Kaleidoscope

A white room spread before me, and a soft light flashed on and off. The light wasn’t coming from anywhere in particular, but it softly flashed on and off.

I stood there in the white room with no beginning or ending going on forever in all directions with the light softly going on and off. The room stayed lit it would just brighten on and off every few seconds. I looked down at the all-white billowing outfit I was wearing, and I thought how I didn’t remember putting this on. But did I really remember what I had been wearing?

“Where was I?”

I thought hard…

Panic was just at the edge…

The flashing started to slow and a soft screech like metal on metal faintly started from somewhere in the distance. The flashing stopped and the screeching grew louder and my whole body jerked.

I slowly opened my eyes, and my dreamy white world was gone.

Replacing the whiteness was a little room with a long seat facing me. It looked like an uncomfortable straight-back sofa. The upholstery was a dark maroon with wear at the edges. There was a shelf above that was empty. To my right was a window and it was dark outside. To my left stood a door and windows. The door’s top half was a window but outside it was dark there too.

I sat opposite the couch on what looked like another couch of the same color and type. I could still feel that panic from the white room sitting on the edge of my mind. It was silent the little room was warmed with soft lights on the low ceiling. Nothing was in the room but me and those uncomfortable couches.

I felt a jerk and movement and my heart was thumping so loud that if someone came in, they would probably hear it beating like a drum in my chest. My mind raced but there were no memories of where I was or how I had gotten here. I started to breathe in and out slowly calming myself down and another jerk had me on my feet. Another jerk collapsed me on the couch, and I saw a light slowly move by the window and then another.

I sat breathing in and out watching for the next light counting the seconds. Another went by I counted 1,2,3 and there was another light. Watching and waiting for the lights and listening to my breathing calmed me. With the counting and breathing, I slowly realized the numbers between each light slowly lessened. I don’t know how long I sat there watching those lights and listening to my breathing but while I sat, I realized I was on a train, and we were moving.

By now I was calm enough to turn and look at the door…still no lights showing what was on the other side of the door. I stood and took a step the door slid open, but nothing happened. Did I open that door? I took a tentative step to the doorway.

In the narrow hallway, I saw down the hallway were small lights giving off a soft golden color. I saw I had a light in my part of the hallway and the light was out. I stepped into the hallway not sure which way I wanted to turn. I didn’t think I just turned to the right and took my first steps down the hallway.

The rushing in my mind and the beating of my heart faded away and I could hear soft noises. My little room was quiet, but the hallway wasn’t I could hear soft noises from the moving train. It was still pitch-black outside, but the soft noises calmed me. I felt like exploring, my fear was slowly melting away and my curiosity was growing. I didn’t remember getting on the train or it even being nighttime. As I took slow steps, I tried to remember how I had gotten here. Was it a dream? Of course, it had to be a dream, didn’t it?

I took my last step at the end of the hallway standing next to the small golden light to my right was a small hallway and another door to the left. Should I take it? I grabbed the door handle and opened the door.

On the other side was the area where each car was attached to the next there was a small gap between each car. I could see where the cars were attached but I couldn’t see below, and I couldn’t see beyond the cars with inky blackness filling the space. Even the flashing lights going by the windows were not there just that never-ending blackness.

I took a step back shut the door and turned to look back down the hallway. I quickly walked past 3 closed doors to my open door and looked at the windows and I saw the flashing lights softly but quickly passing my window.

I left my door open and quickly walked back to the door at the end of the train and went through the door and over the threshold to the other car. In that car, the hallway was on the opposite side of the car. The same lights lit the hallway and the same doors lined it to cabins with people within I hoped. As I walked by the cabins were dark within with no one sitting or sleeping. I tried the first door, but it would not open the second and third didn’t open either. I quickly moved down the train car seeing no one in the cabins or hearing human noises. I also noticed the flashing light was only in my cabin window and not the other cabins.

