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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#168: Choo Choo!

The concept of train travel has always been a powerful motif in story telling. Train wagons can be a great setting for serendipitous love encounters, like for Jesse and Céline in Before Sunrise, or mysterious murders, like in Agatha Christie's classic Orient Express. 


On a train, the mind wanders, time shifts, and life… unfolds. We hope that these train-inspired prompts will put you on the right track to writing some great stories.

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone looking out a train window.

Middle School – 98 stories

Write a story about a character who is moving on, literally or figuratively.

Narrative – 58 stories

Make a train station an important part of your story.

Narrative – 74 stories

Write a story about a character who misses a train, for better or worse.

Adults – 33 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Bon voyage.”

Adults – 17 stories

Stories

“The Great Train Robbery of 1398” by Cajek Veilwinter

Submitted to Contest #168

Francis looked out the train window. He was in a private First Class car: Fine trimmings along the wall, a chandelier, and full of people dressed up for Christmas Eve dinner. The place smelled like roast turkey and apple pie with whipped cream. Not his idea of a good time, but a ride on this particular train was always a special treat. The train jolted a little as it moved away from the platform as the shades who checked travel documents floated through the aisle.  He turned to see if Molly was enjoying herself, but she was lying do...

3 comments 3
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“The Animal Kingdom” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #168

Beth stared out of the train window, watching the afternoon shadows grow longer with each passing mile. It would be dark soon, but she liked the dark. Beth did her best work when the sun had gone to sleep. Tonight, Beth cut loose. The Sunset Limited served alcohol, and Beth did her best to seriously deplete their supply of tequila and hot tea. A weird combination, granted, but Beth was a big believer in satisfying one’s palate. The bitter tea coupled with the tang of silver tequila comforted her as very little else could, the lone exception ...

8 comments 8
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“Mama Wore Red Lipstick ” by Kathy O'Gorman

Submitted to Contest #168

No matter how many times I asked where we were going, my mom didn’t answer. I watched her face as she turned the steering wheel of our old gray Plymouth sedan down each street and  around each curve, and I noticed that each time tears started to pool in her eyes, she batted them away. Her lips trembled but she held her chin high. Even though I knew she was upset, there was  a look of determination in her face. Every minute or so, she looked in the rear view mirror. She patted my leg, smiled at me, and I stopped fidge...

3 comments 3
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“View From a Train” by Kimberly McFetridge

Submitted to Contest #168

        For the fifth time this week, Jasmine saw the little girl propped up in her bed looking out the window of Whitebridge County Hospital.  This part of the Whisper Valley train line was unique because it loops around in a way to give passengers a discernible view inside some of Whitebridge County Hospital. Not only was Jasmine able to identify the girl’s shoulder-length dark curls and olive skin, very much like her own, she saw the girl wave. Could she see Jasmine smile and wave back at her? ...

4 comments 4
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“37 Dollars, A Broken Watch, and a Desert Heart” by Delbert Griffith

Submitted to Contest #168

A broken watch, Jacob thought with a fair amount of bitterness. He took another bite of rattlesnake meat and stared into the fire, wondering how the hell all this happened. This is how it happened. ************** He looked in horror at the still hands on his watch – thirteen minutes too late. Sprinting through the streets of El Paso, dodging pedestrians, and jumping over curbs didn’t get Jacob to the train on time. He stared at the departure board. Not a promising start to a career as a corporate lawyer. Still, he had hope. Uber. The de fact...

10 comments 10
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“Specimen” by Joe Suarez

Submitted to Contest #168

Laura looks out of the train window, not at the scenery, but at the raindrops pelting the window in rhythmic succession. The pitter-patter, like a lullaby. She begins to feel at ease for the first time that night. As she slowly closes her eyes she suddenly jolts herself back to consciousness. 'I can't afford to sleep right now.' she tells herself. She reaches into her coat pocket and retrieves a crumpled piece of paper, she studies it, focusing on it’s contents intently with her sullen eyes. The significance of its message, so dire to her no...

2 comments 2
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“window girl” by Mia Love

Submitted to Contest #168

I see her, a girl about my age staring out the window of the crowded, loud and pee stenched new york subway cart. Shes sitting…as still as water and her eyes looked like they were at the end of a staring contest with her own reflection just— about—to crack. She had a mask on but for some reason I felt her pain and began to shed a tear. Because I know that stare. The one that never ends even when you start off looking at the people on the platform to now into the pitch black tunnel and all you see is yourself. Which shocks you a little for so...

