Where It All Began
Morning trains have to be one of the best times to exist. Nothing feels calmer than the fresh and crisp breeze that doesn’t wake you up completely, but just perfect enough to make you feel grateful. It’s this breeze I rip myself off the bed every dawn for. It’s same every day, yet it always ceases to fascinate me. The roads, those tiny villages, random graffiti on the walls, and the breeze. My earphones blast the same shuffle of songs every morning, the same set of ladies in my train trying to get to their jobs while managing to keep their lives on life, and yet I’d always find each day a tad bit different.
I closed my eyes and felt the breeze carefully caress my face, as if it were trying to keep my hair out of my eyes, but also not trying to wake me up. It carried a different scent each day. Today it was fresh dew. The skies had just cleared after continuous storms from last night and now the Earth glistened. Diamonds on the grass made the air even cooler. My college was exactly 12 stations away from my home station. As I half slept, I mentally kept a check of which station we passed.
Now, we were on the 4th. There are little things that I tend to observe more than the bigger ones. Like the 3rd station had a lady who’s soon-to-be husband would come to drop her off, and she would have this huge smile as they waved to each other from the windows. The 5th station had a bunch of girl students hop on the train, with books in hands and boys in mind, with everyday gossips and cheap bracelets. The 7th station would be the stop for one of those ladies who always wears a cross in her neck and beads on her hand, who also meets with a guy who takes her bag off her shoulders and puts it over his to hold her hand with his other hand. Little things that make me smile, every day.
As the 5th station approached, I kept my eyes closed and felt the vibrations of a bunch of shoes hop on the train with a few giggles. As I slept into my thoughts, a million things started circling. Friends, my recent break up, career, self-doubt, negligence, the will to run away. How I wish the breeze could take me away from my own mind sometimes. I sighed and tried focusing more on the song.
There was a huge lake between the 5th and 6th station. It would take about 10 minutes for the train to cross it, which means about 2 and half songs. I was on my 4th songs, and the smell of the lake still lingered. Something was wrong. I was sitting by the window with my head out, so I couldn’t see other people but I felt them. I opened my eyes and I saw the lake. We were still crossing it. It never takes this long. I turned to unlock my phone, when I realized,
I was now all alone on this train. Not a rustling sound. My mind went blank. This can’t be. I must be dreaming, I must have actually got off to sleep. I need to wake up. I tried shaking my hand, splashing some water on my face, yet nothing changed. I was actually the only person on this entire train. Now, panic had started taking over me. What was I supposed to do? The train can’t stop over a lake, I can’t jump off in the lake, and no network connection for me to call somebody.
But I had to do something? I got up my seat and went over to the emergency pull plug. This was my only option left. If the train was running, there had to be some one to drive it. This would give them a message about something being wrong. I lifted the glass panel and placed the plug in my palm.
Okay, on 3. 1, 2, Pull. The train didn’t stop. Pull again. No change. Pull a couple of times, this must be broken. Yet nothing.
At this point, I was on the verge of a full panic attack. My only option was to jump. In the freezing goddamn lake. I would prefer this than dying all alone on a train, even if it was my hallucination. Nothing mattered now. It was the jump, or nothing. And I can’t do nothing. I hung my bag over my shoulders, and walked myself to the open gates. The wind, now, was aggressive and fast. As it were warning me.
I know this is a super bad idea, what else do you want me to do? Wait for nothingness?
I took deep breaths. I was giving myself a mental note just when I head footsteps behind me. I turned around to see a man with a sling bag over his shoulder, a uniform I’ve never seen, and something that looked like a ticket in his hand.
“Oh, come on, don’t look at me like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said casually,
“What’s happening?” I asked looking at him, point blank, no expression,
He looked at me with a confused expression, “Wait, you can see me?”
“Do you think this is a good time for a joke? Please tell me what in the world is going on? Where is everyone else? Where is this train going? You know what never mind, just tell me when the next station is going to arrive, I need to get off,”
“Answer my question, can you actually see me?”
“Who do you think I’m talking to right now, the air? Of course, I can see you. Can you please tell me what’s going on?” If this man said something utterly stupid again, I would kick his ass into this lake, then jump, while crying with panic.
“This has never happened before. Not in the last 25 years has another human seen me.”
That’s it, he’s going to get kicked in the lake.
He walked over to me calmly, “After every red moon, this train hops the boundaries of time. Travels to destinations, hoping to onboard somebody that one passenger we’ve been looking for. This happens every 30 years, but now, it’s 5 years early. This has never happened before.”
“Sir, you’re the only person I can see on this train. The tracks aren’t ending, and no station is showing up. The lake feels like an ocean. Something is wrong and I need to know if I’m dying. Is this the train to afterlife?”
He laughed, “Silly, you,” he said, “There’s no such thing as afterlife, this is the only life you get.” He then sat beside me and looked in my eyes. Brown eyes with a hint of amber, weirdly crafted nose, thin lips, and edgy eyebrows, everything about his face made him feel a bit less normal. His hair was curly, and he smelled of forest wood.
I had calmed down a little now and had to come to terms with the fact that this was real.
“I’m Jim,” he said, “And I need to check a few things to confirm it’s you,” his plastic smile never wore off, as if he were trained for this exact moment. “Do you happen to know an Esther Miller?”
“My grandmother?”
“So that’s where you get the familiarity from,” he nodded in reassurance. He moved closer to me and looked directly into my eyes, “Even the amber eyes run in the blood. Esther’s were more brown, though.”
“You know my grandmother? She’s been on this train?”
He smiled knowingly,
“But mom says she died in a faraway country when I was two. There’s no way she was in this city to take this train,”
“Makes you question the limits of time, doesn’t it?” He asked rhetorically as he took my left hand and looked at my thumb,
“What are you doing?”
“Just checking. You’re all set, Selene.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Esther told me you’d make it here someday,” he got up and walked towards the gates,
“Okay, enough of this already. I need to get off this train, please make it stop,”
His head slightly tilted towards the left, eyes filled with pity, and a sad smile, “There is no going back,” He looked at me like I was a lost puppy, “Once you take the train to Eswa, there’s no going back.”
“Sorry, what?"
“The ultimate mirror of your world. You’ll know when you get there.”
I was about to bombard him with questions just when a bright light encompassed the entirety of the train, blinding me. It went silent. No voice, no static. Just pure white and it was burning my eyes. I could see the light through my eyelids. Suddenly the train speed increased. Just like when a car is about to jump off a cliff. I grabbed the nearest poll in the train and clung to my life, when I felt a sudden change in pressure and the train stopped. In just about a minute, it became normal. No white light, chirping birds, and Jim.
I looked outside. We were surrounded by what looked like a normal station, some trees, benches, and boards.
“Welcome to Eswa,” Jim said, “You might want to get off the train now. Once you get on and miss Eswa, no one knows where the train takes you next.”
As if I wasn’t scared and confused enough already,
“What do I do? Whom do I go to? I don’t know any one here, how am I supposed to get back home?” I asked him before getting off,
“Everything will fall right in place, just walk the steps and complete the journey.” He spoke. The train started running soon after I got off. I looked around me for another human being, but absolutely nobody in sight. Holding on to my bag, I started following the boards that said ‘Exit’. Maybe I could figure out something once I find a way out of this station. I could feel the difference in the air, the ground, and the trees. This wasn’t my world, and I had started to see it.
This is where it all began.
