I was ordered not to ask about the cargo, of course, because this is information just for the authorities. Oh yes, of course, of course. I can play along.
"That's right, trainy. Choo, choo," I say, chuckling.
We trundle along like the best of friends. Little lonely wolfie will be jealous of trainy, oh yes! We've been driving for about an hour when I hear a noise. It's the tractor again!
"Tractor, tractor! What are you doing here? This cargo is secret! Hush, hush!"
How on earth did tractor get in here? Clever, sneaky tractor! I would go and scold him but I cannot stop the train. I sigh and lean back in my seat. Stupid train. On and on, following the track, boring boring boring. Choo, choo, choo.
But wait – I am the one commanding this train! Of course, of course! I can steer it! Off the tracks! On an adventure, of course! I simply cannot let trainy be confined to these rails. I do something to levers and buttons until there's a screechy noise that makes my ears hurt. But I cannot cover them, of course, because my only hand is occupied! I giggle because of what a sneaky, naughty act I am committing! Oh, if only mother found out! What a scolding, of course, of course! Sneaky sneaky! I giggle again, singing a song my mother taught me about trains when I was but a baby.
"Come on now, trainy, off the rails! Choo, choo, oh yes!" I coax the train. It groans and screams in protest and there's a terrible jolt that sends me flying across the cabin. It's so outrageously funny that I burst out giggling, spread-eagled on the floor of the cabin with a shard of glass in my cheek and a chunk of metal in my thigh. What a funny sensation! Ouch, ouch, OUCH! Bloody, bloody. I wave my arms like an upturned beetle.
"Look, mother! I'm you! Lazy, lazy, never moving, never doing! Help me, oh help me please!" I giggle, even though it's bad to say bad things about mother, of course, of course! Oh, what a beating she would grant me! Hee, hee! I simply must clean up all this red paint before she sees. How did it ever get here? I am not a decorator, oh no! Never have been! I have such sloppy hands – well, only hand now, I suppose! Hee, hee!
What a mess! I look around the small space and gasp in shock. There's glass everywhere! On the seat, which is now face-down near my feet, as if it cannot bear to look at the sight. On the floor. On the control panel. The windscreen is completely shattered! Whoops! I giggle.
"What a nuisance I am! Silly, silly me!" I say, shaking my head. Mother will not approve! The roof is even caved in. Wow! What a beautiful shape! I must remember it so I can describe it to mother. Then – out of all this – there's a noise.
YOU ARE READING
Of course, of course.
Short StoryRobert is a perfectly ordinary one-armed man. Of course, of course. But when he is ordered to dump some extremely dangerous cargo somewhere where it can be quarantined, his love is to be his downfall in more ways than one...
