ALL THAT WAS LEFT BEHIND

Unexpected Shortcuts

The train continued to speed along, giving me glimpses of the outside world through the window. Everything went rushing by so fast; I could barely comprehend it all. Flashes of green bushes and trees zipped past my vision, along with glimpses of small towns and buildings. Periodically, the train submerged into another underground tunnel, concealing me in darkness.

            I sighed and looked around me. The people I had met at the train station were scattered away from me, so I was almost alone in the car. Perhaps three other people shared the little train cabin I was in, but they were long lost in a series of blank staring.

            Deciding that it was about time I called Samuel, as my destination grew closer by the second, I pulled out the little disposable cell out of my backpack. I punched in the number, carefully looked at the people around me, and then put it up to my ear.

            “Hello?”

            “Sea?”

            “Yeah, it’s me. I'm almost at the stop. What do you want me to do when I get there?”

            “Uh, just wait around for me. I'm catching the next train there in a half an hour I believe, so it shouldn’t be too long.”

            “Okay. Yeah, I’ll just wait …and stuff…” I said. “Oh, uh, Samuel? What- what was back there? Who did you see?”

            I knew who it was. There was almost no point in asking. It was the kind of conformation I needed that would dong in my mind like a heavy metal bell, ringing out my curiosity.

            His voice lowered and grew quite sombre. “It was Lincoln. I caught him watching us in the tunnel.”

            “Did you…did you talk to him?”

            “Uh…not really… But, you know, whatever it is...We just have to be on our toes.”

            “Oh.”

            “Yeah. I should have expected to see him though, since this is his grand scheme after all. Oh, and Sea?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Just be careful when you get off. Seriously. Watch your surroundings. I think Charlie took the same train you’re on.”

            I felt a shiver run down my spine, and I instantly sat up straighter. My eyes scampered across the train, wrapping my vision around the jungle of yellow spiraling bars. I couldn't breathe.

            “Samuel…”

            “I know, I know. I'm sorry. We knew that this was a likely outcome, right? This is the train station he was supposed to use, and it was the first possible train we could get, right?”

            “Yeah, but, you were supposed to be here with me…” my voice trailed off, and I wondered just how tired and terrible I sounded.

            “Sea, I'm so sorry. Call me when you get there, and if anything happens. I’ll be there soon, okay?”

            I nodded, telling myself that I could do it. It wasn’t a big deal. This was something people could shrug off with indifference.

            “Yeah, okay. It’s fine. See you soon.”

            I hung up the phone, and fell back into the pattern of staring and wondering, and mindlessly sitting. There was a mystique silence in the train. Nothing but the rattle and hum of it rolling down the track, and the occasional stirring or cough from my fellow passengers. Nothing. We were all one in deed and in thought, slouching in the toxic lingering silence. Breathing it in until we were lightly cloaked with death.