Ghost Train

I'm always late. It's one of my crosses in life. I've lost jobs
because of my lack of punctuality, girlfriends - missed one off
lifetime events. My whole life I've tried really hard to get to places
on time, but it's like I'am cursed or something. The struggle and
frustration of trieing to get from A to B - same old story. Catching a
bus or a train is like trieing to catch a fish sometimes.

So when the train rolled in smack bang on time, it was like seeing a
vision of an angel; euphoria personified gliding slowly towards me.
Today of all days I needed to be on time; and here was Jesus walking on
the water. I couldn't believe it: I was chuffed. For all the years I've
been catching this train, I have never known it to be on time.

But having said all that, there was something odd about this train. I
couldn't quite place what it was, perhaps it was because there was no
destination written on the front carriage like there normally is. No
announcement coming from the station speakers of it's arrival, no train
gaurds with their whistles walking up and down the platform. And the
train seemed old, not as high-tech as the trains I'm used to. Something
didn't feel quite right about it. I shrugged my shoulders and just put
it down to tired paranoia. I have an over-active imagination at
times.

I boarded the train, and sat in my own space away from everyone else
by the window; and when the train began moving, I reached into my
rucksack - pulled out a notepad and pen, and began writing. Every now
and then I would look up from the page, and gaze vacantly out of the
window at the scenery which rolled by; trieing hard to find the right
words to describe something. After what seemed a good half hour or so,
I began to notice something strange. I was sure the train had not
stopped at any of the stations it ussually does; but had just gone
straight through them all. Perhaps it had stopped and I had not
noticed; being deep in thought about my writing and all. Nothing to
worry about I guess. I continued to write.

A short while later, I knew that something was wrong. The train went
straight through my stop, and I panicked. I had stood there at the
carriage doors, waiting to get off; but the station sign sped past the
window, and I realised then that this train wasn't stopping. It was at
that point also I noticed the other passengers on the train, and there
was something very odd about them.. they weren't talking, and all their
faces were pale, like they could use a shot of vitamins or something -
and all of them were just sitting there staring... staring at me.

I felt unnerved, a cold sweat began to form on the back of my neck. I
tried my best to ignore them and started making my way to the back of
the train; hoping maybe I might find the ticket collector, or at least
someone who could tell me what was going on here. But every carriage
was the same: full of people sat staring in eery silence. I saw the
stop after mine go rolling past the window and I grew anxious..

"What you all looking at?" I said feeling stressed, trieing to provoke
some kind of reaction out of these people, anything was better than
this uncomfortable staring, but nobody responded. To say I was freaked
is not enough, I was in the twilight zone, and I needed to get off.
Today was my first day at a job I really wanted, working for a
well-known magazine. I was going to be making a living doing the one
thing I love to do in life: writing. This was a once in a lifetime
opportunity, I really didn't want to mess it up. I had to get there on
time.

I looked above me, and saw the red emergency pull chain. And next to it
written in big bold letters:

"MISUSE OF THIS EMERGENCY STOP COULD RESULT IN A MINIMUM FINE OF 100
POUNDS."

Was this an emergency? Yes, I didn't care if I got fined, I would pay
it off later, this job meant a lot to me. I reached up, took a deep
breath, then pulled the chain... it broke off in my hand like fake
plastic jewelry and nothing happend - the train continued to move. I
looked around me desperately, holding this weak piece of metal in my
hand; everybody in the carriage just continued to stare. God I was
scared. There was something wierd going on here. These people: there
was something wrong with them. My heart thumped wildly in my
chest.

I ran to the next carriage to try the emergency stop chain in there. I
didn't hesitate this time as I reached to pull it. But the same thing
happend: it broke off in my hand. I ran to the next carriage and yanked
that chain, the same thing happend. After the fourth carriage I knew it
was hopeless, this train wasn't going to stop.

"Can I help you sir?" A voice spoke behind me. I turned round to see
the ticket collector stood in her uniform. I was relieved to finally
hear someone's voice, someone I could get a response from; but still,
there was something about her.. something that gave me the
creeps.

"Yes, I need to get off this train." I said.

"Why don't you just sit down."

The passengers continued to stare.

"Where is this train going?" I asked.

"Don't you know?"

"No"

"Well this train doesn't stop now till it crashes into another train in
approximately five minutes time. All these passengers are the people
who boarded this train when it crashed fourteen years ago. This is a
ghost train sir."

I tried to take in what she had just told me, but there was no way I
could buy it. There was something very odd going on here, yes I would
admit to that, but it didn't involve the supernatural. I'm afraid I was
a sceptic when it came to tales of the paranormal. I believed there had
to be a logical explanation for everything; two ghost trains colliding
seemed implausible to me.

"I don't believe in ghosts." I said slowly. "What's really going on
here?"

"I assure you, I am telling you the truth. Ghosts are quite real." She
said smiling.. and as she spoke her face mutated into a skull and all
the people in the carriage transfigured into skeletons.

I backed away suddenly in shock and surprise, surely I was seeing
things. I was having some kind of wierd hallucination or I was
dreaming, this couldn't be real; but no matter how many times I closed
and re-opened my eyes, there was the skull dressed in a uniform stood
there in front of me. I felt myself hyper-ventilating.. I was scared
out of my mind.. perhaps this really was a ghost train... I
panicked..

"But I wasn't one of those passengers." I said looking around me
desperately for some sort of exit. But there was no exit. "I thought it
was my train, I have to get off. There's been a mistake. I can't die,
you don't understand - I'm.. I'm not a ghost."

"You soon will be." The ticket collector said.

And everyone on the train began to laugh at me.. a cruel sort of
laughter, a laughter that hurts you, that turns the blood cold. A
laughter that crippled me inside and made me want to curl up into a
ball and go into myself - try to escape from it somehow, but there was
no escape, nowhere to run. Then it came: the crash.. and all I remember
is seeing the carriage turn upside down and rip open like a corned beef
tin.. horror, blood, screams, laughter.. and

blackness..