Short stories from my creative writing class

#024 - Teacher stand-in generated prompt

Prompt - You have walked a road hundreds of times and only just notice that in each of the windows that there is a person in each stage of your life.

At first it was an empty trail alongside railroad tracks, tall evergreen trees lining the stomped dirt like algae on a river, or faded pencil sketches underneath ink.

Then every once in a while if I was late enough the train would run by - Chalky smoke, sparking iron, and chipping paint, the whole shabang.

Then out came the deer in the midst of August. With their spotted coats and stripes the foals would heartily bounce after their mothers like a tugboat after a steam blazer.

Soon after log cabins were put up, though my definition of soon might be a little warped - with the soft smoke accompanying the charcoal smoke of the train. It became a hunting town - gravel replaced the simple dirt road and the chopping of lumber was sounded daily.

Resources grew and the attraction increased, it was no longer just a small hunting cabin collection, it was a freshly born town with it's own train station. Lanterns were hung atop the wooden porches and the children would run throughout the streets during the day, and froliking lovers would prance through the streets at night.

Years passed and the town size grew - gaining more attraction and growing larger, ports were introduced on the eastern side of town. The original road was then just another street in another city.

Nobody paid any mind to me and my midnight wanderings, occasionally a few would stop to stare but it wouldn't matter.

Legends grew as time passed, that of an immortal that would only show upon my road, the beginning of it all.

There was too much noise, but yet it calmed me.

I looked around the street and there I could see multiple versions of myself.

The small innocent child - the one longing for midsummer - the one who searches for the end - the one who hopelessly grasps for the time lost - the veteran - and the empty coffin.