The Flower Train

Chapter 1: The Station

He was sitting at the waiting bench at the railway station. The place was getting dark. Lights were flashing intermittently. But he seemed to be detached from all what has been going on around him. He was feeling lonely. In fact, he was all alone in that big place. He looked at the list of trains chartered, flashing on the big screen at the station. His face turned disappointed as if he could not find the train he was looking for. He turned his eyes onto the card he has been holding in his hands. It was green in colour. The station looked all gloomy and haunted, even with all the flowers the place possessed. That was the thing with that whole place. Everything was made of flowers. The trains, the railways stations. Well, those two were the only things existed in that place. They had only railway stations and trains, and it was all made of flowers. Different flowers. The bench he was sitting on, were made of balsams. Everyone travels in that place. All the time. That's all they did. They move from one station to next. Getting on from one train to another. Constantly. Ceaselessly. 

His face started to fill with despair. His clothes were drenched with sweat and blood stains. He clasped the card in his hand. Card!! Well, that was another thing which you would find in that place. Cards!! A lot of them. You have to have a card in that place to travel by the trains. The flower trains, of course. There were cards of different colours. The train you can get into depends on the colour of the card you possess. Not everyone had cards with them. You can hold cards of different colours, if you pay for them. Otherwise, you have to wait at the counter to collect your card, the colour of which would be randomly chosen by those, who distributed them. Sometimes people used to lend card from others, to board the train, and those who has given the card had to buy a new one or just stop travelling and stay at the station until they possess a new one. He held the clasped card in his hands. It was a green card, and he had no idea where it would take him. So far he could not find any train which would accept the green card for the journey. Maybe it is a card of no use, he thought. After all, he picked it up when someone threw it at him. Or, to be more precise, thrown towards him. It was thrown by an old lady. His memories started flashing back in his head. 

Chapter 2: The Sunflower Train

The sunflower train! 

It was at the sunflower train he met them. An old couple. It was his first ride. You don't need to have a card for the first ride. It's free. He was standing there clueless when the old couple waved at him. They called him towards them and offered a seat beside them, by the window. The seats were of gysophila. They gave him a blanket and provided food for him. They looked so happy in having his company. At times, they looked at each other and smiled. They looked like a perfect couple to him. 

He looked around. Everyone inside the train looked happy. They were singing, dancing and playing games. There were other young people like him, in the train. They all looked happy. 

While looking outside the window, he saw other trains running parallel to theirs. They were all beautiful. Made of ambrosia, agrimony, azalea, white clower. He could see young people, looking outside the window with fascination in those trains too. It looked like they were also indulged in fun games and activities. The place shined bright with all the trains and it looked like heaven. 

Soon the train got on to a bridge. Parallel bridges began to emerge. But the number of bridges were very few and the number of tracks began to diminish. He noticed that now there were only a few trains compared to before. 

All of a sudden there was a bawl and huge commotion broke out. He didn't understand anything. With panic surfacing across the faces of everyone, he looked around him to apprehend what has been going around him. Through the window he could see new set of trains on the adjacent tracks on bridges. They looked different and were made of different flowers. Amaryllis. Amaranth..

The tracks looked like they were converging before diverging away to the farthest point visible. He could not see any station in the visibility. It was as if those tracks lead to nowhere. 

Then he observed that there were people falling from the train, down the bridge. In an instant he realized, they are not falling off the train, they are jumping. They are jumping off the train in an attempt to reach for the trains which are moving on the parallel tracks. It was as if they were under a spell. Some people made it. Most fell over. 

This is insane!! 

He felt a firm grip over his hands. It was the old man. He looked at him. Almost apologetically. Then, without saying a word he ran towards the commotion. 

Utter frenzy! 

What is he doing? Why is he running down the aisle? 

