Early Morning Express (2/3)

Jane decided to go to be early in an attempt to get a good night’s sleep. This, of course, meant that she would toss and turn desperately trying to fall asleep. She knew Charles was joking, but what if he was right? What if this was it, the big one? What if she dreamed about jumping on a train, and it took off forever?

She turned on the fan, hoping the white noise would help her fall to sleep. Eventually, she nodded off.

“Not again! What’s a gal got to do to get some sleep around here?” She asked.

She went out to the hall and had a notion of Deja Vu. This train was like a giant red dragon. Its breath exhaled about the platform. The other one had been all white, like a pearl. It had writing on the side that she couldn’t make out. She felt like she was in a foreign land. The air was still wet and smelled like oil. Steam was everywhere.

She saw an open door, so she went over to peer in. The conductor was wearing all red and had a long goatee.

“Welcome, Jane!” He said, “Come on in and let’s go for a ride.” He took a drag off his cig.

She looked up at him and audibly yipped. The vision forced her back a few steps. His short sleeves revealed more tattoos than she had ever seen, not that that was many.

“Who are you?” She asked.

“A friend. Come on in, and let’s take a ride. Let your hair down and have some fun for once.”

She stepped onto the train and looked around. There was nobody there but the conductor.

“Nah. I don’t think this ride is for me.”

She backed away went back to her room. She wrapped her pillow around her ears and fell back to sleep.

❦

“See any trains last night, Jane?” Charles asked. He sat his breakfast down on the table.

“Look, Chuckles, I know you’re trying to be funny, but I’m not in the mood. Last night was scary. I felt like I was about to get abducted by Satan himself.”

“Man. You need to lay off the midnight snacks, my friend.”

“Hiya Jane,” Darla said. “How’d last night go?”

“Sheesh. Is there no such thing as privacy anymore?”

“Oh. I don’t mean to pry. There’s not much to talk about around here.” Said Darla. “At our age, everything has already been said but the present.”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be so sore. It just seemed so real.”

“You never answered my question,“ said Charles.

“Yes, Chuck. I saw a train last night. This time it was red. There were no passengers. The conductor freaked me out with this long black goatee and his crazy red outfit. His shoes and socks were red. His hat too! He looked like a bad Santa from skid row. Creeped me out. He tried to get me on the train, but I told him it wasn’t for me.”

“Wow. Dark.” Said Charles. “Say, speaking of dark, did you hear about Stan? Massive coronary in the middle of the night. They found him this morning.”

“Stan was a jerk.” Said Darla.

“Yeah, I never cared much for him. All he ever talked about was himself.”

“Well, I guess it doesn’t matter now; he’s gone,” said Charles. “Speaking of gone, I’m outta here. I’m off to rehab.”

“Don’t have too much fun,” said Darla.

“I’ll have fun for all of us! See you gals later.”