Served Chilled

Food. That's all I could think about. My stomach audibly cried for me to eat something, anything.

A man at the other end of the car carried an apple, half rotten. My face twisted at the sight of such disgusting food. I was already failing at attracting attention as I rocked back and forth. Pulling my sweater closer around me, I took the time to scan the train car.

Six passengers, besides me. The cold shown on all their breaths. Siberia was nothing if not deathly freezing. There may have been more people on this train if it's heating wasn't broken. But I knew there would be no complaints to the Plogojowitz Train Company.

I felt sorry for the child huddled close to her mother. They had the most luggage out of all of us.

Perhaps they were escaping? Maybe from a bad husband and father? Maybe they were trying to escape a debt?

The notion that everyone in the train car had a story, or an agenda, excited me. It's not a trait of mine to get into people's business, but at least it was a distraction.

But, with a loud screech the train stopped, pushing the people off their feet.

"What was that?" A man, bald and pale asked. He appeared to be in his fifties.

"The train stopped," A young woman said. "There might be a block in the road."

Two men offered to speak with the engineer. Meanwhile, the rest of us waited. The little girl spoke with her mother softly. The impatient of the lot paced and kicked the mettle side of the car.

A dapper looking fellow checked his pocket watch, "This is stupid. We take a cold train to get to the show on time, only to be delayed."

His wife, covered in expensive furs, frown, "Will we miss the overture?"

Their conversation seemed rude. Most of the people on this train had very, very little. Missing their matinee wasn't going to matter. They were likely to freeze to death like the rest of us.

My parents would like them. They find those types of people so very interesting.

The two men who went to find the engineer came back, their faces somber.

"No sign of the engineer," One said.

"All the staff have disappeared," said the other.

There was a moment of silence. Looming in the air was a fog; in a time of quiet, or dread death enters the room and waits...

A man screamed, "I can't die like this." He darted for the exit. People chased after him. It would be cold out there too. Colder due to the wind. In anger, another man punched his fist through the window. The mother's hair was grabbed by another passenger. The little girl screamed.

In the panic, I swiftly took the girl into my arms, and left the train car.

Standing at a distance, was a woman. She stood tall, elegant, but she had a compassionate smile on her face. I strode towards her, the little girl whimpering in my arms.

"Welcome back," The woman, my mother said. "Did you... bring dinner?"

"Only a snack I'm afraid," I answered.

My mother hummed, "But you also brought this little one."

I nodded, placing the girl in front of me.

"Wh-where are we?" She asked, wiping he running nose. She shook from head to toe.

I placed a hand on her shoulder, "We're the Plogojowitz family. We are going to give you everything you've ever wanted."

"I'm scared," a whisper.

"Hmm, I was scared too. But we all love each other here. You'll never be cold riding the train again."

The girl looked confused, but my eyes went to my mother. We looked nothing alike, yet I couldn't imagine my life if I wasn't on that train, 128 years ago.

Pulling the girl back into a hug, I looked to my mom and said, "Get the rich ones first."