Write a short story that takes place on a train.

Posted in High School on Oct 26, 2022

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✍️ 128 stories

“Royally Charmed” by Neva Zamudio

Submitted to Contest #27

I stare out the glassy train window. It’s like my life is going on without me like I'm not the one controlling my body. The train passes herds of horses, magical meadows, fertile fields, and vast villages. Eventually, the noise of the train clicking over the tracks lulls me to sleep. In my dream, I’m flying and many people try to drag me down, but I don’t let them. I keep flying and then suddenly I’m free! My feet touch the ground in a village and find an old oracle waiting for me at the steps where I landed. He looks at me with a sad smile ...

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“blowing tracks” by Unknown User

Submitted to Contest #27

I finished the hard part of my mission, or you could call it the easy part, if easy to you is: impersonating a prisoner of war, getting onto a train headed to an iron mine, mining iron for 20 hours straight, and finally sneaking onto a train loaded with iron heading straight to the factories that produce weapons that kill thousands of people.But I guess that the part of the mission that lay ahead of me was going to be equally as hard in it's own way. I should really be uncoupling the train cars to slow it down but I have to sleeeeeeeeee...

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“Beyond the pine forests” by Chelsea Vegter

Submitted to Contest #27

As the wind blew past me and swept my hair in front of my face again, it was only another reminder that I had allowed another train to pass me by. In my head I knew that I was suppose to get on that train, but the actual action of it was paralyzing. There were so many unknowns in this world and this next leap was the biggest of all. I turned around with my suitcase in hand and started walking back towards the box office. Deep down I wanted to go, but I couldn’t do. I couldn’t make the change. It was just too difficult. As I approached t...

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“Emergency Rations” by Synia Sidhe

Submitted to Contest #27

The train’s shrill whistle was a javelin through the heart of serenity.Percy stretched awake, his long fingernails scraping against the interior of the crate.“Eduardo?” He hissed. “Miguel? Sam?” His vassals should be enticing him back to the world of the living with honey-blood tea right now. He pulled the release handle with one hand and pushed at the lid of the crate with the other. It didn’t open. Something on top of his bed rattled.“Oi,” Percy puffed, rubbing his throbbing eyes. “For all the trips for me to end up in a luggage pile, it h...

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“Night Train” by William Webster

Submitted to Contest #27

In his bedroom three blocks away from the railroad tracks that split the town in half, Richard hears the train whistle. Every night at midnight, when the train barrels west towards Garret Tunnel and River Junction, it approaches the grade crossing in the center of town and she blows her whistle. It’s a lonely sound. The engineer and firemen in the cab and brakeman riding solo in the caboose are the only living souls on the train. Every day engineer Jonathan Luther hauls freight out of Central Station to ...

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“In Between” by Jennifer Riley

Submitted to Contest #27

It’s hard to find work these days. At least it is for those of us that don’t actually have what are generally referred to as “skills”. For years I worked at a nice, mindless job at a factory where I was, frankly, resigned to work for the rest of my life. A place where I could basically check out mentally for eight hours a day and get paid for it. But the factory closed and everyone lost their jobs and I was reduc...

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“Rising Sun” by Danila F. Dias

Submitted to Contest #27

Rising SunThere’s something really special about a train ride in the morning. You can take a train in the middle of the day, the end of the day, the evening, or any other time of day, but a train ride in the morning is so different from all of those. There are so many types of people on the train in the morning. They could be going home from a night of partying or they could be heading to work. Or there could be a person like me. Just taking a train for the ride. I look at the far end of the train car. The smell of cigarette smoke is overpow...

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“One-way Ticket” by Jane Andrews

Submitted to Contest #27

The train is just about to leave as she arrives at the station. Breaking into a run, she manages to scramble aboard, knowing that this is a journey that will change her life. Jess sinks down into the first available seat, thankful that the train is not as tightly packed as the one she usually takes to work. If this were a normal day, she would have left hours ago; but instead, she has a day’s booked leave and an appointment at 11am. She checks her emails anxiously on her phone, just to make sure that she hasn’t remembered the wrong time or p...

