𝐂𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐒𝐓

◆𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍◆

❝𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈'𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐔𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐑 𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍❞

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     ◆𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒, 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐈𝐍... 𝐎𝐇, 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍? You could not remember. You also do not remember getting on this train, either. And yet... it felt strangely familiar to you. As if you were here before. But you could not recall ever a time you got on this train... you couldn't recall anything. What were you doing before this? Where were you before this? You knew your name, but you couldn't remember anything else about you. You stood up from the plush red leather seat, but then stumble on something. You look down, it was a brown messenger bag. You bend down to examine it.

     The straps were worn and frayed, yet held strong. The material was high quality. It was obvious it was loved and well used. You flipped it to the other side. On the bottom left corner, there was a name written in marker. It was your name. This was your messenger bag. Did you have this bag before? You cannot remember. Inside there were only two items: a flashlight and an old heavy brass key. 

YOU OBTAINED THE ITEM [MESSENGER BAG].

     The train itself was dark in color. Rich hues of red and green. The handlebars jostled along with the movement of the train. The air held a feeling of confusion but familiarity. The smell of dust and aging wood drifted about. A bland beige door stood across from you. You looked out the window, surely you could find some hint of where you were.

Nothing. The inky blackness of the night hid the outside. You questioned yourself if there was even an outside of this train. You felt isolated from the outside world.

     You frowned. Maybe there's someone else on the train to help you with directions. But with how silent it is, you doubted anyone else is here. Maybe you can find the conductor of the train? You walked through the beige door into the next car. You closed you eyes quickly, and covered them with your palm. There was a sudden bright light that your eyes weren't adjusted to see clearly yet. Looking through the cracks of your fingers, you looked to see what it was. 

     It was... oh, what were these called again? You think you had one as a kid. The dual screens flickered slightly as you walked over to pick it up. Someone must've dropped it. Oh well. Finders keepers, right?

YOU OBTAINED THE ITEM [FORGOTTEN VIDEO GAME].

     Looking at the screen, you looked to see if there were any games downloaded. Unfortunately, there weren't. The weird thing was was there wasn't anything else either. Not even a settings feature. The only thing you could access on it was the camera, for some strange reason. There wasn't anything put in the cartridge slot. Too bad, but you still found a... erm... video game console for free, right? You closed it and put it in your bag. Hopefully you could find some games for it later... and also find the name of what it was called.

     In the next car, there wasn't any- "Oh! Hello there young one. I see you're back, hmm?" You flinch. Someone was here, you just couldn't see him from how shrouded he was in the shadows. Even though sitting, you could tell he was quite tall. He spoke again, not leaving you anytime to question what he meant by 'you're back', "Where are you off to this time?" "Oh.. um, I was trying to find the conductor. Do you know where they are?" Even though in the dark, you could see him shake his head, "Oh my... it seems you have forgotten. The train drives itself, I checked myself a long time ago." "Oh. Do you know where we're going?" "I don't. The train never made a stop for me to get off... I think it has forgotten about me. But, you, I think, will get off eventually. To where, I'm not sure." 

You felt bad for him. "May I sit with you until I reach my stop?" 

"...That'd- that'd be nice. Thank you."

     You sat next to him. There were no words spoken between the two of you, but you didn't mind. The silence was comfortable. Eventually, the train slowed until a complete stop. The doors slip open. "It appears this is where I leave." "Farewell, young one. Maybe we will see each other in the future." "Goodbye."

You got off the train.

     You were now at a train station... because, well, where else would a train stop? It seems to have rained recently, as there were puddles collecting on the sidewalk. On the side of the building, where you presume you could buy train tickets, a banner was hung. 

And in big bold black letters, it read: "WELCOME TO SYCAMORE VALLEY!"

———— ✦ ————◆———— ✦ ————

Hello! How are we today? I hope you're good.

I don't like how rushed this chapter is. But since it was basically written before, I don't see the need to write it longer. 

I'm not sure if the video game idea will work out or not. I have plans for it, but I'm not sure if they're good plans.

Either way, I hope you liked this chapter and the rest of the book so far! :)