The Trainride

With mounting anticipation, she clutched her bag more tightly in her fist, and minded the ukulele in her other--the damn thing refused to stay tuned despite all the curses and coaxing and cajoling she lavished upon it. She only barely endured the waiting.

The train barreled into the station with a roar, doors whooshing open to reveal an empty coach. No one boarded, and no one arrived. Up the stairs she climbed in silence, and took for herself the first available seat. A conductor passed, whose face the girl did not notice, and quickly ripped her ticket without a word. She heard the doors of the car open, then shut as the train labored on, leaving her with only the sounds of wheels on rails for company. The entire coach belonged only to her for the ride. It unsettled her.

The soft notes of plucked strings echoed through the empty carriage, as she fought to quietly entertain and distract herself.  When that ceased to sufficiently distract her, (perhaps a song or two in) she withdrew from her bag a book to immerse herself in. The pages that normally enraptured her held no sway this time, and repeatedly her eyes glossed over foreign words. Too alluring, the mystery of her abandoned coach intrigued her beyond that of the world contained in her hands.

Time drudged on. Still, she saw no one. A deep curiosity whispered in her, roused her to her feet, and she moved forward through the carriages, pushing open doors. Coach after coach, door after door, the train revealed no one--it appeared that not another soul had boarded the train. A prickling sensation climbed up her spine, as she reached the engine car.

A knock; no response. A louder one proved no more effective. She pushed open the door, and found that room, too, empty. Her breath caught in her throat. Under her awestruck scrutiny, the train continued lumbering on without guide. Carefully, she approached, staring out over the countryside--something nagged at her. Here she stood, on an empty train, whose destination she thought she knew when she boarded. The landscape proved unfamiliar to her.

"Where am I going?" she whispered.