Winter Misery

One

The normally packed cart seemed rather empty that winter night. What little people that were on each kept to themselves, in hopes to catch even the slightest amount of sleep. Once an hour the conductor would make his way back to the cabins but always seemed to leave us without giving any a refreshment. The same cup of cold coffee and stale bread laid undisturbed on the silver platter. Once a year I left my home in South Carolina, to visit my father in Michigan. Normally my mother would travel alongside me, but she had fallen ill a week before my departure and did not wish to infect everyone on the train.
As I examined the people around me, the small black tabby rolled over I'm it's owners arms, revealing the shiny gold chain around it's neck. Engraved upon was the simple name 'Goldphish'. The spelling was beyond atrocities, but I guess it was purposely done. It never ceases to amaze me that all these people came from different backgrounds yet each of them are joined together on a common train ride. I felt the huge machine pick up speed and the outside view became a blur of green and white.
"You do know that we have another four hours of this before even nearing a city." I just nod my head and offer the middle aged woman a forced smile. She seemed to be quite talkative compared to her unconscious neighbor. "My name is Carol, Carol Belbuckle." She reaches her well manicured hands over towards me, allow my eyes to gaze upon her huge diamond ring. "Melanie, it is a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Belbuckle. And might I say, that is a lovely ring you have." She holds her hand to her face a smiles to herself, noting the beautiful gem. "It is, isn't it? Although, this is not my favorite of my jewelry." She pulls a necklace from her shirt that completely out ranks her pristine. ring. It is a small circular opal sparkles when the light hits it's smooth surface. She tucks the artifact back into her blouse while leaning back into the velvet cushions. "It was a gift given to me after my son Toby was born." She points next to her husband and I am barely able to make out a small sleeping boy. By the looks of his size, he can't be much older than seven.
Soon I found myself staring out the tiny window, wondering about the impossible. I was so lost in my thoughts to realize that the impossible suddenly seemed to happen; all motion of the vessel ceased to happen and we were frozen in place on the icy tracks. All the lights shut themselves of and were replaced by a dark red color of the back up generator. In this moment, people around me began to awake and the once peaceful cart seemed chaotic. The doors that separated us from the crew slid open revealing the calmed conductor. "Silence, please! Everything is fine, we have temporarily stopped because there is a blizzard farther down. We shut down the power in order to conserve it. I expect us to be moving again in about three hours. In the meantime, please remain calm."
His departure leaves each and everyone of us flabbergasted until the young girl in the back begins to cry out for her father who is not on the train. People start to move around and talk to other passengers, in an attempt to keep there worried mined off of the stopped cart. I for one, can't help but worry myself, I've traveled many times before this and not once has anything of this sort happened. But like always, we tend to worry much more than we should. It is but a simple storm. They only stopped for a little while, then we'll be on our my again.
I used the spare time to greet those who surround the train with me. I learned their names and all the different places each one was traveling from. The owner of the strangely named cat goes by Marco, he got the cat as a gift for his daughter and her soon to be husband. In the seat in front of me is Beth and her sister Jane Anne, they are traveling from Connecticut to visit their mother in the hospital. Behind me sits a lawyer from Washington who has one of the strangest names I've come to acknowledge.
Hours seemed to pass by like minutes, no one was to realize the amount of time we had come to spend on the same set of tracks without motion. The lights then turned on again as daybreak began outside of us. People up and down the cart cheered and found there seats; everyone so eager to make there way back to there warm homes. "Why aren't we moving!" Mr. Cannon screamed from the back after we each sat there for a solid ten minutes. The conductor appeared to our aid moments later with a tired look in his normally bright eyes. "We must have frozen to the rails. There working as fast as they can to fix it." He left again but not before slamming the door shut. "Well, I for one, thought that was rather rude of him. I expect a full refund as soon as I can possibly get out of here." I don't believe Mrs. Carol truly meant the words she spoke, we were all just ready to rest in the comfort of a house.
I looked out the frost covered window and saw them men that consisted of the trains crew, hurriedly rushing out and as far away as possible from the carts. "Hey!" I yelled knowing that they couldn't hear me. I grasped my nap sack and ran off of the train to see what was happening. I managed to gat a few feet from the train before I decided it best for me to just climb back aboard. That's when I heard it. A whistle from a trail. I looked to the back of the cart I spent so much time in and saw an approaching of not slowing down. "Get off! Get out of there! Now!" The few people who heard me rushed out to join me, leaving others completely clueless as to what was happening.
This time, another whistle could be heard, and the remaining passengers grappled there belongings in a desperate attempt to save them and themselves. Mr. And Mrs. Belbuckle leaped of the steps right as the oncoming train plowed into ours, showing no mercy as it crushed those still inside before setting the entire structure ablaze. The screams of the people stuck indoors, echoed throughout the forest as the suffocated on the thick air. By the time anyone could help them, their bodies were to be burned beyond recognition. "Wait, where is Toby?" Carol screams when she realized that her small son was one of those dying, before anyone could manage to let a word escape their dry mouths, the frail mother collapsed onto the snow filled ground. Her husband threw his expensive brief case onto the ground and yelled out in anger. As if hearing the sounds, seven ash covered passengers stumbled off of the cart the killed ours. Each of their faces looked horrified once they realized the reasons for the bloodcurdling shrieks. All at once the screams coming from those burning alive stopped, and the only sounds that were be heard was the sobs of family members, and the crackle of the rising fire, threatening the lives of the surviving few.