Shaded Flares (Title Under Scrutiny)

Chapter 1: Winifred

The smell of autumn was in the air and the start of school just around the corner. It was a nice day for a walk around the old rail road tracks. They had been there before the town at least that's what my great gram said before she passed. That's how her mother's mother got here.

The Fera's have been here for generations. One of the oldest families with the biggest roots. That's why I loved it here. The neighborhood was full of nice people who all knew each other, and it was quaint but cozy.

Over head I could hear birds chirping and small animals scurrying around the forest floor. The rail road tracks that cut through the land and the few trains that passed through cause the canopy to naturally arch, as though the trees reached out for one another. I had walked along the tracks about 20 minutes down to where the trees began to thicken blocking out the rest of the world. The neighborhood now being completely out of site I sighed looking up at the arched canopy. I placed my hand on a small tree trunk and spun around it thinking about summer and what my last year of high school would be like. When I heard the sound of kids playing.

Just up ahead on the tracks were a young boy and girl jumping from plank to plank on the tracks.

"First one to that tree wins!" I heard the girl scream out in glee and giggle uncontrollably. This made me smile to myself remembering being younger and playing with the other kids in the neighborhood. We would all come down to the tracks and play too.

They spent a few moments playfully shoving each other after the girl won, it was no contest. The sound of a whistle brought the smile from my face as I looked down the tracks. A train pushed down the tracks, it seemed to be moving quickly down the line. I sighed decided to make myself known.

"Hey kids get off the tracks!" They looked up in surprise at my shouting but smiled and started walking off the tracks still shoving one another.

I chuckled looking back at the train then back to them and frowned when I saw the boy still standing on the tracks. The girl had already almost made it up the small incline from where the tracks carved through the small hillside. I sighed thinking the boy may just not understand how close the train was.

"Hey! Get off the tracks! The trains coming!" I yelled frustrated. He shimmed around for a moment and I realized what was wrong before the words left his mouth.

"My foot's stuck!" He cried out the panic lacing his voice. He looked up and the small girl and I. His lips twitching as his fear filled eyes reached mine.

"Cooper quit playing around!" The little girl hollered, crossing her arms with a unbelieving huff.

"Help me!" He cried while pulling frantically on his leg. The girls arms fell to her sides and her eyes widened. She finally understood that this was no prank.

The train was getting closer and the whistle screaming over top our own. My chest felt tight and my head throbbed. My hands shook and my mouth ran dry as I watched in horror. I wanted, no, needed to do something now. I ran down the incline slipping in the process. I grabbed the boy and yanked on his leg trying to dislodge, but it was really stuck. It had fallen into a hole in one of the planks and a rock had confined it to the side. He let out a loud cry of pain. I kept working but apologized over and over.

"I'm sorry, but we have to get you out. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry."

I looked up to see the train was there. It was too late. I looked Cooper in the eye. They were large, brown, and full of panic. I fell away from the tracks tears stinging the backs of my eyes and my lungs struggling to work.

"I'm sorry!" I screamed, my eyes, hands, and teeth all clenched as I waited for the horrible sound of metal on bone. But,... It never came.

I reluctantly opened my eyes and my mouth dropped. The train, frozen and smoke that had been rising out of the top wasn't moving either. Cooper still stood there, hands out stretched towards me. A small sob left me with the air that had been caught in my throat. The train was seconds away from his body. I scanned the area around me, a bird, the trees, the wind; nothing was moving. Behind me at the top of the hill, the girl had her eyes frozen shut and hands on her head. She looked as though she was screaming but no sound left her.