He saw that the old lady tried to call out for her man. He kept running. She turned and looked at him. The same look which the old man had before he ran away. But her eyes were filled tears. She threw something at him and hurried down the aisle chasing the old man. He wanted to stop them. He wanted to scream to them to stop. For some strange reasons, he didn't. He couldn't. His voice simply refused to oblige, so did the rest of his body, thwarting his plans to get up and chase them. Instead, he just sat there in horror and watched as the old man parted the crowd and jumped off the train, followed by the old woman. He stood up, finally, and tried to look through the window, holding his face between his hands, close to window. He couldn't see them. Unable see if they made it or not. He hoped they did. But, something inside him told him that they didn't. He sat back on his seat in distraught. He saw something lying at his feet. It was a card. A green card, thrown by the woman before following the man to the doorway to jump off the train. He picked it up, slid it down his pocket. There was silence all over. People were not dancing and playing anymore. Most of them looked shocked, heads down, grief unfurling across the train rapidly. 

His heart felt so heavy. He closed his eyes in agony and soon the train entered a tunnel and it turned all dark for everyone.

Chapter 3: The Rose Train

He opened his eyes. He couldn't see anything still. They were passing through a tunnel. The speed of the train began to decelerate. Soon they entered a new station. The whole place looked vivid. An announcement requested all the passengers of that train to get down. Still muddled with thoughts about all the events occurred, he got down at the station along with others. He looked around. There were no longer any old people. 

Did they all jumped off the train??

Now, the station was enveloped mostly with young people, those around his age. As he stood, confused, in the middle of the crowd, another announcement was made, notifying that all the people will be handed a red card at the counter and only those who has the custody of the card can enter the train which is to be arrived soon, to the station. People flocked around the counter in no time. He waited in line, observing people around him, and finally acquiring a card for himself. 

With a loud horn, the new train arrived at the station. This one was different from all the trains he has seen before. It was beautiful. It was made of roses. Different roses. White, yellow and mostly, red! 

All the people began to board the train. They were all cheering. He hustled to get into one of the compartments. The inside of the train was different. The seats and floor were covered of roses, but there were thorns too. One had to be very careful to not to hurt themselves, or others by accident. It didn't stop the youngsters from having a good time. They continued cheering and there were drinks served and it looked like a wild party was going on, inside. Each compartment were separated by a glass door, which looked to be locked down permanently. 

He took his place on a seat at the end of the aisle, close to the door, facing the opposite compartment with those around him continued cheering, singing and drinking. A few moments passed away, before he noticed another person sitting across the next compartment, close to the door, facing his compartment. A beautiful young woman. His heartbeat stopped for a moment, before beginning to race rapidly. When she looked at his way and her eyes fell upon him, he felt like the whole place got reduced to the two of them. He could no longer hear any noise around him. He couldn't feel the movement of the train. All he could feel was that he was having butterflies in his stomach and everything looked to happen at a turtle's pace. 

They remained with their eyes locked in each other's for a while. She smiled. He smiled back, almost intrinsically. 

He wanted to walk down to her seat. Sit next to her. Introduce himself. Talk to her. Get to know her. But, the door was locked. Time stood still between them. 

Soon, another set of tracks began to emerge. The bridges reappeared. There were new trains. Made of different flowers. Columbine, Foxglove, Marigold, Moonflower...

His heart skipped a beat at the sight of them. He looked at the girl as she looked at him, glancing away from the window. They both knew what each other wanted to say. His face looked worried, and she signalled him to relax and take a deep breath. He did. Nobody jumped off the train this time around. It was as if they didn't even notice the developments, since they were all busy with the ongoing carousel, inside. 

All the trains reached a new station. She got up. Looked at him dearly and got down the train. Her eyes were asking him to follow her. He got up and reached the door to get down. But, he couldn't open the door. They seemed stuck or locked purposely. He looked around. He noticed that only few compartment doors have been opened, with the others still locked and people unable to get down. Suddenly, all the doors closed and the train started to move again. They looked at each other dismally. He could hear the sound of his heart breaking even louder than the horn of the moving train. 