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“Off the Rails” by Jeremy Adcock

Submitted to Contest #27

The man looked at the train station around him. He had insisted on traveling by train instead of a plane, even though he knew that planes went much faster. Faster did not equal safer, especially that far off the ground. At least this station seemed clean enough. He wheeled his suitcase behind him, hoping to avoid close contact with his fellow waiting passengers. With one hand on the retractable handle, he pushed it down with his thumb. The entire mechanism disappeared into the suitcase smoothly. The backpack felt more...

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“The Wisdom of the Wild and Free” by Lauren Ford

Submitted to Contest #27

Monday “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” The letter ‘n’ was obscured slightly by a dirt-caked fingernail. The sign was a typical one. Messy block letters in permanent marker emblazoned on a piece of cardboard that was once part of a box. Perhaps a box that this man had called home. The train screeched to a halt and I continued to watch the man with the sign. He stared straight ahead, his eyes unblinking, completely unfazed by the masses of people shooting irritated looks at him as they dodged around the space he occupied. H...

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“Carry Me Back to Whole” by Kanisha Fells

Submitted to Contest #27

The violence of thudding thoughts swells in the mind after you have killed someone. At least for Aniya, it seems the grueling pounding of her heart is struggling to replace the emptiness she feels inside."Ticket" gruffs the inspector. One word summons her hand forward. She turns over the crumbling blue pass stamped Frankfurt One-way Express.People shuffle past her in regretful haste. The conductor signals passengers to take their seats. Aniya is still searching for her own. Incoherent with grief, her eyes jet back and forth between her...

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“A Very Memorable Wedding Anniversary on the Orient Express Train” by Geraldine Treacy

Submitted to Contest #27

A Very Memorable Wedding Anniversary on the Orient Express Trainby Geraldine Treacy“Your husband sounds like a real keeper” I remarked to my co-worker friend. “How romantic of him to think of planning to celebrate your 25th anniversary on the Orient Express!” Wow! Trudy’s face lit up “Yes, I never imagined that he would come up with something so special and so romantic!” I was almost as excited as she was when we embarked on a shopping trip to get her outfitted with a glamourous wardrobe including cocktail hats, velvet fl...

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“Last Train To Eternity” by Barbara Eustace

Submitted to Contest #27

David Ashworth was breathless when he slumped into his seat on the 7.17 train to Waterloo. He’d had to run, and his body, he decided, was not made for such activities.His wife Janice had surprised him with a full English breakfast this morning, and it would have been rude not to do it justice. “Just to celebrate your last day at work”, she’d said. Much as he’d enjoyed it, he’d sooner have had it tomorrow on his first day of retirement. Then there’d have been no need to rush. He breathed deeply as he rubbed his chest,...

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“Going on a Holiday” by Carol Keefer

Submitted to Contest #27

Keefer/Going on a Holiday/Page 1 Going on a Holiday By Carol A. Keefer ...

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“The Case of the Man in the Private Booth” by Robyn Welborne

Submitted to Contest #27

It was an early Sunday morning when the Vanderhein Express pulled to a screeching halt at the Northern Amsterdam Station. The conductor tugged on the cord, releasing several loud bellows from its horn. There was a central clock that hung in the middle of the station that chimed when its hands reached the top of the nine o’clock hour. The lobby of the station was starting to fill quickly with rushing passenger; each having a specific destination to reach within a very strict time limit. Among the throng was young intern Madame Amy Cartha...

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Write a short story that takes place on a train.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 128 stories

“Royally Charmed” by Neva Zamudio

“blowing tracks” by Unknown User

“Beyond the pine forests” by Chelsea Vegter

“Emergency Rations” by Synia Sidhe

“Night Train” by William Webster

“In Between” by Jennifer Riley

“Rising Sun” by Danila F. Dias

“One-way Ticket” by Jane Andrews

“Off the Rails” by Jeremy Adcock

“The Wisdom of the Wild and Free” by Lauren Ford

“Carry Me Back to Whole” by Kanisha Fells

“A Very Memorable Wedding Anniversary on the Orient Express Train” by Geraldine Treacy

“Last Train To Eternity” by Barbara Eustace

“Going on a Holiday” by Carol Keefer

“The Case of the Man in the Private Booth” by Robyn Welborne

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a short story about a jury of people tasked with making a decision. (It doesn't necessarily need to be a court jury.)

Write a short story in which a specialist is called upon to carry out a job.

Write a short story that ends with a twist.

Write a short story that takes place in a quaint, idyllic, English village.

Contest #27

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

379

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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