The Train

Train crash

I yelled out at the top of my voice "STOP! The track's broken! STOP!" The chugging kept on steadily getting louder. "STOP! STOP!" I screamed. The noise was loud enough to be at my side but no train came. The smell of wet steam and coal drifted to my nose. The track vibrated as if bearing the weight of a train. I felt a rush of wind, as if something had just raced past.

Time slowed down. It felt like I was moving in treacle, my bones getting heavier as I tried to run. Whispers beckoned from a past long gone. The bend ahead had a gap in the trees, a slight weakness in the green wall like something had torn through the leaves. there was a screeching of metal on metal, grinding squeal of brakes being slammed on too late. A shout rang out, panicky and desperate. A cry for help. A scraping crash as something I couldn't see hit the solid line of trees ahead. A dead silence.