Illusive Train

When I opened my eyes, colors passed in a blur. The side of my face was pressed against a cold glass window. Alerted, I suddenly pulled back. Trees and hills flew past the window.

I took a quick glance at my surroundings. I sat in a booth like seat. A few people were scattered around sitting in seats identical to mine. Some reading the paper, looking out the window, or chattering with their companions.

Where am I? The seat beneath me felt like stiff velvet against my fingertips. The coloring was a dark maroon with a floral pattern stretched scarcely throughout the seat. It reminded me of my grandmother's couch. The walls and ceiling displayed an ugly pea green with embossed floral patterns like the seats. I glanced up and down the aisle and that's when it hit me. I'm on a freaking train!

How did I get here!? The last thing I remember is getting on the city bus to meet my best friend at the library to finish our English assignment at the local college. How did I end up on the train? Where are we going? What happened to me? A panic attack started to rise as the unwanted possibilities flooded my mind. My breathing quickened, my chest rising up and down as I tried to take in deep breaths to get air to go into my lungs. Having anxiety and being an introvert does not make this situation any better.

"Are you okay, miss?" I heard from behind me. I turned to see a handsome man in the seat behind me. His hair was a dark brown that matched his twinkling chocolate-colored eyes. Eyes filled with concern staring directly at me. He was dressed nicely. A white dress shirt with a black jacket over it. His matching black tie hung loosely a bit like he needed to get some air and pulled it away from his neck. I assume he was wearing dress pants and shoes since I could only see the top half of his body. He seemed young, around my age.

"Where am I?" I managed to get out after I ashamedly checked him out.

"Uh..." he muttered as his eyes glanced around the train car, then back to me. "...on the train?" It was then that I realized he had an accent. It sounded like British or maybe Australian. I had a hard time deciphering the two. He was looking at me like I was crazy.

As I mimicked his glance around us, I asked lowly, "How did I get on this train?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him still staring at me. "You walked in with your legs?" I swiftly turned my head to him. Smartass. "Are you feeling okay?" He questioned again, probably certain that I've completely lost my marbles.

"Um...yeah. I just...I don't remember getting on the train. How long have I been asleep?"

"I'm not sure. I sat here this morning, and you were sitting there already asleep. I haven't noticed you on the train since we left the station. You must spend most of your time in your room. My name is William Clark, by the way."

He politely held out his hand. I took it in a handshake and replied, "Nicole Summers."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Summers," he said with a smile.

I gave him a small smile back. I was too freaked out to smile properly. My phone! The thought came out of nowhere, and I frantically started checking my jean pockets. Nothing. I searched the seat, sticking my hand in the creases to make sure it hadn't fallen through the cracks. "Have you seen my phone?"

"Your phone?" He gave me a questioning look.

"Yeah, it's an iPhone with a pink case." I stuck my head down below the seat to see if it fell on the floor. Nothing under there. When I lifted up, I noticed he was still looking at me weird. Since I was now on my knees in my seat, I could see the other passengers better. All the men were wearing suits similar to William's. Their hair was nicely combed over or wearing a hat. The same kind of hats my grandpa always wore. The ladies all wore pretty dresses with their hair all done up nice. I felt like I was looking into an early 1900's movie.

I suddenly got a weird feeling. I turned back to William. "What's today?"

"Tuesday."

I was referring to the date, but when he answered with Tuesday, I said, "No, no, no, it can't be Tuesday. It was Friday. I remember it was Friday."

His eyebrows scrunched up. "We left the train station on Friday."

I stared at him, waiting for him to tell me he was just joking around. But the serious expression remained on his face. I gazed all around me at the other passengers again. This can't be happening. I'm dreaming. But why does this feel so real? "This isn't happening. This isn't happening," I whispered to myself.

William stood from his seat and held his hand out to me. "Let's say we go get you some water and go to your room so you can rest?"

