The Tales of Unearthly Encounters

The Late Night Train

Ken rushed through the stairs as the train was about to leave. And at the last moment, he jumped for the closing doors.

He knew very well that he was going to hit the metal floor of the train. He attempted to land on his legs. The friction of his shoe on the icy metal floor made a rasping cry which lasted for a second.

Behind him, the doors slammed close, and he let out a huge sigh. He was finally on board. Panting, he took several deep breaths, then taking out his handkerchief, he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and face. The compartment was empty, so he freely chose a corner to sit down and rest.

Ken would have been in deep trouble if he had missed the train. After all, it was the last train of the night.

But soon he realized the presence of the eerie silence in the air. For the first time in his life, he felt the lack of company, the absence of the usual murmur of the crowd. But he consoled himself by thinking that he would reach home very soon.

Yet the empty compartment kept bothering him.

He decided to shut his eyes for a while. However, the exhaustion of the whole day oozed upon him, and he was instantly asleep.

He woke up suddenly. He didn‟t know for how long he had been sleeping. His first thought was that where was he? And why was he there? The pale light of the stained fluorescent bulb, the hum of the engine, the sound of the rushing train, the tremor, and the chilling cold reminded him of everything.

He rubbed his eyes, and yawned, stretching out his arms. Then he checked his wristwatch. And to his surprise, it was not working. The time was stuck to a little before midnight. If Ken had checked it properly, he might have noticed that it was exactly the time when he had boarded the train.

He let out a deep sigh and looked outside. The light of the train was falling on an uneven surface of a dark wall. He figured out the train was going through a tunnel.

Suddenly that surprised him. He knew very well that there was no tunnel on the usual route he takes.

Something was bothering him from the very beginning. Something was not right. Something was out of place. Like somebody had slightly changed the stuff in your room without telling you. But you can‟t figure out what had been changed. Ken was getting a feeling quite similar to that.

Then he remembered that he saw nobody boarding the train, neither anybody left the train, while it was at the station.

He found it weird, but even more, it was creepy. He forced himself to think rationally.

Car shed...

Yes, that must be the reason. He assured himself, distracting his mind from the lingering uneasiness. He was late, so he was not able to listen to the announcement that the train had been headed to the shed, and mistakenly boarded it.