The next carriage was a complete shift in theme. The modest reds and blacks were absent and in compensation, the room was an explosion of colour. The walls, the seats and the floor all had colourful shapes, flashy patterns and random designs plastered over it, to the point of being an eyesore. The loud bass of the engine was muffled and replaced with two tinny speakers quietly playing off-key instrumentals and gibberish vocals.
“Hey! Newcomer around here?”
The person who called out was right in front of them but hidden.
“Hey, can’t you hear me!?” He cried while waving his arms, until the passenger finally found him.
“Oh, I’m sorry! I couldn’t see you.”
“Oh, thank God!”, he cried out, “everyone would just come and go without ever interacting with me. I thought I was invisible or something.”
As the new passenger sat down, the man started to ask a similar question as before,
“So, where are you from?”
Obviously, no answer could be uttered still, so he moved on to his own introductions.
“My name’s Brandon. I used to be the newest to come around here, until you came along anyway. So, how did you die?”
Up till this point, the conversation was regular banter, but the last line hit them like a train.
How did they die? Death was somehow in the question? Was this just a mere sick joke? An odd, meaningless comment to speed up the pace of the talk?
These questions built up in the passenger’s mind to the point of bursting. When they did burst, Brandon was barraged by a river of unintelligible and panicked queries.
“What is this train? Is this purgatory? Is it a form of punishment? Why am I here? Are there more trains? Can you get off-”
“I don’t know!” Brandon stopped them before the situation got worse. “I don’t know, I just woke up one day and found myself in this room and I’ve been here ever since!”
“So, is there some sort of exit or a door?”, the passenger asked in an attempt to de-escalate their own feelings.
“Nothing I could find,” Brandon said. “I don’t feel like leaving though. Life wasn’t that great; I was invisible to everyone then and invisible now. I could try and get out, but that would probably be another form of death for me.” He shrugged his shoulders hopelessly. “Look outside, there’s just nothing.”
When the passenger peered out of the window, only an empty void surrounded the whole train.
“I guess you’re right about not being able to escape...” they admitted.
“I wouldn’t even have something to lie down on. I’d rather stay here, safe with my own thoughts.”
The passenger just stared at the empty space the train was going through, completely absorbed in the view, then turning their head down.
Brandon noticed this and put his hand on the passenger’s shoulder.
“If you’re really pressed about getting out, just go and ask the older passengers, maybe they’ll be of more help.”
Soaking in their bizarre and dire situation; they set out to the next compartment, until they were stopped by Brandon, 183Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjwSjwiKgT
“By the way, thanks for talking to me. Nobody ever seemed to do that.” He grinned.
Before leaving, the passenger noticed the song playing to be more intelligible.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
