Prologue.
“What are you so scared of, Catty?” I stared at the wide eyed blonde in front of me. She gave me an arrogant smirk, making my stomach churn uneasily in my stomach.
“Nothing,” I told her, crossing my arms in front of myself. My brother grabbed my arm, jerking me into him.
“What are you doing, Cattleya?” His voice was a soft whisper, barely loud enough for me to hear. “You could get yourself killed!”
“I’m not afraid of her, Julian. I know what I’m doing.” The crowd around me watched me in wonder as I positioned myself on the train tracks. I could feel the vibration of the incoming train, traveling as fast as a cargo train could go (which was pretty fast).
“Catty, don’t be stupid!” Julian called towards me. He stood at a safe distance, making no move to come get me. I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. “Carly, you’re going to get her killed!” My brother shrieked.
“I know she’s too chicken to even go through with it.” I seethed at the sound of her cockiness. At that moment, a bright light flashed dangerously in the distance. I readied myself, planted my feet on the steel tracks, and took another breath. My stomach rolled unsatisfyingly and I felt the build-up of air in my intestines. Of course I get gassy when I’m trying to out-do someone. That is a horrible habit that I need to get rid of if I’m alive after this.
The vibrations of the tracks gained intensity, actually shaking me to my core. It rushed towards me. I guess the driver saw me and began madly blowing the whistle. He soon decided to apply the brakes, but even I knew that it took a train at least a mile to stop. I bit my lip to the point that it drew blood and felt my heart basically fly out of my chest. Of course, being the stubborn mule I am, I stayed there, less than a yard from the train. I heard my brother screaming for me to jump out of the way, but I ignored him.
Thirty seconds later, the train was a few feet from me. I concentrated as hard as possible, the light getting brighter, the whistle getting more urgent.
“Catty!” Julian screamed as the train was right in front of me. I jumped out of the way, losing a shoe in the process. Of course, I jumped the wrong way and ended up on the opposite side from where the group was in between the two tracks. My heart was basically palpitating and I began sweating bullets. I lay in the gravel, my hands scraped and dripping blood, my head hurting from making contact with the steel track behind me. My breathing became really shallow and I felt pretty dizzy. Feeling exhausted, I laid my head down and closed my eyes. In the background, I could hear my brother and “friends” screaming my name in the background. I smiled to myself.
Who’s chicken, now?
