Start your story with someone sitting on a crowded train and end it with them looking out over beautiful natural scenery.

Posted in Spring on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 258 stories

“Back Home.” by Consistently Lost

Submitted to Contest #90

"Why are you here?" I look up from my work. A random kid asks as she peers at the map I'm working on. She's cute, a small blonde haired child about 6 or 7. For the last 4 hours, I've only heard the distant chattering of other passengers and the constant train noises as it moves on rail. "I'm travelling like you." I tell her. It's night time, the train is packed with people all falling asleep in their booths. "When I'm travelling, I like to look out the window." She tells me as she makes herself comfortable in my booth, sitting across fr...

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“The Watcher on the Hill” by Teresa Fairhurst

Submitted to Contest #90

The Watcher on the Hill The miles raced by under the wheels of the train as he looked out of the window. Looking but not seeing. Rob’s mind was on so many other things past and present, and maybe still to come. The last few weeks had been difficult and emotional following the death of his brother. They had known for some time that it was going to happen, but that didn’t make it any easier. The loss of his brother had been hard, but now Rob realised that it had given him leave to return to something that had occupied him daily for so many...

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“Born to be a Passenger on the Train” by Daisy Clark

Submitted to Contest #90

warning: mentions and ideas of suicideWhat James hated most about the train ride home wasn’t the mass of sweaty, middle-aged people rushing to get back to their homes in the city, stressed from a long day at work or desperate for some peace. It wasn’t the fact there was never anywhere to sit on the train, as people were selfish dickheads who took the table seats for themselves or put a bag on the budding chair and jammed their earphones in to avoid social interaction. It wasn’t the loud, irritating screech of the track every time it stopped....

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“The Train to Ouro Petro” by Marie McLaughlin

Submitted to Contest #90

It was early morning in 1996 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sarah (or "Sarah Plain and Tall" as her university classmates called her) just barely made it to the Train Station at Rio de Janeiro on time to board her train. She had gone to college to study Environmentally sustainable Architecture and Engineering, and she signed up to Study abroad in Brazil. Getting a Coffee and a Croissant from the in-station coffee shop, Sarah rushed to find her Train. When she found her Train, she had to dig in her purse to get it, but she got her ticket to show ...

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“Out the Window” by Satya S.

Submitted to Contest #90

My legs carried me through the narrow aisle of the train. Darting my eyes from left to right, I scanned for an isolated area. Boisterous figures spewed from the cabin doors as I passed. Each cabin seemed unappealing as the previous one, filled to the brim with commotion. As I neared the end of the train, still seeking the best choice, I settled in the third cabin from the back on the left side. Inside, there were six seats, three on each side. Only one remained, next to the window. Stumbling over passengers, I muttered apologies. Finally, la...

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“The Poetry of Earth” by Helen Dong

Submitted to Contest #90

“Nature always wears the colors of the spirit.” - Emerson New York is a city that imprints itself upon your soul. Once you enter the concrete jungle, a part of you will be tethered to the unforgiving brick and steel for as long as you survive on Earth. For the past five years, my days have been filled to the brim with heated subway cars, crowded streets, and the terrible smell of humidity that’s somehow always mixed with weed. Sitting in the middle of a subway filled with way too many people, the screeching of the wheels on the tracks dea...

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“Breathe, Breathe, Breathe” by Sylvia Luna

Submitted to Contest #90

The insurmountable feelings were climbing the walls of her brain. Breathe...breathe...breathe... pray...pray...pray. She could feel her heart pound, it’s as if she were a human drum and there were thin wooden sticks with round, marble sized tops and they were tapping, then pounding intermittently. Why won’t it stop, she clenched her teeth, each row upon each other, top and bottom, locked. She said to herself, if I can’t open my mouth, I can’t scream. The sounds have begun, it was like forced air, the familiar sound tell...

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“Thank You” by Anna Weber

Submitted to Contest #90

Start your story with someone sitting on a crowded train and end it with them looking out over beautiful natural scenery. Buzz click hum. The wirr of engines. Buzz click hum. Mobil devises. Buzz click hum. Doors sliding open. Buzz click- Alana was quiet, head slumped on a window sill, eyes cast down, right toes tapping impatiently. Heavy coat. Hat pulled over forehead. It was dark. It was bright. It was quiet. It was loud. The man across Alana would say it was dark, burrowing through the tunnels at high speeds. He would say it was quie...

