Tracks To Nowhere

Gathering around a newspaper stand like moths to a flame, is a group of people who believe a rumor about a train that can travel in time. Some people think it's inhabited by spirits that are lost and wandering in between planes of existence. Others believe it is cursed by someone who died a tragic death, by falling onto the train tracks and wanting to move time forward or backward to prevent their death. But there is another rumor. A rumor of how a woman in white leads lost and desperate souls down a path they can never return from. Such news spread like wildfire, as the news companies at that time were very popular and steadily growing in prosperity.

There is one individual, a young woman named Charlotte, at that time who is intrigued greatly by the rumors. She would stop to listen in to the babbling voices of the crowd gathered every morning when someone went missing the night before or early that morning. She wondered to herself, if such a rumor was true how could it be? Why would people continuously enter a train said to take them in time, but to never return to their present? What was it worth to them to lose themselves like that? Charlotte is puzzled by the thoughts swarming in her everyday life. She couldn't quite picture it, only that they were in a desperate situation that led them to believe they had nowhere or no one else to turn to for answers. One evening, Charlotte decided to see the train for herself. However, upon her arrival, it was nowhere to be found. At first Charlotte thought it was a scam, a false rumor spread just to increase the likelihood that someone would buy the newspapers, yet, even that theory bugs her. It upsets her to constantly hear about the time traveling train when she's gone time and time again to find it nowhere based on the rumor's speculation of where it should be. It drives her mad as she feels a yearning, a longing, and an unquenchable desire to see first hand the so-called time train. The location where the train is said to be is an old abandoned station that was run down. It's out of order due to the inconsistent deliveries of packages scheduled to arrive. So when Charlotte arrives every time to find no train she feels it's directed towards her. To make her feel like the odd one out. Because of people going missing after entering the train itself, the sheriff had started to put up yellow black tape to stop people from entering any further till it was investigated thoroughly. Sadly, that didn't stop people from ignoring it, and going into the train still just to end up missing.

Charlotte starts to come to the station at night praying that it will reveal itself to her. Make itself known to her, as she wished so desperately and deeply to not be the only one who failed to see the miracles the train could provide. Doing this enough times, Charlotte comes to the station to find a woman in white hidden behind a white parasol. She has ashy black hair and her skin pales under the moonlight. She extends a gloved hand to Charlotte, beckoning her to come. Feeling this is her only chance to see the truth behind the rumors, Charlotte makes haste to take the woman's hand. When she lets go she finds a ticket in her own hands. Contemplating whether this was a wise decision she is hesitant to step on the train.

When the woman in white sees her resisting a little, she is quick to ask Charlotte this,

"Was I wrong to presume you were getting on?" Her words, like honey to bees.

Charlotte snaps out of it as she holds tightly to the ticket. She stepped aboard the train, its doors shut behind her and the lights flicker on. The rust from the old train is putrid and the musty odor causes Charlotte to cover her nose and mouth to avoid breathing it in. Sitting on one of the seats nearby, she feels uncomfortable from the cushions being rough. Soon someone in a worn down uniform approaches her for her ticket. Reaching out a bony hand, the conductor waits patiently till Charlotte hands him her ticket. When he receives it he walks away down the carts before disappearing. And just like that, the train started to move. Charlotte looks out the window seeing the woman in white before she too disappears. Her eyes focus ahead of her as the train passes through a tunnel. The ride is bumpy with the train occasionally jerking on the tracks. Charlotte does everything in her power to cling onto the nearest pole to hold herself upright. The tunnel is long and feels to have gone on for at least 15 minutes, before she comes out on the other side. The train pulls into an exact replica of the station she just left. Soon it comes to a stop. Charlotte, feeling the ground is more stable, stands up from the pole where she was crouched. She walks towards the door she enters through to leave out again and on this side greeting her is yet again, the woman in white.

By this point Charlotte is disturbed, but not just by the woman in white. She is disturbed by the fact that she returned to the same place she was trying to leave from. All of it was the same, except for a few differences. For example, the station is in good working condition. The train itself is spotless, with renewed equipment to make it a steam-powered train. As Charlotte walks out of the station she notices all the missing people were there. Not just the missing people, it was a collection of the people of the previous town as well. She tries to get the attention of one man who is known for getting his newspapers first thing in the morning. She told him how she was back, but he did not see her or even hear her. In fact, to him it was like she didn't exist. That was when someone who had gone missing before her clarified what was going on.

"No use trying to talk to them," he said.

A man wearing a cowboy hat, a long sleeve-dressed shirt, with a pair of denim jeans and brown rattlesnake boots. He is sitting upon a cart with one of his hands in his lap and the other holding a bottle of whiskey.

"Why? Where are we?" Charlotte asks, approaching the man.

"Why, the other side of course." He told her. "It's for those who yearn to know just where this train station leads. Where we will go on this voyage is for those seeking a meaningful conclusion."

"B..but I didn't want this," Charlotte stutters, staggering back. "I.. I just wanted to verify that it was real. Or that the rumors were false. All lies! This isn't what I wanted!"

"Yet here you are little missy," he said, gulping down a few hard swallows. "Like the rest of us folks here. You were drawn in by the rumors, the so-called legends surrounding that train track. And lastly, you were driven into a corner believing you would be the only one to miss out on something special because you didn't believe in it. That just the mere thought was tempting enough to have you to get onboard."

"Y..You're wrong! I'm not like you!" Charlotte exclaims, horrified by what he was saying. "I.. I can get back..I just need another ticket, that's it!

Shaking his head he watched as Charlotte ran to the woman in white.

"Please please, I need another ticket! You have another ticket don't you, please!" Charlotte pleads desperately.

With a small smile, the woman in white merely said this, "I am sorry, but this train is only a one way track. All those who come here seek to find answers, but find nothing instead. You had a choice to back out, but you did not. That led me to believe you wanted this, no? Therefore, you now reside in the town of Nowhere. Good day."

Charlotte is heartbroken, as she falls to her knees. She had gotten what she wanted, the answers she sought. Now she was forced to live with those choices, as one of the missing people who were enticed by the train's lure. The people told rumors, how a skeptic was made a believer. And one by one they were all drawn to the tracks that led to Nowhere.

The End.