He looked helplessly at her as his train moved away from the station. He could see her standing there, looking at him, before turning and walking away eventually. There were other trains at the station, but he couldn't see if she got into one or not. Soon, the station, vanished from his sight completely and everything looked like a distant memory. He walked back to his seat, devastated. He walked over few thorns and sat on a seat filled with thorns more than roses. He started bleeding, but he looked like he was unaware of it. He lifted his head and with watery eyes he stood up and walked towards those in his compartment, who were still drinking and dancing. 

Chapter 4: The Laurel Train

"Laurel Train!!?"

"Yes, they are beautiful. I haven't seen it. But I have heard a great deal about it."

"Yeah, me too. They say it goes to the most beautiful place ever. What I wouldn't give to get on that one!?"

"Speaking of which, how do you get on it? I mean, which card do you use to get on that?"

"I have no idea, my friend! Wish I knew. Actually, I don't think anyone knows that. You know, some say that it's all a myth. Because you don't even know when it comes or where it comes, which station, what time!! Nothing!"

"I think the same! A train taking you to the most beautiful place in the world?? Pfft...that sound like some old Greek made up story."

The next train will be arriving in a few minutes!! 

That woke him up from the flashbacks of the conversation he had with his fellow passengers in the rose train, while having drinks. He was still bleeding and has started to feel the pain of it. The smell of the balsam flowers made him restless and irritated. He got down at this station, hoping to find a new train, a change in scenario. The rose train was full of painful memories. The alcohol only compounded it. But now, he had a different idea. He knew which train he wanted to get on, next. The Laurel train. Everyone was talking about it. Only few actually seen it. In fact, he was yet to meet anyone who has been on it. 

Well, they all should be at that beautiful place wherever it is. Why would anyone want to come back to this miserable place? 

He looked around. The place was empty. He couldn't see anyone else in that ghostly place. The pain was killing him with each passing second. Not the pain caused by the external wounds. The pain of the broken heart. He felt like there is no meaning to all this. Pointless journeys. Getting on trains and travelling from one station to another without actually getting anywhere. He could no longer handle the pain and frustration. He was tired. All he wanted was to get on the Laurel train. But, how? Nobody even knew which station or at what time it would come. Nobody even knew if it was real or not. He wished if it was real. He tried to hope against the hopes. 

Hours passed by. 

He was still at the station. A couple of trains passed by, in the meantime. But they were not Laurel. They were of Aloe and Asphodel. He could no longer feel his own body. The bleeding has stopped but the smell of the blood and the feeling of drenched in it, made him annoyed and he could no longer keep hold of his growing frustration. 

The next train will come shortly. You do not need a card to ride this one! 

That caught his attention. 

A free ride? 

He thought they existed only for the first rides. 

A train came to the station, slowly. It was a Daisy train. He watched as it came to a halt. There were people inside it. They looked sad, but they were not crying. They looked happy, but they were not laughing either. Altogether, there was a strange feeling to it. A hypnotic feeling. He couldn't tell if it was a good feeling or a bad feeling. That made him feel like he had a connection with the people inside. There is no point in waiting anymore, he thought. This could be his chance. He couldn't think of any reason to wait for the Laurel train. Something which wasn't even real. He got up, languidly. He took the green card from his pocket and looked at it for a moment, before crumpling it up and throwing it to the ground. He walked towards the train as the passengers in it turned their heads in his direction. He stopped right before stepping inside the train to turn his head around and look at the station as if to say goodbye. Then he got on the train and took his seat beside the window. By now his expression was similar to those who were inside it. Neither happy nor sad. Just deadpan. He took a deep breath and exhaled! 

The train started moving slowly and to out of sight.

A gentle wind passed by. 

The next train will arrive shortly. It was announced. 

A beautiful train arrived at the station. It was beautiful. It was made of Laurel. 

Then came another announcement. 

Those who possess a green card can board the train! 

Another wind passed by the station, sweeping the crumbled green card away!