Ghost Train

“Please have your tickets ready.”

Jeremy’s head sprang up. He sat on the second floor of a train, picking through a bowl of cucumber salad. His Mom dug through her purse for her wallet.

“All passengers must obtain a ticket prior to boarding,” the recording sounded. “Passengers without a valid ticket will be expelled from the route.”

Jeremy sighed. He glanced up at the map. A series of unfamiliar names trailed on from their current position on the rail line.

“Is the next stop ours?” he asked.

“No, ours is at the end,” his Mom said. “Do you need to use the toilet?”

“No,” Jeremy answered gruffly. His Mom was always trying to make him use the toilet.

“I want to walk around,” Jeremy said.

“Finish your salad,” Mom said.

“I don’t want to,” he whined.

“Okay, then drink some water,” she replied.

“I don’t want to drink water!”

“Do you want to eat salad or drink water?”

“NOTHING!”

“Mi hijo!”

“I DON’T WANT TO!”

“Excuse me,” Jeremy heard a voice mutter behind him. He turned.

An old man with long, white hair and a short, scruffy beard smiled at him from across the aisle.

“Could you do me a favor, son?” the old man asked him. “Could you take these napkins to the waste bin downstairs? I’m a bit tired.”

The old man winked to Jeremy’s Mom, who smiled back. Jeremy, eager to perform in front of the elder stranger, took the dirty napkins in his hand and paced carefully down the train.

The car rocked as it rumbled through infinite wetland. The boy stood by the train doors and looked around. He didn’t see the waste bin, nor any other passengers on this level of the train.

Confused, he walked back upstairs. He saw the old man there, but he didn’t see his Mom.

“Where’s my Mom?” Jeremy demanded.

“Ah, I’m not sure, but I’m certain you’ll see her again soon,” the old man said. His smile was slighter now, and his voice quiet.

“Is she in the toilet?” Jeremy asked.

“Maybe! I believe the waste bin is in there, too,” the old man replied.

Jeremy didn’t care about the waste bin. He needed to find his Mom.

The boy walked back downstairs and looked at the door to the toilet. The light outside the restroom was green, indicating that it was unoccupied.

Jeremy reached for the handle and pulled, the heavy door sliding open.

A man stood there, looking at himself in the mirror.

“AAAAHHHH!!!!” Jeremy shrieked. The man turned and looked at him, startled. Jeremy slammed the door shut.

He ran upstairs to find the old man, but the viejito was gone. Jeremy’s Mom still wasn’t there. The boy felt a sharp pain in his stomach.

Jeremy wailed. He sank down to the floor, sobbing, in the center of the aisle. The rest of the train car was empty. He heard the wheels rumble over ties and rails. Outside, the sky darkened, swallowing the hills and smothering the marshes.

“Please have your tickets ready. All passengers must obtain a ticket prior to boarding. Passengers without a valid ticket will be expelled from the route.”

Jeremy wondered where his mother was. Did she leave the train?

The lights in the car flickered on, and then they switched off. The night grew darker. Jeremy wondered if he was alone.

He moved cautiously down the aisle. Jeremy could barely see the edges of the handrail as he slowly descended the stairs. The train car rocked as it rounded a bend.

He saw the green glowing emblem outside the toilet. It reminded him of the light that his Mom put in his bedroom so that he could fall asleep at night.

Jeremy’s hand trembled as he reached for the door handle. What if the man was still in there?

He slid the door open. The light turned on, blinding him. There was no one inside.

Jeremy covered his eyes and wept.

He moved his hands off his face, then looked up at the mirror. He saw the old man.

The train stopped.