The wind whistles through the gaps in the metal, ducking beneath lights and rolling over steel. To the East the sky is clear, mulled wine clouds set against the grey blue of Earth’s walls. To the West a thick fog is creeping in, engulfing concrete and track as it tumbles forward. A girl stands alone in the centre of the platform. Her midnight hair dances in the wind. She silently stares into the oncoming fog, waiting. There is no need to look anywhere else, she knows there are no trains running through this station anymore. Still she stares out into nothing. A moment of lasting stillness finally passes and the fog begins to glow internally.
The girl does not stir, this unscheduled arrival is right on time. Her sight is locked on the approaching beam. No nerves flow through her body tonight, she knows what she must do and how it must be done. Soon a solid rustic train will burst through the fog and carry her on her journey, oh, but how sweet that journey will be. The train is piercing the fog now all the grooves are visible but the train does not stop, it has no reason to pause here, there are no people boarding and there haven’t been for some time. Suddenly the girl moves, so quick if you blinked you would miss it. She is running full pelt towards the moving carrier.
There is feeling in her still steady heart now. Recognition has set in this is what she lives for and she doesn’t fear the risk anymore. Just as she approaches the platform edge she jumps and reaches for one of the groves in the trains exterior design. Fingers gripping tightly she is able to pull her body up and over the train. Landing on the roof with a softened thud the wind throws a curve ball and sends her skidding backwards towards the gap between the carriages. She inhales quick and hard, turning her foot so that the grips on the soles of her shoe catch those on the train. It doesn’t take much effort for her to stop, despite the wind playing rough tonight. The wind howls in dismay as it looses the battle.
“Jealous?” She whispers, her voice faint and tumbling softly through the air. She rearranges herself and finds the most comfortable place to sit a train roof has to offer. A flicker of light teases the shadows as she lights a cigarette. It’s going to be a long journey.
Further down the line there is a boy walking along the disused track. He has no reason to panic, no trains come this way anymore. Why would they? She sees him a long while before he sees the train. She can smell him on the wind miles away. She was hoping he would move, but he hasn’t. He is going to freeze in shock, she just knows it.
“For God’s sake, this is all I need!” She curses to herself and throws her cigarette down on the roof. The boy is still unaware when she begins to battle against the winds to reach the front of the train. He kicks a rock and sighs deeply as he does so, his gaze wanders and is caught by a faint glow in the distance. He squints but can’t make out a distinct shape, even on this clear night, it’s too far. She is sprinting now, almost at the front, she can see him clearly, he can’t see her, the train light is shinning right into his face. He realises too late that there is unscheduled incredibly large and deathly quiet train flying toward him, he freezes. Just like she knew he would.
“Fucking typical!” She manages before she bolts from the roof and knocks him clear of the tracks. Within seconds she is back up and hurtling after the train. The boy is unconscious and she throws him onto the roof. She really hopes he doesn’t roll off the other side, that would really make her angry. Instead he lands with a bone crunching thud and she grapples the side of the train to make her way back up.
“Broken bones are better than dead at least.”
She would, no should, have left him but this stretch of track is deserted and no-one would find him unconscious and cold until it was too late. Later she will regret what she has to enivitably drag him through tonight, but she will worry about that later. Right now she has to realign his dislocated shoulder, at least it’ll bring him round quicker. And this is the moment Samuel Rice’s life was saved, and changed forever.
