The Other Side

4. Fennel and Hammer

Billy slipped on his cowboy boots and took a little brown ocarina out of his pocket. He put it in my hand and closed it. "Remember kid, one-way train. You leave a city, you never come back."

"Are you staying here?" I asked.

"I've made it a habit to spend at least a year in every stop this train has made. Although Strawberry's Spoon, the next town, sounds grand from what I've heard. But I have traditions to keep. It's just my thing."

I inspected the ocarina. It was carved by hand. I ran my fingers along the swirly engravings of the wood.

"A year sounds like a lot."

The speakers blasted again at an uncanny volume, as they do, announcing we shall arrive to Fennel and Hammer in a matter of six minutes.

"But Billy, I don't understand how it is we get to choose. Fennels or Hell, Spoons or Heaven, is it really up to me to decide?"

Apropos of nothing, the neon lady stood up and removed her jacket, then her blouse, then her bra then her last standing shoe (I still had the other one under my chair). Her skirt stayed on, not a very flattering look for a lady, I don't think.

After a brief double-take, Billy's attention was back to answering my many questions. From his casual response to the presence of the perky twins that newly joined the cabin, I figured this must have happened before.

"Everyone is scared to die, scared of pain, of loss, of Hell."

He put on a Red Sox baseball hat and went on.

"Except the people on this train, except us. We were never afraid and so we get to choose. We get to pick because death fears us."

I looked out the window. The sky was a pale shade of green and a massive hammer hung mid air, pretending it were the sun.

"The man by my cliff said 'Where the sky is white and the stars are red.' That is where I am going and the sky here is green."

A delicate breeze carrying the faintest smell of apples came in through the window as we approached Fennel and Hammer. The train stopped and the wooden doors opened in front of a pale green carpet.

"Farewell." Billy said and got off the train.

I climbed onto the chair he occupied a few minutes ago and poked my head out the window.

"Billy!" I shouted into the crowd of passengers getting off the train.

He turned around and spotted me.

"Billy, I don't know how to play an ocarina."

He laughed. "You're a smart kid. You'll figure it out." he waved goodbye and disappeared into the crowd.

I waved back.

I laid back in his seat, hoping this was the right choice. I wondered what I'm missing out on in Fennel and Hammer.

A herd of people swarmed into the train, visitors of Fennel and Hammer who were ready to embark upon the adventure that is the next stop of Sideways Railroad.

The doors were open. I still had time to get off.

I could at least give it an afternoon, have a snack, meet new strangers. I could see what the town that smells like apples and looks up to a flying hammer has to offer me. But I didn't get off. I sat there, wondering. I sat there contemplating the pale green road not taken.

I sat there wondering as the doors to Fennel and Hammer closed forever and the train continued to its next destination.

I still wonder sometimes.