3 comments 3
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“Changing Views” by S.Eve Rossel

Submitted to Contest #168

Changed Views S. Eve Rossel Waiting. Parked in the “pick-up” circle with other middle school parents, I spy you, laughing, chatting with friends.  As you spot our car, your face shifts, smile folds, head tucks. Simultaneously, my heart smiles and cringes. I move to super-Mom-mode, though not a place I inhabit with any honest real-estate. Hey Bud, good to see you. how was your day?  My query, as you throw your backpack into the trunk.  Lowering the hatch you say nothing.  Ensconced in your seat, ...

0 comments 0
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“love letter ” by Stephanie Kenneth

Submitted to Contest #168

I am so sorry to have made you cry my little dove. I hope you can see I am doing this for your own good, that I always have your best interest at heart. You’ve shown me nothing but kindness and welcomed me with warmth though I was a stranger. You opened your doors to me, taught me how to laugh again, how to feel again. And I opened my heart to you. Fell so deeply in love with you that it overwhelmed me. Loving you overwhelms me. It burns through my body like a plague and strips me of all things sensible. So you should understand why I did th...

5 comments 5
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“The Radius Between Us” by Nikki Little

Submitted to Contest #168

Clanging metal woke her from a dreamless sleep. Forcing her eyes open, she saw wood paneled walled and red velvet curtains with gold tassels adorning the window next to her. Snow-capped mountains in the distance steadily marched past. A small dinette table was in front of her, another plush seat facing her, empty. A lamp with a false flickering flame illuminated her space everytime shadows passed her window. The clangs got louder as they entered a tunnel, darkness falling for at least a minute before they entered daylight yet again.  ...

0 comments 0
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“What Happened to Tom?” by Patricia Merewether

Submitted to Contest #168

Tom and Jimmy had been best friends since the second grade. Tom tripped on the broken pavement on the sidewalk, fell, and his books, lunch, and art project scattered everywhere. The sidewalk, the neighbor's lawn, and onto the street. This caused Tom to burst into tears, something boys were never supposed to do in the 1930s. Several older boys laughed as Tom struggled to get up. Jimmy raced to the rescue, and everything was saved except for Tom's small glass bottle of milk. After Tom was back on his feet, tears drying, and the sandwich ...

4 comments 4
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“Murder on the Train” by Teresa Renton

Submitted to Contest #168

Murder on the Train TW Alludes to emotional and physical domestic violence She sat opposite me without a word, her head turned towards the window, her eyes unblinking. Her stony expression almost veiled her fear. I joined her in gazing at the passing landscape, each of us gaining and offering comfort from this shared activity. The rhythmic whoosh of the train continued, oblivious to everything but its mission of heading forward. Trees, fields of irregular geometry, and houses haphazardly scattered about the countryside, all rushed by, bl...

1 comment 1
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“A Town with Many Secrets” by Brain Changer

Submitted to Contest #168

In March of 1901, the Durango train blew one long whistle as it chugged into snow-covered Silverton. Young minister Jonathan Farley analyzed the oily-haired gambler running his finger along the newspaper lines describing how Choynski knocked out Johnson in the third round. A faded green silk waistcoat under a pink dress jacket with shiny elbows hinted that he was on a losing streak. Farley wanted to save him from the gambling life. He followed the finger over the page again. Familiar with the game himself, he smiled at the skills of the smal...

1 comment 1
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“A Splatter on the Tracks” by Kyle Quande

Submitted to Contest #168

His heart raced, "had anyone seen me?" But, of course not, he knew they hadn't; no one dares look at a fellow stranger on public transportation. So he sat alone, watching through the train's window as the sun rose in the east. He fiddled with a rubber band on his wrist. It had become automatic; he did it subconsciously. As the train began to move, he felt a touch of relief, but only a little. He was leaving the past behind him, yet he couldn't cease worrying it would somehow catch him, if not here, then later, perhaps at his next destination...

3 comments 3
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“The Strange Case of Madison Baker” by Brett B

Submitted to Contest #168

December 5, 2016The city was alive with the morning commute. From the train window, twenty year old Madison Baker watched as the bold and spirited traffic below plowed through slush covered streets. Everyone jockeying for position in a sea of flickering brake lights. The sun had slept in this morning. Buried beneath the blanket of a cotton-polluted sky, it would keep its warmth and riches to itself today. Madison looked around the crowded subway cab. She noted that the weather in here wasn’t much different––every face was glued to an el...

4 comments 4
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$250

Prize money

280

Contest entries

105

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - Oct 21, 2022 EST

Won by David Sweet 🏆

Title: SOUTHBOUND

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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Prompts | Big Blue Hand | 2024-11

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