At the end of the car another door to another car again nothing but blackness and a door to another car. I wandered for what seemed like hours listening for human sounds up and down the train never seeing another person nor finding the end or the beginning of the train. I would find a locked door and I assumed it was to the engine or the end of the train, but no indication confirmed or denied this.

As I wondered my mind raced to try to figure out how I had gotten here but I just couldn’t remember. I could not see outside the train. The train made little noises and some movement indicating the train was going somewhere but other than that there was nothing.

At one point I was standing next to an open cabin door, and I realized it was my cabin, so I walked in, closed the door, and sat. I was tired I don’t know how long I walked or how many times I walked the length of the train back and forth. I was too tired to think so I laid down and quickly fell asleep.

I woke with a jolt, and I was in the white room again with the soft flashing light and white shapeless clothing. I stood there wondering where I was and if I should walk around here as well. I took my first step, but it was so hard to lift my foot like I was weighted down. My leg moved in slow motion like I was underwater. I moved forward inch by inch, but my surroundings didn’t change. The only color variation was my skin I didn’t see a seam in the floor showing tile or a doorway showing a possible way out. The silence raged in my head not a wisp of air stirred but the static of the silence was deafening.

A jolt startled me, and I was in another place not on the train or in the white room. I was lying flat and above me was a long florescent light that flashed not quite going out but not quite staying on. There was a beeping or clicking sound and then it was gone, and I was back on the train. I sat up from my bench and took a deep breath. I wasn’t tired anymore, but I did not want to walk up and down the train again, so I sat and pondered the situation.

Where was I? A train, but an older train, I think.

How did I get here? Unknown!

Where was I before this? Unknown!

Where was I going? Unknown!

Why hasn’t the train stopped this entire time?...

Where were the people?...

In another cabin in another train car on the same train…

A woman wakes with a jolt holding her child who is sleeping. She sits up she doesn’t remember how she got here but she is ok with her child safely sleeping in her arms. She sits for a few minutes taking a mental inventory of the situation. There is a soft golden light in the cabin on the ceiling. No one is with her but there is luggage on the rack above the bench across from her.

Outside the window it is dark but there is light on the horizon as if dawn is not far away. She can feel the gentle rocking of the train. She is not sure why she knows it’s a train, but she feels safe and comfortable. She sits for a long time before deciding to explore.

The woman carries her sleeping child and steps into the hallway outside and there are lights running down the hall of the train car giving a nice soft glow. She turns right and walks looking into each cabin as she passes. The doors are closed but through each door, she sees people. Some of the people are sleeping some are awake looking at her or out the window. No one looks scared but at peace.

She gets to the end of the hallway and is greeted by someone in a uniform it is an old fashion conductor’s uniform he helps her to pass the doorways to the next car. He tells her she is safe, and it is ok they will be at their destination soon.

In the next car everything looks the same as the one she came from except one of the lights is out in the hallway and the cabin by the light is dark and no one is in it. It doesn’t feel comfortable to her when she stops, so she walks by. The child shifts in her arms and whimpers but then she settles and goes back to sleep. This car has people in the cabins as well they all look at peace.

Back in the cabin…

I sit still pondering my situation not knowing what to do when I hear from the hallway footsteps. They stop at my doorway, but I do not see anyone in the hallway. A soft whimper of a child seeps into my cabin as the footsteps walk away. I don’t know if I want to go outside and look but think I probably should. As I stand there before opening the door, I look through the glass and no one is there. I open the door look up and down the hallway and no one is there. I shut the door and turn around to the flashing light out the windows.

Friday evening news flash….

A commuter train outside the city filled with weekend travelers has derailed killing all passengers but one. The derailment is under investigation and the cause is still unknown. The unknown survivor has been taken to a local hospital and is in critical condition.

We repeat there has been a commuter train derailment with weekend travelers leaving the city with multiple casualties and one survivor. As updates are made, we will update the public. Our thoughts are with the families over this tragic event.

As more information is released, we will provide up-to-date reports. As of right now investigators are unsure of the cause and are informing family members. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, survivor, and families of this tragic event.