I briefly hesitated before I put my hand in his. Water and rest sounded good. Maybe if I fell back to sleep, I’d wake up from this bizarre dream. He held my hand while we walked down the aisle to a corridor. The people were staring at me like I was something out of a zoo. One lady gasped while staring at my jeans, nudging her lady friend beside her as she tried to slyly point. The other lady mimicked her reaction.

I didn't say a word as I followed William. The wheels in my head were spinning. Once we reached the section where the rooms were, he stopped and turned to me. "Which room is yours?"

I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

"You don't remember your room?" I shook my head. "Right. Um...do you have your ticket? We can look on it."

I searched my pockets again in case I overlooked the ticket because my mind was solely focused on finding my phone. All I found was lint. William stood staring at me for a moment before he put his hands on the top of my head and started settling his fingers in my hair. I backed away from his invasion. "What are you doing?"

"I was checking your head to see if maybe you've fallen and hit it on something. It could explain your current amnesia."

"You can't just put your hands in someone's hair like that." I'm not sure why I felt offended. He was just trying to help and had been nothing but nice to me this whole time I've been freaking out.

"I apologize, Miss Summers. I should have asked permission," he admitted with a face full of guilt.

"It's okay. Just ask next time." I cringed. Why did I say next time? Ignoring my ignorance, I brought my hands to my head to check for any bumps or sore spots. I found none. "I don't think I hit my head. It's fine."

A couple dressed in the same attire as the others emerged from a room. Once they passed, I heard them whispering to each other. No doubt about the girl who was wearing pants. I turned to William and asked the question I dreaded the answer to. "William?" He looked at me. "What year is it?"

His expression softened. He felt sorry for me. "It's nineteen twenty-six."

I felt like I was going to faint. My heart started beating erratically. I shook my head. "No, that can't be right." I turned away from him and steadied myself by leaning against the wall and closed my eyes. "This is just a dream. Just a dream. It's not real. I'm dreaming."

I felt a soft touch on my shoulder. I opened my eyes to see William standing next to me. "Darling, I guarantee you this is all real."

Just as he finished his sentence, the train jerked forward, knocking us down to the floor. That's odd. Why would the train jerk forward?

"Are you okay," William asked as he lent me a hand to pull me off the floor.

"Yeah, I think so." I looked out the window. Everything was going by so fast I could hardly see a thing. The train had sped up immensely. "What's going on?" I said more to myself than anything.

Curiously staring out the window beside me, William answered, "I'm not sure. I'll go talk to the operator and see what's happened."

"I'll come with you," I quickly said, not wanting to be alone now that everyone is whispering about me.

William took hold of my hand and led me to the front of the train. Without letting go of my hand, he used his free hand to knock on the door to the driver’s compartment. We stood waiting for someone to open, but they didn’t. He knocked three more times. Each knock came with no answer. He had a look of concern and then reached for the handle.

He opened the door to find an empty cab. He glanced at the controls, and I assume he didn’t know anything about trains when he turned for us to go back into the main part of the compartment. As we entered, all the other passengers had cleared out. Not a soul sat in the recently occupied seats. As we walked through the aisle, William didn’t seem to notice the peculiar occurrence. He led me through the sleeping quarters to a back section. He opened a door when we came to a dead end, but I assume it was empty, because he closed it right back shut.

His eyebrows furrowed, and he seemed deep in thought. I looked around and realized I didn’t see a single person. It made me uneasy. The feeling that something was terribly wrong rolled within pit of my stomach.

William started walking back toward the sleeping quarters. As we passed, every door was open but not one single person was visible. I could feel my chest constricting again. Everything around me started to blur, and I felt like I was moving in slow motion.

“Miss Summers?” I heard William’s voice break through the swirl going on in my head, and he suddenly came into focus. He was standing directly in front of me with his hands on my shoulders.

I blinked a few times as my head cleared. “Sorry, I get bad anxiety sometimes.” I glanced around at the sitting area I had awoken from. Still empty. “Where is everyone,” I questioned softly to myself. I saw William’s eyes look around without moving his head. Then back to me with a look on his face.

