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#168 Choo Choo!

The concept of train travel has always been a powerful motif in story telling. Train wagons can be a great setting for serendipitous love encounters, like for Jesse and Céline in Before Sunrise, or mysterious murders, like in Agatha Christie's classic Orient Express. 


On a train, the mind wanders, time shifts, and life… unfolds. We hope that these train-inspired prompts will put you on the right track to writing some great stories.

🥇 Winner

SOUTHBOUND

Winner of Weekly Contest #168 🏆

SOUTHBOUNDby David M. SweetDoralea looked out the window of the southbound train. Mid-October leaves dappled the Kentucky hillsides in fiery oranges and burning reds, dull yellows and rusty browns with a few evergreens peaking through the canopies. Colors were made even more vivid by the morning sun and clear, blue sky. Flaxen sedge grass along with green tangles of weeds, brambles, and even a few autumn flowers blurred together as she shifted her gaze downward toward the edges of fields and fence rows speeding by next to the railroad bed. T...

167 likes 138 comments 138
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⭐️ Shortlisted

This week's prompts

Start your story with someone looking out a train window.

– 98 stories

Write a story about a character who is moving on, literally or figuratively.

– 56 stories

Make a train station an important part of your story.

– 72 stories

Write a story about a character who misses a train, for better or worse.

– 33 stories

Write a story that includes someone saying, “Bon voyage.”

– 16 stories

Stories

View From a Train

Weekly Contest #168

        For the fifth time this week, Jasmine saw the little girl propped up in her bed looking out the window of Whitebridge County Hospital.  This part of the Whisper Valley train line was unique because it loops around in a way to give passengers a discernible view inside some of Whitebridge County Hospital. Not only was Jasmine able to identify the girl’s shoulder-length dark curls and olive skin, very much like her own, she saw the girl wave. Could she see Jasmine smile and wave back at her? ...

9 likes 4 comments 4
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What Happened to Tom?

Weekly Contest #168

Tom and Jimmy had been best friends since the second grade. Tom tripped on the broken pavement on the sidewalk, fell, and his books, lunch, and art project scattered everywhere. The sidewalk, the neighbor's lawn, and onto the street. This caused Tom to burst into tears, something boys were never supposed to do in the 1930s. Several older boys laughed as Tom struggled to get up. Jimmy raced to the rescue, and everything was saved except for Tom's small glass bottle of milk. After Tom was back on his feet, tears drying, and the sandwich ...

9 likes 4 comments 4
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Specimen

Weekly Contest #168

Laura looks out of the train window, not at the scenery, but at the raindrops pelting the window in rhythmic succession. The pitter-patter, like a lullaby. She begins to feel at ease for the first time that night. As she slowly closes her eyes she suddenly jolts herself back to consciousness. 'I can't afford to sleep right now.' she tells herself. She reaches into her coat pocket and retrieves a crumpled piece of paper, she studies it, focusing on it’s contents intently with her sullen eyes. The significance of its message, so dire to her no...

9 likes 2 comments 2
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window girl

Weekly Contest #168

I see her, a girl about my age staring out the window of the crowded, loud and pee stenched new york subway cart. Shes sitting…as still as water and her eyes looked like they were at the end of a staring contest with her own reflection just— about—to crack. She had a mask on but for some reason I felt her pain and began to shed a tear. Because I know that stare. The one that never ends even when you start off looking at the people on the platform to now into the pitch black tunnel and all you see is yourself. Which shocks you a little for so...

9 likes 3 comments 3
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The Man at the Station

Weekly Contest #168

By the time I stepped off the train that evening there were angry dark clouds hanging from the sky. They bathed the world in their dark color and dipped so close to the earth that I felt all I had to do was reach up to touch their silky smooth pummels. Clouds of dark colors that now are nothing more than a memory. A moment in time that will forever be engraved in my mind. A day that will never be forgotten, details that will eternally be remembered. It was the day I first saw him.   He stood there hunched over with hands in his pocket...

9 likes 3 comments 3
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The Radius Between Us

Weekly Contest #168

Clanging metal woke her from a dreamless sleep. Forcing her eyes open, she saw wood paneled walled and red velvet curtains with gold tassels adorning the window next to her. Snow-capped mountains in the distance steadily marched past. A small dinette table was in front of her, another plush seat facing her, empty. A lamp with a false flickering flame illuminated her space everytime shadows passed her window. The clangs got louder as they entered a tunnel, darkness falling for at least a minute before they entered daylight yet again.  ...

