understood what he was doing and cleared my mind.

“Oh, come off it. She isn’t going to cause any trouble,” Mr. Andrew gave the guard a devilish smile. “Just let us through.”

The guards looked at each other like they were sending each other ‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ vibe.

“Fine. She’s your responsibility. If anything happens it’s on you,”

The guards moved out of the way and Mr. Andrew and grabbed my hand we entered the car. Stepping through felt like walking into another dimension.

‘Stop thinking,’ I tell myself.

I look up and around this car and it’s completely different set up and space from the car we came out of.

“It’s okay. You can say it. You know the rules. Be careful of what you are thinking and how you phrase things,” Mr. Andrew reminded me.

“This place is strange. I’ve never seen a place like this,” walking more into the car and looking around. I see that there are people in here. But no one looks right.

Everyone looks almost ghostly. Like you can clearly see them but they could disappear instantly if they wanted to. Being careful of my thought processes trying to figure out what Mr. Andrew was saying the last time I was here and tonight’s trip on the train.

Pay attention he told me. I could hear chatter going on in the car but doesn’t seem like anyone was talking or interacting with each other. Everyone was just sitting on the train. They are moving with the train but that’s pretty much it.

Why am I having to observe and look for specific details? What is it I’m supposed to be looking for. I see a man in the back corner who looks familiar but I can’t place where I may know him from.

“Who is that man?” I ask Mr. Andrew.

“You should already know who he is. He knows who you are,” he says condescendingly.

“Why are you always speaking in riddles?”

“I’ve already explained this to you. This is something you need to work out carefully.”

I look over at the man and the man is smiling at me. He gives me a wave like it’s an invitation to go sit with him. I ponder on it for a moment and before I could move loud music is playing throughout the train and I’m back in my bedroom.

I’m still waiting to go back into that dream. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been there last.

When will I get to go back?