Stuck in the Happiest Place on Earth

27: With a Little Luck and a Feather

The monorail drove smoothly for not being on a track or having a driver, at least to their knowledge it ran itself.

Only the familiar colorful blur was outside their windows until they stopped. Then there was  white billowing smoke that rushed in as the monorail's door slid open noiselessly. The whistle of a train helped piece together the mystery of where they were and explained the smoke. Stepping out into a bright day the Casey Jr. train was seen, it had a red and blue engine with a tall smokestack and many unique cars behind it each stylized to the cargo it was carrying. And what noisy cargo it was.

All the circus animals grew restless and rowdy as Casey Jr. puffed down the track and came to a stop at a station as colorful as the train. Lions roared, zebras stamped their hooves, bears growled, and the elephants trumpeted at the top of their lungs. They were all anxious to unload out of the cramped boxcars and begin to assemble the giant tent that would grow to contain the whole circus. Alas, Casey Jr. had only stopped in order to pick up two more passengers, not let any depart. These two new riders, Skylar and Andrew, didn't doubt that the train was solely there for them and boarded the locomotive immediately. As soon as all four feet stood firmly on the train's floor, Casey Jr. let out two clear whistles and began chugging down the track once more.

Like most things they had encountered this train needed no help driving, so there was no reason to be in the engine. The second car of the train was easy enough to jump to, and opening its side door revealed several camels resting in straw. Upon being disturbed they all rose to their feet and held their heads high, full of pride. Seeing that they couldn't turn back, Andrew pushed the side door closed and he and Skylar faced the humped tall creatures. Their long slender legs with knobby knees shifted nervously, kicking at the dry straw.

"Do you think they can talk?" Andrew asked quietly in an aside to Skylar.

"No." She said as if it were the silliest thing to ask.

"They are Disney characters."

"No animals talk in Dumbo except for the elephants and Timothy."

"Okay, my bad." He replied, slightly miffed. "Nice--non-talking-- camels."

They shuffled cautiously by the camels, sticking to the side of the wooden boxcar. Both breathed a silent sigh of relief as the next car was to be jumped to but it was cut short when a realization donned on them. In the next car and all the ones to follow it were all sorts of animals, some bound to be dangerous. Tigers, lions, bears and rhinoceros came to mind, and the fact that the animals were trained wasn't very reassuring. Although, there was nowhere to go but forward in the direction of the back of the train and so on they went. The next boxcar was a supply car, holding a variety of food matching the variety of animals. Another jump and they met docile horses, each with feathered headbands on their heads like flappers. Through several more cars and nothing threatened them. Then at last a door was opened and the mammals inside reacted very loudly.

The creatures cried out thunderously, moving the whole car as their ginormous feet pounded the ground. It took the startled humans a moment to notice two things. One, that this car held elephants. It was hard to tell because two of the pachyderms had their backsides blocking the opening of the door. Two, that the elephants loud uproar was not due to them being there. Listening through all the trumpets and husky sharp cries there was actually a conversation discernible that explained all the elephant's upset voices.

"Just look at those--."

"Ears! Aren't they funny!" There was a short, high-pitched laughter, then a gasp and more shouting voices.

The thick legs blocking the side door shifted, leaving an empty space large enough for two people to crawl through.

"Try not to get trampled." Skylar advised tartly before entering the straw-filled boxcar.