9 likes 0 comments 0
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37 Dollars, A Broken Watch, and a Desert Heart

Weekly Contest #168

A broken watch, Jacob thought with a fair amount of bitterness. He took another bite of rattlesnake meat and stared into the fire, wondering how the hell all this happened. This is how it happened. ************** He looked in horror at the still hands on his watch – thirteen minutes too late. Sprinting through the streets of El Paso, dodging pedestrians, and jumping over curbs didn’t get Jacob to the train on time. He stared at the departure board. Not a promising start to a career as a corporate lawyer. Still, he had hope. Uber. The de fact...

9 likes 10 comments 10
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A Town with Many Secrets

Weekly Contest #168

In March of 1901, the Durango train blew one long whistle as it chugged into snow-covered Silverton. Young minister Jonathan Farley analyzed the oily-haired gambler running his finger along the newspaper lines describing how Choynski knocked out Johnson in the third round. A faded green silk waistcoat under a pink dress jacket with shiny elbows hinted that he was on a losing streak. Farley wanted to save him from the gambling life. He followed the finger over the page again. Familiar with the game himself, he smiled at the skills of the smal...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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Mama Wore Red Lipstick

Weekly Contest #168

No matter how many times I asked where we were going, my mom didn’t answer. I watched her face as she turned the steering wheel of our old gray Plymouth sedan down each street and  around each curve, and I noticed that each time tears started to pool in her eyes, she batted them away. Her lips trembled but she held her chin high. Even though I knew she was upset, there was  a look of determination in her face. Every minute or so, she looked in the rear view mirror. She patted my leg, smiled at me, and I stopped fidge...

8 likes 3 comments 3
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A Splatter on the Tracks

Weekly Contest #168

His heart raced, "had anyone seen me?" But, of course not, he knew they hadn't; no one dares look at a fellow stranger on public transportation. So he sat alone, watching through the train's window as the sun rose in the east. He fiddled with a rubber band on his wrist. It had become automatic; he did it subconsciously. As the train began to move, he felt a touch of relief, but only a little. He was leaving the past behind him, yet he couldn't cease worrying it would somehow catch him, if not here, then later, perhaps at his next destination...

8 likes 3 comments 3
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I hope one day you'll find one, too!

Weekly Contest #168

My hair is done, my make-up is ready, the long satin white dress is on, I’m ready to catch my train. I know it’s weird I insisted on getting to the wedding by myself and by train, but I felt like two hours on my own, with no friends or relatives were exactly what I needed before making this huge step. I’m sure the groom will manage the last preparations just fine without me. The wedding is right next to the station, so at twelve thirty my dad will be picking me up. I must admit I enjoy how people look at me today. Their confused faces turn...

8 likes 2 comments 2
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The Strange Case of Madison Baker

Weekly Contest #168

December 5, 2016The city was alive with the morning commute. From the train window, twenty year old Madison Baker watched as the bold and spirited traffic below plowed through slush covered streets. Everyone jockeying for position in a sea of flickering brake lights. The sun had slept in this morning. Buried beneath the blanket of a cotton-polluted sky, it would keep its warmth and riches to itself today. Madison looked around the crowded subway cab. She noted that the weather in here wasn’t much different––every face was glued to an el...

8 likes 4 comments 4
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Love Shackle

Weekly Contest #168

The view from Pura Hill was unlike any other place in Bangalore. If the weather gods were willing, you could almost touch the clouds from the top. Cool breeze sweet notes, chirping birds returning to their nests, colorful hues of the evening sky, a guy kneeling down on his left knee with a ring in his hand…all wounded up in creating a magazine worthy shot.Seconds started to feel like an eternity when Samar’s girlfriend, Riya, stood in awkward silence without giving any response. Slowly, the fear of rejection replaced the hopeful smile on Sam...

8 likes 3 comments 3
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My Monster

Weekly Contest #168

My chin rested on my hand as I stared out the train window. I watched the snow-covered fields of Colorado swiftly pass. I glanced up and scanned the mountain range. With the beginning of fall came the conclusion of the coniferous pines. The majestic green had been replaced by a blanket of frost from the base of the mountain to their chilling peaks. I followed the range then as I glanced up, I jerked back away from the window. My eyes bulged as I stared in disbelief. Beyond the mountains waited an unspeakably large creature. I watched the cre...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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Changing Views

Weekly Contest #168

Changed Views S. Eve Rossel Waiting. Parked in the “pick-up” circle with other middle school parents, I spy you, laughing, chatting with friends.  As you spot our car, your face shifts, smile folds, head tucks. Simultaneously, my heart smiles and cringes. I move to super-Mom-mode, though not a place I inhabit with any honest real-estate. Hey Bud, good to see you. how was your day?  My query, as you throw your backpack into the trunk.  Lowering the hatch you say nothing.  Ensconced in your seat, ...

8 likes 0 comments 0
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