“You sure are a strange one Miss Summers. Why don’t you have a seat and rest a moment. I’ll go see if I can find who’s in charge.”

I didn’t really want to be alone, but I didn’t feel very well so I nodded to him and sat. He would just be behind the door anyway. Geez, get a grip Nicole. Stop being such a baby. As I sat and watched the world literally fly past me, my mind began to run. This must be a dream. But it didn’t feel like a dream. It was too vivid, too real. But what other explanation was there? I ran back my steps before I got on the bus. It was three in the afternoon. I walked straight to the bus stop two blocks from my apartment building. I didn’t talk to anyone along the way. I spent the beginning part of the day in my apartment alone. It’s not like I had taken a drink from someone and been drugged or roofied. I don’t think so anyway. I retraced my actions the past two days in my head, and all I know is what I knew before. Nothing.

I sighed loudly in frustration. There’s just no logical reason I would be on a train. Much less a train from 1926! My eyes moved from the window to glance around the section I sat in. Still empty. I leaned over in the aisle to look down to the sleeping quarters. No one in sight. That eerie feeling was back again.

I looked back to the door that led to the driver’s cab. William has been gone an awful long time. When I stood up, a wave of nausea hit me. Dread filled my senses. Something’s wrong. I slowly step closer to the door that William entered. It seemed like it took ages for me to reach it. I put my hand on the lever. A moment of hesitation, then I turned it slowly. I pulled the door open and stepped in. I looked from my right to my left. Sheer panic overcame me. The cab was empty!

How is the cab empty? I watched William enter here with my own two eyes. “William!?” I shouted out. I turned around and stared down the middle of the train car. I shouted William’s name again. Nothing but the sounds of the metal wheels against the track. The sounds of the train engine rumbling. I turned back around and walked a little further into the cab. I scanned over the controls wondering which one was the brake. I timidly sat in the chair in front of the controls as I looked them over.

“This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening,” I once again found myself whispering. My eyes slowly shifted up to the small window in front of me. They nearly bulged out of my head when I saw what was up ahead! The train was heading straight for a broken bridge. I could see the old destroyed wooden planks falling from the structure.

Instinctively, I started pulling levers and pushing big buttons that I had no idea what they did or were for. I did everything I could, and the train kept going full speed. I’ll jump out! I ran through the train car to the back where I saw a door leading to the outside. I felt relief when I reached it. But it was short lived when I saw there was no doorknob! I ran to the other one on the opposite side. No handle either. I sprinted back up the aisle to the driver’s cab. Still no sign of William. Or anyone for that matter.

When I looked out of the window, we were too close to the bridge for me to do anything. With my heart pounding so hard against my chest, I watched as we got closer and closer to death. As soon as we hit the bridge, I ducked my head and let out a blood curling scream.

I felt the sense of falling, the kind you get when you ride on a roller coaster. Suddenly, there was an impact where I jerked forward. I opened my eyes still screaming.

I took in a deep breath and tried of make sense of where I was. I raised up abruptly. Several sets of bewildered eyes were looking at me. We came to a stop, and I instantly recognized the familiar sound of the parking brake on the bus. My eyes darted all around. I was on the bus. It really was a dream. And now all these people just witnessed me screaming. My face flooded with embarrassment. I looked out the window and realized we were at my stop for the library. And if I didn’t hurry up, I wouldn’t be able to get off until the next stop. I grabbed my backpack off the dingy bus floor and hurried to the door.

As I went down the steps, I accidentally bumped into a man as I stepped down onto the pavement. I turned as I told the man, “I’m so sorry.” The man, who was already on the first step of the bus, was wearing black jeans and boots. He wore with a plain white t-shirt and a black ballcap. And as he slowly raised his head for me to see his face, a pair of twinkling brown eyes looked down to mine.

I was frozen where I stood, looking up at the familiar handsome man. He smiled widely and tipped his ballcap to me. “Miss Summers.” Without another word, I watched William Clark turn away as the door on the bus tightly shut.