Infinity Train Book 5: The Odd Boy

The Balloon Car

Orion Torren. A fourteen year old boy with spiky black hair and brown eyes. He's only 5'2", but he stands out everywhere he goes, but not in a good way. Orion is always wearing something odd, like that monster costume he wore on his first day at preschool or that handmade monster backpack that he used throughout middle school. People always saw him as a freak and a weirdo. But Orion didn't mind. He was fine being by himself and looking into things the way he did.

Mr. Torren was walking up to his son's room and opened the door to see Orion playing with a praying mantis in a jar that he had captured before. Orion looked at his father, "Hey dad. Look at this. A female mantis. The females are always bigger than the males and eat them after mating. I think it's because they sense that men are weaker and don't want their kids to grow weak. Or maybe it's to get the strength to give birth and raise kids." Mr. Torren let out a sigh, "Orion, why are you like this?" Orion continued looking a the mantis, "Like what?" Mr. Torren said, "Like this! You're always so...odd. It makes people uncomfortable and you don't have any friends because of it and everyone tries to avoid you." Orion started writing in his journal, "That's their problem. They just can't handle me." Mr. Torren said, "Orion. I want you to stop doing all this weirdness. It's ruining your life." Orion stood up in anger, "You can't make me change. I like how I am. just because you're my dad, doesn't mean that you get to decide what I do with my life." Mr. Torren groaned, "Well, you're grounded until you manage to decide to be normal!!!" He slammed the door as he exited.

Orion groaned, "Man, this stinks." This was the third time this month that he had been grounded because his parents wanted him to act normal. Orion was getting tired of it. He slammed his face against the desk and looked a the mantis, "You're so lucky. No one tells you what to do. I wish I was free like that." The mantis started pecking at the glass. Orion got an idea, "You're right. I can just try to break free. If I'm free, then no one can tell me what to do. Let's do it." Orion grabbed his largest backpack, which was handmade and looked like the entire body of Godzilla. He started packing his things and opened the window. "Oh." He quickly grabbed the jar and jumped out of the window. He opened the jar and set the mantis free, "Thanks for your help. See ya." Orion waved to the mantis as he started running. He looked on his phone for the nearest train station. He already had some money from his birthday and doing some odd jobs around the neighborhood. He should have enough to last a month if he was smart. by that time, he could figure something out.

Orion stopped to catch his breathe as he finally reached the train station. The station was completely empty. It was starting to get dark. Orion looked around and tried to find the train schedule. He was sure that there was another one coming soon, but there was nobody around. Orin scratched his cheek, "Weird ... I like it." Suddenly, a train came rushing by. Orion was surprised when the door opened and he was suddenly sucked in by the blinding light.

"Oh, my head." Orion rubbed his head as he regained conscious. He opened his eyes and made a sound of surprise. The entire area was made of balloons. Balloon clouds. Balloon grass. Even a balloon sun. Orion smiled, "Did I die and go to heaven? Wait. Did I die and go to heaven?" He began panicking when he realized that he had no idea where he was. That was when he realized that he was standing in some sort of pod. A video started playing and a small circular robot started talking, "Welcome aboard new passenger. I'm your conductor, One-One. Once you wipe those groggy little peepers, you'll probably have a lot of questions like: 'Where am I?', 'Why am I here?', 'Are snacks provided?' For those of you talking to me like I'm there in real life, I'm not. I'm a cold, steely, prerecorded video. And this is a train where you sort out your problems. How about that number on your hand huh? Great cool and green." Orion looked at his right hand and was shocked to see the number 189 glowing on it.  One-One continued, "Every passenger has one. The numbers are made by the train based on your life in order to help you have the most personalized experience we can offer. If you wanna go home, get your number down to zero and poof, away you go. Huff, I'm a zero. But always remember that there are lots of denizens along the way to help you on your journey. Don't be afraid to reach out. Unless the denizen is one of those monsters with more teeth than body. Remember, you can't spell escape without companionship. Companion shape? Companion scape? By watching this recording, you have agreed to release the train of any liability ..."