Tomato squinted at the chopping board computer. "Hmm. I might have to stop splurging on coffee for a bit, but otherwise, that sounds great!" After all, being sleepy in the morning was a small price to pay for better powers. She shouldered her backpack. "What time does our train leave? Should I call a Tuber to get us to the station?"
Strawberry nodded. "Sounds good, I think the train leaves at 11 o'clock. That means we have to wake up at about 8 or 9 maybe?" Strawberry wasn't looking forward to having to wake up early, but sacrifices had to be made. "The tickets were emailed to me, to we just have to show them the tickets and the bar code on our grater phones.
"Excellent!" Tomato stashed her pack in a safe place. "Good night, Strawberry. Tomatomorrow, we leave on our quest for better powers!" She wasn't sure if she'd be able to sleep. Finally, she had a chance to have useful powers! The excitement and nervousness blended into a bubbling fruit smoothie in her stomach.
"Good night, Tomato! I'll set my alarm and wake you up in case you don't!" Strawberry called, closing the computer and walking to her bedroom. Her brain started coming up with all sorts of worries, like not being able to wake up on time, having a late or expensive Tuber, or a sudden butterstorm appearing and ruining all the plans. She decided that worrying so much would not help her sleep at all or wake up on time.
Tomato finally drifted off to sleep and floated away into a dream land of french fries and seas of salt. She munched on a giant french fry in contentment and was about to sail off into the lemon sun on a boat made of potatoes when she was woken up by Strawberry.
Tomato opened her eyes to a big blob of red tapping her on the shoulder as she adjusted to the bright light. "Wake up, Tomato," Strawberry said, "It's time to get some powers! We need to get ready to leave." She blinked her eyes a couple of times, and as soon as Strawberry saw she was awake, Strawberry left the room, probably to go get ready.
The day of the start of their quest! Tomato bounced out of bed, grabbed her pack, and went to eat a grain bar for a quick breakfast. Her green sepals were practically frizzing with excitement.
Around half an hour later, she was all washed up and ready to leave. "Hey, Strawberry? Should I call the Tuber now?"
She saw Strawberry emerge from her room with her backpack. "Sounds good!" she said, going to the fridge to grab something to quickly eat for breakfast.
Tomato turned on her grater phone and called a ride. Soon enough, a carrot car pulled up to the curb, and the driver loaded their luggage into the trunk. "Hey there!" The potato driver said cheerfully. "I'm Potato, but often go by the name Telepotato, because... well, you'll see." She winked and got into the driver's seat.
Tomato glanced at Strawberry. Telepotato? Like, telekinesis? Cautiously, she slid into the backseat.
Straberry raised an eyebrow as well, but she too went inside and closed the door. Telepotato un-parallel parked out of the parking lot (it was a tight space so it took a while) before saying, "Hold on to your leaves!" Then she hit the accelerator and the outside was swirled into a mix of colors and curls and the car shook, before it all stopped, and they had miraculously arrived at the Grain Train Station.
Tomato blinked, still reeling at what had just happened. It made sense now. Tele as in teleport...! "Woah," she whispered.
Strawberry couldn't believe her eyes. Did they really just teleport? Talk about quality taxi service.
"Uhh here's a tip for extreme earliness and awesomeness!" Strawberry said to Telepotato, handing her some rice paper dollars.
The potato smiled and winked. "Enjoy your train ride, you two!" she replied.
Tomato blinked, still looking shocked. "That. Was. Freshly. Awesome." She staggered out of the taxi and grabbed her luggage, then started rambling to Strawberry. "Teleportation? Imagine everything you could do with that! Commutes to work or the grocery store would be instantaneous. You could travel the world. Oh, I hope our powers are as cool as that!"
Strawberry nodded. "Yeah! I mean, our current powers are like teleporting on inch compared to Potato's!" She waved goodbye to Telepotato as if she had just casually met a celebrity.
"Exactly." Tomato looked at the tracks, where the Grain Train would soon arrive.
Strawberry glanced at the screen that showed arrival times of the train. It seemed like their train would arrive in a few minutes. She hoped it wouldn't be too crowded.
A couple other fruits and veggies milled about the platform, filling the air with the light buzz of chatter. A different train rolled into the station, then left once all the passengers had boarded.
Strawberry and Tomato's leaves fluttered at the train whizzed by. At last, their train pilled into the station, making a loud screech as it came to a halt and opened the doors.
A few foods traipsed down the stairs. The flow of people leaving the train stopped in a few moments and people started to get on. Tomato glanced at Strawberry, excitement clear in her eyes. "To New Pork City we go!"
Strawberry grinned. "Onward!" she exclaimed, stepping onto the train, once the small crowd of people had dissipated. Cupcake greeted her she entered, telling her that seating was free.
Tomato smiled gratefully at Cupcake and chose a seat.
Strawberry sat next to Tomato and pushed her luggage into the compartment above, though keeping her carry-on sling bag, which contained snacks and a book.
"Welcome onboard the Grain Train!" a cheerful voice rang out. "We can barley wait to get started. Please wheat until the doors open fully before entering or exiting. Have a rice day!"
Slowly, the train began to move.
Strawberry looked out the window and watched the train slowly at first and then quickly pull away from the station, until it had faded into a tiny dot far away.
Around them, foods settled into a comfortable current of conversation. The scenery rolled by the window. Fields and small towns passed quietly.
Tomato dozed off for a short while on the train. The next thing she knew, she was waking up to see the outskirts of New Pork City.
Buildings passed by, and she saw foods walking on sidewalks. A few displayed amazing powers, manipulating the elements or lifting objects with their minds. Tomato felt a stab of jealousy in her as she thought of her ability to make other foods red. It was useless. She took a deep breath. They could change that. They just had to get to that forest.
It seemed like Strawberry had been awake the whole time, though she was munching on a bar of chocolate, that she probably bought at the food car. She had become bored of reading her book and was, too, looking outside at the sea of mingling, diverse foods. It was quite an amazing sight. Though, such an amount of food probably came with stress and crowdedness.
"Imagine living here," Tomato remarked. "What do people do if they accidentally get in the way of each others' powers? But on the bright side, I bet there are a lot of great places to eat." The train slowly entered the station.
The wheels screeched to a halt as the announcing voice could be heard again. "We hope you come back oats more times. Our train is wonderful to feast your ryes on. Have a rice day!" Strawberry waited for the people coming out of the train to clear out before grabbing her bag from the above compartment.
Strawberry waved goodbye to Cupcake as he went out the door, and gave her a smile of thanks. As she stepped out, she could see the bustling crowd of foods going in and out of the trains. It was amazing that there could be so many foods in one place, yet all having different destinations.
