The End of the Line

“This is a story about a girl—“

“Booo, no that sucks. You can’t start a story like that.”

“Why not?”

“Nobody wants to read something so obvious. You’ve gotta draw the audience in.”

“Fine. It was a dark and stormy night—“

“No.”

“What’s wrong with that one?”

“It’s been done a million times. Try again.”

“You’re intolerable you know that?”

“Yes it’s part of my charm. Now write.”

“You’re also bossy.”

“I’m your big sister. It’s in the job.”

“How about this: The day she boarded the overcrowded train, she had no idea that by the end of the line, nothing would ever be the same.”

“Ooh. Now that’s good.”

“Well you’ve always liked drama.”

“That’s not true! I’m just an exciting person and life finds ways to keep things interesting. Maybe you should try it some time.”

“No thanks.”

“Of course. Okay well what happens next? Why did she get on the train in the first place?”

“She was going to a party at her friend’s.”

“Ooh! This girl sounds fun. Maybe you should take a page out of her book.”

“She’s not fun, she’s stupid. She should have been home at family game night.”

“I dunno, that’s a hard sell. Well what happens on the train that’s so bad then?”

“Well that’s the thing—“

“Hey wait, that guy over there keeps looking at you.”

“What? No he doesn’t.”

“Yes he does. Omg he’s coming over. Act cool. Pretend I’m not here.”

“Ha. Easier said than done.”

***

“Uhm hey.”

“Hi.”

“Not to creep you out or anything but I’ve seen you riding this train a couple times now.”

“Uhm, okay.”

“Well I was just thinking that I also ride this train a lot and maybe one day we could sit together? I’m Tom.”

“Oh. Uhm. Look I’m sorry Tom, but I have all the company I need.”

“Oh. Cool, yeah, no worries, I understand. Well if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

“Okay.”

“Bye then.”

“Bye.”

***

“What is wrong with you? He seems like a perfectly nice guy, and he’s obviously got a pair approaching you like that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Your face doesn’t exactly scream ‘come get to know me.’”

“Mm. Well clearly I need to work on that since he still approached me.”

“Ugh. Now who’s insufferable?”

“Can we just get back to the story?”

“Fine. A very fun girl who my sister should embody gets on a train to have a fulfilling social life. What happens next?”

“You forgot the part where she ditches her family.”

“Irrelevant, we’ve all done it.”

“Just as the train is leaving the station she gets a call from her mom asking what kind of pizza she wants. Because that’s the kind of mom she is. Even though the girl is selfishly missing family time to go to some stupid party, her mom wants to make sure she has food when she comes home.”

“Sweet.”

“Don’t be a bitch.”

“I’m not! That’s sweet. Now get to the action. Does she meet a guy who’s actually a con artist? Does she step in dog shit and have to get new shoes before the party? Oh wait, I got it. She starts her period on the train and is wearing white pants!”

“No. I said it changes her life forever. Those are all stupid things.”

“Nuh uh. You period your white pants once, you never wear white pants again close to the red devil’s visit. That’s life changing.”

***

“Next stop Lake Forest.”

“Is that ours?”

“No.”

“God I don’t know why you like trains, they take forever. We could have been there by now if you had just let me drive.”

“Your driving is terrible.”

“YOUR driving is terrible.”

“I don’t drive. Hence, the trains.”

“Well that still proves my point. Ha.”

“Okay. So anyways, the girl’s mom calls but the call gets disconnected because she loses service. She sends her a text asking for cheese pizza with olives and mushroom.”

“Ew gross.”

“When she looks up from her phone a guy is approaching her.”

“Yes! I knew it. Finally this story is getting good.”

“Rude. Anyways he’s cute and funny and they exchange numbers. She invites him to the party on a spur of the moment decision but he says he can’t go—“

“Because he has to get back to his wife and children at home! Bastard.”

“Mm no. Because he’s meeting with his friends for a bachelor party.”

“What does this guy do? Is he at least in tech or something?”

“Nope, he’s an elementary school teacher.”

“You would make the love interest lame. Let me guess, he drinks chamomile tea and goes to bed at 9:30 every night.”

“They never get that far, he gets off the train.”

“And years later they get married and have adorable little nerd babies?”

“No.”

“Okay, still waiting for the big reveal . . .”

“Next an old lady sits next to her.”

“Aw. I love old people.”

“You’re an enigma you know that?”

“What’s an enigma?”

“Google it.”

“Fine. I will . . . How am I difficult to understand?”

“You called train guy lame because he’s a sweet teacher who potentially likes to sleep at a normal hour, but you like old people? In case you weren’t aware, Nanna eats dinner at 5pm on a late night.”

“Old people are cute. They look like raisins, they smell good, and they have no filter because they’re too old to care. I appreciate that.”

“Okay crazy.”

“So what happens with the old lady? Does she die next to her on the train?”

“What? No. Jesus. This old lady sits next to her and won’t stop talking about her grandkids and her husband who died five years ago.”

“Sad.”

“Yeah, well that’s life. At least she got the chance to really love someone else deeply.”

“I thought you didn’t care about love.”

“Everyone cares about love.”

“Well I love you.”

“Yeah, I love you too.”

“Okay so then what?”

“The old lady gets off the train at her station and reminds the girl to hold her loved ones close.”

“Okay I am really not convinced that train girl’s life changes as dramatically as you say it will.”

“Well next the train stops in a tunnel. There’s some sort of technical issue and they’re stalled for an hour. The whole time they’re stuck the girl doesn’t have phone service.”

“Oof. Okay now that is life changing. Does “technical issues” mean they actually hit a body down there? You know that happens sometimes. Is it zombies? Wait, does she miss her party?”

“Well she does, but that’s not why.”

“Okay . . . I’m waiting.”

“Like I said, after an hour of being stuck, the train starts back up. They finally make it out of the tunnel. Once the girl gets service again, she sees she has five missed calls. Two from the police, three from the hospital.”

“Oh God.”

“She gets off on the next exit, not even sure where that is, but desperate to have stable cell service to figure out what’s going on. She calls back the police first. They tell her that her family was involved in an accident. On their way to pick up the pizza, a deer ran in front of the car. It was raining and her dad tried to avoid it. He swerved off the road into a bank. Her dad and mom both died on impact, her sister was taken to the hospital. They give their apologies and the number for the hospital, but of course she already has it. When she calls the hospital, they request she come in. She asks them to just give her an answer, but they insist she come in person—"

“Okay okay, wait, this is getting real depresso. Can’t you write a love story or something? People want happy endings.”

“I hear you, but that’s not my story. This is a story about a girl whose entire family was taken from her while she was stuck on a train going to a stupid party that meant nothing. Now she rides that same train every day, chasing ghosts.”

***

“Excuse me miss? This is the end of the line and the end of the night. You need to move on.”

“Yeah, I know.”