Afterworld Train

Smoke fills my head; ashes fly around, but it's quiet now. I smell and feel a scent. Cupcakes and chocolate ice cream. Am I still dead or just woke up at home? And I feel movement, a halt, then move again.

It's not dark anymore. I thought I had my eyes open, and now, I see a different light. I'm sitting on a train; I move; I lurch at each new stop. How did I get here or run? Is this a train for rescue? Do I have friends around, or am I lost?

I check my pocket and the seat. No ticket to tell where I'm headed. The train goes around a bend, then up higher a mountain. I don't know where I am or where to go. I try to get up, and I spring, almost touching the ceiling. My limbs feel different, so much lighter; a step takes me to the end of the carriage. A tiny thought brings me back to the seat.

After a while, hunger gets the best of me, and I get up cautiously to follow the cupcake smell. I tiptoe though I can't see anyone; I look out the window, and then I see it. The train is headed to a gigantic cross made of elephants. I've never heard of such a monument, and I get shivers just looking at it from the corner of my eye.

The cross is still far, but it feels like it's the final destination for some reason. Hunger makes war with my stomach, so I put the cross out of my mind for a while. Who could be cooking, and where are they hiding? I open a tiny door on the side corridor, and the cupcakes come rushing in. Walking, dancing, some whispering of a stranger they spotted.

They smell delicious! They're alive, my brain adds!

I pinch myself and close my eyes for a few seconds. When I look again, I have three cupcakes chatting on my knee. And looking up to see how I'm doing. They pat my knee, but I can't understand what they're saying. I fell as if I should, but their words come like a memory, half-words, half-gestures of a dream from long ago.

I'm still hungry, but I can't eat them. And maybe it's their train, so I wouldn't want to be left without a driver too. I pat one of them, and I get a smile back. Then they all jump and start dancing on the opposite seat. I take my chance to get up and explore some more. There's no sign of slowing down, but the cross looks clearer now. More dangerous and vivid somehow.

The elephants have twisted horns, and their eyes look ready to spit fire. Am I an intruder on this train? Where am I being taken? Have I got on the wrong ride?

I go to the far end of the carriage and attempt to open the door, hoping to see the conductor peeking at me. And when I touch the handle, a wail begins. So shrill and deep I have to cover my ears. My eyes are watering, and I stumble. Is it a creature? Is this train taking me hostage on a never-ending trip?

I wait for the wail to recede, and I see blood. It dripped from my fingertips, slashed in the place where I touched the handle. The blood stands midway in the air and slowly makes circles, then lands in puddles and forms words.

'No hope lies after door. Sins and treachery to be reckoned at the cross. Window to comfort lost souls.'

I retrace my steps back to my seat. There are identical seats around me, but one is marked above in red initials. Mine. No cupcakes greet me now, they vanished, and their song is gone.

Hunger forgotten. I ponder on the words. I remember the written floor, and I can read again. Words etched on my fingers stand out in golden scars.

Windows. What if I can get out that way? I remember the wail, and I hesitate. But thinking of the cross makes me stand up. Something tells me I don't want to meet the elephants for the reckoning. I touch a handle cautiously. No shrieking now, just quiet.

I edge my window slightly open. Air comes in, then black dust. I can't breathe; ash is all around; it strangles me.

The cupcakes are back in a flash. Angry little whispers come up from behind me and slam the window shut.

They sit down. And start talking. This time I can make out what they're saying.

'The window isn't real. It's a dimensional panel keeping out the deadly air after the volcano erupted. Everyone you left behind is gone. We are the train guardians and keep the air clean in here. Any attempt to get out will get you killed.'

'Why don't I remember any of it? Where are my friends and my mom?'

'You were the only one left alive on your house roof after the lava started flowing."

Slowly, I start to see scenes like in an old movie. I hear my mom and the friends who came over last night screaming, running, telling me to be faster. And keep running. On the highest floor, the house we had on the cliff. Lava coming, red, searing any thoughts. Will I live? Can I help them? How high and how fast do we need to go?

An explosion takes down the house, and I fall. Falling for days. Then water splashes. Then darkness.

And now I realize I don't have my glasses on. I look around again. Those aren't cupcakes; they're snakes! They talk and slither, and they're spreading sweet-smelling poisons around me.

I'm trapped! How do I get out? This isn't a train; it's a submarine!

© 2022 Amy Christie