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“Earth Day” by May Elona

Submitted to Contest #90

The old man was surprised. He stood inside the train, by the door, surveying the crowd before him. He looked around for an empty seat but couldn’t find one. The Throwback Train never had this many passengers before. Now, the car is full of people of all heights and shapes—tall and skinny, small and round, not-so-tall but stocky, withered, flawless, even tiny and not-yet-5. He stared at the last one with close to sadness (his feelings had become more unrecognizable over the years). She had soft curly hair and was playfully hop...

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“Oblivion” by Kathryn Grunewald

Submitted to Contest #90

Stand clear of the closing doors, please. Lethe pressed herself against the railing that marked the edge of the train’s bench and wrapped both arms around her bag on her lap. Position secured, she leaned her head against the cool metal pole, letting the familiar cadence of subway announcements blur into the background. She immediately regretted the pole, as the train lurched away from the station and her head vibrated painfully against it. At least she’d gotten a seat - getting on at Grand Central meant fighting tooth and nail ...

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“Train to Chicago” by Clara Martin

Submitted to Contest #90

It was 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, November 26, 2019, when Austin Green boarded the Amtrak train from Milwaukee to Chicago. Austin was going home to see his parents for the Thanksgiving holidays. It had been over a year since he had seen them in person. He had talked on the telephone with him about every other weekend. Austin was a senior at Milwaukee University as a Fine Arts major. The train ride to Chicago was pack to capacity that morning. As he boarded to train he found a window seat midways the train. Austin put his larger baggage in the ...

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“Down Train” by Ernst Muller

Submitted to Contest #90

“How did I get here?” He wonders, utterly confused. “I remember leaving the city in a slow and dirty train.” he muses, “The scenes we passed were dismal and bleak, the very essence of the world we knew would come soon, which could have been avoided… and yet, we allowed, because we were so desperately in love with our own wealth, power, convenience and short-term profits! He finds himself alone in the railway carriage. The scene outside is of a wide, dry and yellow field. Far in the distance, he spots… what? A patch of green? He gets up...

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“Rancour” by Gee Mawea

Submitted to Contest #90

Content warning: mention of ethnic cleansing, abortion, suicide She was trying her best to avoid eye contact with the rogue looking man in the train. It was best to avoid such people as such a crowded place would guarantee all sorts of people. She didn't have a choice either as the train was the cheapest mode of transport and a few dollars were all she had left. At least she had a seat next to the window, where she tried to impersonate her favorite actress and look out to a world so cruel, maybe there would be a sign....

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“GWatch ” by LIKITHA M S

Submitted to Contest #90

The train was too crowded. Laura sat at the corner where no one noticed and was chatting on her phone. “It’s time.” Laura heard that man’s voice in her mind. She closed her eyes and sat silently for few seconds. Laura felt the changes around her and opened her eyes. “How was your day?” Mike asked as he glanced at her with interest. He looked as though he wanted to research on her. “I remember the meeting schedule, you don’t need to call me every time just because I missed it once. It will take time for me to travel from one city to another.”...

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“Trains, Trees and an Old Man” by Jacob Reed

Submitted to Contest #90

“Excuse me, sir. This is my stop.” ‘Excuse me’ was merely a courtesy on these trains. What people really meant was ‘I will do anything it takes to get to that door, even at your expense.’ “Sorry about that.” He pushed his way through the crowd of commuters and tourists to the door, before disappearing into the awaiting masses in the corridor beyond. Near the back of the car I was riding in was an elderly man watching the passengers wrestle for position. I had seen him before, never paying him much attention, but today was a leisure ...

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Start your story with someone sitting on a crowded train and end it with them looking out over beautiful natural scenery.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 258 stories

“Back Home.” by Consistently Lost

“The Watcher on the Hill” by Teresa Fairhurst

“Born to be a Passenger on the Train” by Daisy Clark

“The Train to Ouro Petro” by Marie McLaughlin

“Out the Window” by Satya S.

“The Poetry of Earth” by Helen Dong

“Breathe, Breathe, Breathe” by Sylvia Luna

“Thank You” by Anna Weber

“Earth Day” by May Elona

“Oblivion” by Kathryn Grunewald

“Train to Chicago” by Clara Martin

“Down Train” by Ernst Muller

“Rancour” by Gee Mawea

“GWatch ” by LIKITHA M S

“Trains, Trees and an Old Man” by Jacob Reed

🌟 Similar prompts

Write a story that weaves together multiple lives through their connection to a particular tree.

Write a story in which an endangered species (of plant or animal) plays a central role.

Set your story in a world living with the consequences of a climate apocalypse.

Write about a community that worships Mother Nature.

Contest #90

Enter our weekly contest!

$50

Prize money

814

Contest entries

0

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

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