WRITINGS

Late Train Murmurs Deep



“The Trains are quiet tonight” Sean said.

Me and a group of my friends met up at our usual spot. The trains were rolling quietly on the railroad tracks but they were rolling slower than usual. Very unusual.




“You think they are going slow for those girls?” I asked.
“What girls?” Sean asked.
“The two found murdered, dead, near the lake.”
“I heard it from my mother. She’s been telling me not to run off at night”
“Well here you are!” remarked Jimmy.


The train murmured softly. A very faint whistle blow was heard from the front engine.


“Here’s the end. We better jump on.”


We hopped onto the back end of the caboose. No one ever uses these anymore. I never understood why the tracks kept ‘em.


“Why are the cabooses still attached to the trains?”
“Yeah, why are they? You know?”
“I don’t know. I mean shit, if they weren’t here, we wouldn’t have good seats for the ride!”


The train murmured softly.


“You think those girls were pretty?”
“What girls?” Sean asked.
“The girls that were killed!”
“Shit, I dunno. Doesn’t matter. They’re corpses now.” Johnny stated.
“I picture those girls being pretty. Pretty and fragile just like their age”
“More tragic that way.”
“And it’s beautiful.”
“ahhh jeez.”


The train rumbled a bit.


“How were they killed?”
“Can we drop this?”
“What, you scared?”
“No way. It’s just ruining our time. We should be lookin’ for shooting stars.”
“The government was letting some company use the lake for dumping and waste. I guess protestors showed up to the lake and found the dead bodies.”
“That’s horrible. Being killed out here? There’s no one around!”
“The conductor.” I interjected.
“Nah, he’s all the way up there. He can’t hear jack shit.”
“The trains are going slower. For them.”
“You think?”
“I think so.”


The train murmured softly.


“What train is this? Did any one of you check?”
“Shit, no I didn’t.”
“Me neither.”
“Nope”
“Look! Over there!”


The train started to brake. It sounded like water flowing through a lead pipe above head.
I could see two figures with the pinch of my eyes. From a distance they looked like ghosts.


“The train is stopping for those girls!”
“What girls?” Sean asked.
“Look over there! Dead girls!”
“Those aren’t ghosts. It can’t be. Ghosts aren’t real.”
“Well, What the fuck else could it be?”


I could feel it, we were all scared. And I thought they were ghosts. I took a closer look. I could see two boys, not two ghosts.
They were short and stocky from a distance.
They were gaining ground.
Short and stock boys turned into tall and grown men.
They were getting closer. They were running toward us. One of them pointed at us. They looked mad.


“Hey what the fuck are you pointing at?” Sean yelled.
“We better get off. They’re probably two train guards pissed we’re on the train.” Johnny said quietly.


It sounded more like a prayer.


“We should get off. We probably should get off.”
“Don’t point at us!” Sean yelled again.


“Oh shit!” I thought. “They don’t look like guards.”


The men bolted toward us. They were bad men.
Sean jumped off the train. Then everyone followed.


“Who the fuck are these guys?”
“Just keep running!”


The men were faster. They caught up to us pretty quick. Everything told us to separate but we couldn’t. No one wants to be alone for this. If we die, we all are gonna die.


“yell for help!”


We kept running.
“We gotta stick together” I thought. “We can’t separate. I don’t want to separate.”


“stay together guys!”
“I don’t want to die!”


I saw the opportunity to hide. There was tall shrubbery around so I split from the group. I flung myself into the bushes and hid. God damn it, I shouldn’t have. The men were still chasing after my friends! What the fuck do I do? Damn this is dreadful feeling. I don’t want to die! Niether do I wanna die alone! I’m not dying alone. I can’t die alone. I looked up at my friends and they were running frantically still. Do I take the chance? Should I be the one they kill or should I stick with everyone? If I’m freed, they won’t be. If they’re on their own they will die alone, for that’s the whole reason we should stick together.

“There’s no way those men could find me here.”
I hesitated, I was unsure.
I got up right after I dove onto the ground and kept running.


They were inching near to us. They were faster.
We hear sirens. Could this be for us?
God, please be whaling for us! The men don’t want to let us go!


Everyone ran towards the lake but Sean. Sean ran towards the road. And I followed. Sean leapt to the middle of the road. The bluish sodium street light shone. Sean’s head lit up, my head lit up, then one of the men’s head lit up. From there I could see who the man was. He was running with a gun. My body couldn’t handle it anymore. I fell. My left check settled with the asphalt. Sean was fast but he was shot. The others didn’t look back. They kept runnin’.
Sean was dying.


I don’t want to be alone for this.


“Where is everyone?”
“Where is everyone?”
“Where is everyone?”
“Where is everyone?”
“Where is everyone?”
“Where is everyone?” was repeated in my head.