Baby Train

Slowly, Moira opened her eyes to warm light and the scent of cigarettes. Realizing she had made it to the right time and destination she shot awake.

Okay, play it cool, this is good. Usually, when you cast yourself into bodies, you don't get both time AND place right, Moira's thoughts felt loud and booming at first.

As her eyes slid across her new setting, she glimpsed a man in the far corner of the train smoking a cigarette. Quite handsome with a mildly scruffy face and slicked-back blonde hair. His clothing confirmed she had made it to the 1930s, and the train looked just like the photos she used to cast herself there.

Moira came from a long line of Casters, some people call it "body-hopping" and "time-traveling for weirdos", but her family had always cast to help people. Changing past events that wouldn't disrupt the fabric of space and time. Science had come a long way where she came from.

This must be the train that gets hijacked. Maybe it just hasn't been hijacked yet? Moira decided to speak to the man in the corner. If he can just tell me where we're headed, I'll know for sure this is the right train.

As Moira started walking down the aisle, an oddly tall old woman stops in front of her. "You shouldn't be out of your seat little one!" Little one? Kind of rude but alright. Thinking of what to say, Moira glances around the old woman to see the handsome man going through the doors between cars. Crap. "Bah, bah!" Shouts Moira. Wait what the hell was that? Why can't I speak?!

“Oh dear, do you need to use the restroom?” the old lady’s voice softened as she placed a hand on Moira’s shoulder. Yes. “Bah!”. Hoping the bathroom was where the handsome man went, she brushed past the old lady and ran to the doors. Luckily her guess was right and no one stopped her. She ran into the bathroom and locked the door. Closing her eyes tight and taking a deep breath, she turned to the mirror and when she slowly opened her right eye she realized what was wrong. Oh god. Looking back at her was a bright-eyed, brown-haired, what looked like, a two-year-old. I might’ve missed my target a little.

How the hell, am I going to do this as practically a baby with hardly any verbal skills? All of the sudden, Moira hears yelling from the car. It was muffled, but by the tone, she knew it was happening. Realizing it was too late, she slowly opened the door to peek out of the bathroom. She saw the handsome man at the front of the car yelling at the passengers waving a gun in the air. NO. Damnit. Of course, it’s him. The Handsome man turned to the bathroom. Moira jumped, closed, and locked the door quickly hoping he didn't see her. It’s okay, I don’t think he saw- A calm deep voice with a slight twang to it came from behind the door. “Hey little lady, why don’t you come out here, I ain’t gonna hurt ya.” Something about his words sounded off for the time period, but she wasn’t going to try to analyze a criminal's behaviour right now.

Weighing her options and finding them wanting, Moira slowly opened the door. “Well hey there, why don’t you take my hand.” How does he have so much charm? Aren’t I supposed to hate him? Focus, Moira, he’s literally about to kill all of these people. Ew, okay.

He yanked her next to him and walked back towards the passengers waving his gun in the air. “Now y’all listen here. If you don’t do what I’m askin’ ya, I will take this little darlin’ away. This train ain’t stoppin’ nowhere until I say so.” The handsome man spits out of the corner of his mouth and pointed the gun at me. “Not my baby, please!!” a young woman screamed in the crowd. Huh, I guess that’s my mom. “Shut up!” He shouted back. Staying calm was likely the best course of action, thought Moira. She pretended she was confused by what was happening. As she scanned the crowd she saw another kid, well, a teenage boy. He looked like someone Moira’s age when she was in her body. He’s looking right at me? The teen was gesturing to bite. Bite… Bite what? OH, bite the handsome man!

The man clutching her arm was busy trying to keep an eye on all of the passengers as Moira prepped herself to bite his hand as hard as she could. In 3…2…1. The handsome man yelled at the top of his lungs and the gun dropped. In a split second Moira kicked it to the passengers and ran for the group. She had bit his hand so hard that the handsome man was bleeding. She actually realized she had lost a couple of baby teeth in the process. Ow. “Why you little-”. The handsome man fumbled toward her holding his hand. A large grizzly man stepped in front of me. His booming voice took over the car, “Why you little what?”. The grizzly man crossed his arms, and stood tall, soaring above the handsome man. “You think you can come on here, with your little gun, and your little suit, thinking you can take over this train? You can’t even take on a two-year-old for God’s sake.” The passengers roared with laughter. The handsome man stepped back and tripped over the teenage boy's leg stuck out in the aisle. The passengers were keeled over and the laughter was frenetic but joyous. “Stop the train, stop the train, stop the train.” They chanted. The train slowly came to a halt, and as the men of the train pushed the handsome man out the doors into an empty field, the grizzly man turned to Moira with a wink and said “Great job, Moira.” What a nice…Wait, DID HE JUST SAY MOIRA? HOW DID HE-wait- NO, IS THIS A TEST? ARE YOU SERI-Everything went black.

“Amazing job Moira.” The words faded in with her vision. “You passed.” Moira looked up to see her father. “I cast myself into a two-year-old, Dad, I wouldn’t call that ‘amazing’.” Moira’s father chuckled, “Moira, you overcame an obstacle that a lot of Casters would just consider a failure and come back to their body. You have shown you can adapt to any situation, and be successful at it. I am so proud of you.” I’m not crying. You are. “Thanks, Dad.” Moira’s father kissed her forehead. “But next time, let’s try to calculate our jumps a little better.” They both shared a laugh. “By the way, the man who hijacked the train was a Caster as well. That’s why I stepped in.” Wait are you SERI-.