I've had an off day today, and to commemorate Halloween I've written a scary story. I know its a little bit early but I can't help myself
It's about 5 Word pages, so grab the popcorn, and enjoy!
The light, drizzling rain pattered on my windowpane. I looked out the window, into the dark interior of the cold, dreary station. The night was closing fast. A few last stragglers made their way onto the train. Finally, the conductor hollered out an “All aboard!” and all I saw was an emptiness, a pure, lonely, emptiness…
As the train began to pull out of the station, the conductor walked around collecting tickets. I glanced at mine quickly. The usual: 10/31/09, ID#11235813, One-way trip. At the bottom, the words Rose Express were spelled out in a fancy, elaborate font. Feeling bored, I asked the conductor about the history of the Rose Express.
He explained that the Rose Express railroad line had opened in 1939, and had been closed and reopened many times since then. It was a long, 8-hour journey through the scenic countryside, with a famous tunnel about 4 hours into the journey. Using real, old-fashioned steam locomotives throughout its existence, it was more of a scenic, historic tourist attraction. Passengers, like me, traveled on it for its luxurious, old-timer mystique and aura. It had a rich and mysterious history. Legend has it that one Halloween 30 or 40 years ago, one train entered the famous, 5-mile long tunnel at the heart of the journey – and never came out the other end. Investigators scrutinized the entire length of the hallowing tunnel, but they never found a single trace of the missing train and its some 200 passengers.
Suddenly the conductor glanced at his watch. The time read 8:23 PM. He looked surprised, and said, “Oh dear, I’m behind schedule now.” He smiled, waved a goodbye, and left me pondering the tale. After all, I knew full well that today was Halloween. After a moment, I shrugged, and pulled out a book to read.
The first 2 hours of the ride were fairly uneventful. I read my book, ate a hearty dinner, and socialized with some of the people on my car. Our conversation shifted from weather to baseball to recent news to the mystique and lore of the train. Before long, I felt sleepy and retired for the night.
A slight jolt aroused me from my slumber. The lights were off, but a faint glow emanated from my window. As I looked out, a few trees rushed past in the dark night. A full moon was just visible over the horizon. Then, all of a sudden, everything disappeared and turned pitch black. After a moment’s confusion, I realized why.
We had entered the tunnel.
It swallowed up all the remaining light in the train and left me in an impenetrable darkness.
All of my drowsiness had been flushed away with the scenery when we entered the tunnel. In the darkness, the only sounds I could hear were the light click-clack of the wheels on the track and the beating of my own heart. Most of the passengers were asleep by now.
I looked at my watch. It read exactly 12:00 AM.
As thoughts of the supernatural began to course through my mind, I felt jealous of the many sleeping passengers who had the luxury of sleeping through the tunnel. Trying to fight off the gruesome, horrific thoughts piling up in my mind, I calculated in my head: traveling through the 5-mile-long tunnel would take less than ten minutes. I knew that these would be some of the most tense and nerve-wracking minutes of my life.
Little did I know…
As the train labored through the tunnel, a dense fog seemed to fill my compartment. In the fog, I could see the ghosts and goblins surrounding me, creeping ever closer… menacing…
Little by little… the walls of the tunnel seemed to slow down… until they stopped moving. At this point I knew I was doomed. I was now trapped in a haunted tunnel in a haunted train…
I began hearing echoes of horrific, blood-curdling screams from the front of the train… I tried to tell myself that I was imagining them, but I knew that there were already victims….
The fog intensified… the screams crept closer… it was as if an entire tsunami of horror was sweeping the train, and, as it neared my compartment, I knew that it would just pick me up and deposit me somewhere far, far, away…
Beads of sweat were now rolling down my face… they mixed and mixed until I realized that I was crying, too – crying for my life, crying for somebody, anybody, to save me…
Ever so softly… bells started ringing… they sang of death, death, death…
I was frozen… dumbstruck with horror… and then –
Out of the darkness – there seemed to be a light – a bright, flickering light… but then I realized –
It was coming from the same direction as the screams. I stared deeper into it, transfixed – it was as if a portal were opening, where the devil was coming out and reaching, with those long, horrific fingers – I knew – they thirsted for me!
The bright, yellowish light crept closer, closer, closer… until I could see the devil himself through the doorway… I could see his frightening frame – blinding white in the middle and a menacing dark red at the edges – and those hideous, trademark horns – they moved! They flickered for my blood!
I felt an astonishing warmth and closed my eyes. I knew that my time had come. I took in a deep breath and –
What I had smelled made my eyes burst open.
It was smoke.
I realized the horrible truth. The fog became smoke. The human screams and ringing bells of death became ordinary warnings of alarm. Even the devil himself faded away and became a simple, flickering flame.
Fire.
The flames surrounded me. It was too late. I knew that I had already breathed in too much carbon dioxide. My world spun on its end and blacked out.
Somewhere, thousands of miles away, the Phillies won the World Series…
EPILOGUE
They were seated in a circle reading scary stories…
The Storyteller put her finger under the last line of the tale.
“And – what the heck? ‘Somewhere, thousands of miles away, the Phillies won the World Series.’”
There was a crackle of laughter in the crowd. It soon died away to an awkward silence…
The darkness enveloped them… it grew and grew with a menacing horror….
The bell rang.
“OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT THING!!!”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
THE END
comments/suggestions are appreciated! Thanks!
Is it safe??? Really good story! Hell is the YANKEES winning the World Series. 