The Runaway Train

Here I find myself, sat on a train.

With no idea how I came to be here.

Disorientated, I don't even remember my name.

I've tried to find a ticket, to see if that would give me a clue.

As the train shows no sign of slowing down, speeding up fast,

I turn my mind, to thoughts of you.

The last time we met, your eyes cold and bright.

Looking at me in anger.

Spoiling for a fight.

But that fight wasn't going to happen.

I had decided to take control.

And with a strength I never knew I had.

Pushed you hard, and let you go.

No one was there to see.

The wound I had inflicted before would remain a mystery.

That is, of course, if anyone notices it at all, as they scrape your lifeless body off the floor.

It can't be pleasant, being run over by a train, they will probably think 'a jumper'. The staff have all been trained.

And now, here I am, only remembering what I did to you, not remembering what happened to me. But feeling bad, feeling guilty.

Looking around, I scan the carriage.

I notice I am not alone.

Other faces, some ghostly, pale and tired, some more alive, fidgety and wired.

I think I must be going mad, going insane.

Why are we all on this train?

I wonder if anyone else has a deadly secret to tell.

Responsible for murder, feeling like they're in hell.

'Tickets please,' the conductor calls.

Not at all friendly, he doesn't stop to pause.

Still unable to find mine, I say as he approaches

'I don't seem to be able to find my ticket sir,''

As a feeling of dread encroaches.

'Don't worry about that, you don't need one on here, you won't be getting off, so have no fear.

I won't fine you today, there'll be no letter through the post, and no bill to pay. You have no name, and no address, as from now you no longer exist.

Your crime has taken you far beyond that. You will travel further on this train then most, that is a fact.

I read your thoughts, and you are correct, everyone on here, has a debt to pay.

Just, as you have yet to realise, you are also dead, you did not survive.

She wasn't dead as you thought she was, and as you pushed her deliberately under the train, her grasp on you was tight, and as she pulled you down with her, you didn't put up much of a fight. You knew what you had done was wrong.

Not all the crimes committed here, are as bad as yours. Murder in the first degree, calculated, cold, and without cause.

I am your Judge and your Jury too, and your sentencing is mine.

I order you to spend an eternity on board, where you will pay for your crime. Do you understand?'

I got up from my seat, thinking 'this must be some sort of joke'

Then quickly sat back down again, as another passenger stirred and spoke.

'Don't get up again, there's really is no point. The conductor won't change his mind.

He's been sent here from hell, to condemn us all, and he doesn't take kindly to those who brawl.

So keep to your seat, even though you'll get no sleep. There'll be no refreshments or paper to read, you'll have no defense and no case to plead.

We've all committed crimes, involving a train, and here is where we will all remain.