I shrugged off the almost sad fact of avoiding my mother's advice. She changed since she said those things, they were meaningless now. I reached the tracks and looked down at my watch. It read a clear "8:45". I had exactly five minutes; I've watched the train pass this spot every day for the past five years. Not once has it been early or late, it always passed this bench at 8:50. I was confused to hear the steady chug of a train so close so early. Perhaps the train decided to be early, to be productive, unlike my sad self. I stepped into the track, staring ahead of me. A light steadily grew brighter, the clear honk of a train heading in my direction. There was no going back now. I didn't care. I closed my eyes, preparing to never open them again. Then I waited, and waited some more.
"It's quite a nice night, mind if I join you on a walk?" I heard a calm, almost soothing voice speak from in front of me. I opened my eyes, only to be caught in a blinding light. "Oh, sorry about that" I heard a short snap and the lights shut off. A large black train was stopped, inches away from my face. I felt disappointed, but confused, not only was I disappointed but I was relieved. I shouldn't be relieved about such a thing. I chose my fate so why is this man stopping me from fulfilling it?
"I thought conductors can't stop trains on such short notice, not as silently as you did." I responded; I was confused indeed, but decided to step back and take a better look at the train ahead of me. There was no face in the front seat, and as I continued snaking my eyes up the train I saw the man who spoke to me, sitting on the roof of the cart.
"Most can't I suppose. Anywho, mind if I joined you on that walk?" The man smiled, his eyes never left mine, so I looked back at the snowy ground.
"I have no intention to walk, so do what you want to do." I stepped off of the tracks, expecting him to return to the front seat and drive away. There are plenty of bridges to leap from anyway.
"Well that's great, cause I'm going to." The man jumped from the top of the train and landed flawlessly next to me. He grabbed my arm and tugged me onto his train. Not once did it occur to me that this man could plan to kidnap and torture me, or even kill me. Even if such facts did cross my mind, I wouldn't have cared. I had planned to die, so if this man planned to kill me, then why would it matter. It would be a win-win situation.
"Sir, where are we going?" I asked, and looked down at my watch. It was still 8:45, although I was positive at least a minute had passed.
"Wherever the tracks take us, I suppose" he replied, "you didn't have any plans for quite some time, I assume?"
"No, I really had no plans at all" I ended up playing with my hair. The thin brown strands danced between my fingers. It's not exactly a pleasant conversation, telling somebody you plan to die.
"Well, from the looks of it you wanted me to run you right over." I now realized that this man never had his eyes on the tracks, nor was he doing anything to control the train. He had no ways of communication either.
"I did, I guess" My eyes fell onto his again. His eyes were unnaturally green, at least, I think. He turned away, and I noticed how easy it was to forget his face. I wanted to ask him to turn back around, but that would be out of my character- out of my place.
"What do you plan to do in the future, like job wise?" The man's voice sounded distant. This was a question I despised. In the end, my dreams wouldn't matter. Everyone just ends up sitting behind an office desk, and no jobs really appealed to me.
"Does it matter? I'm going to die, so I won't have to worry about that." I instantly regretted speaking. I've opened up way too much to a stranger.
"Of course it matters. Allow me to tell you now, death won't solve your problems." He turned back to me, I hastily looked at his eyes, I still wanted to see the unnatural green color again, but when my eyes landed upon his, his eyes were pale blue. How could I remember something so incorrectly? The man chuckled, "have I disappointed you?"
