While I Was Away(7)

“I'm sorry,” Adele started to speak, then had to clear her throat. Her mouth was dry, like she hadn't spoken in ages. “Where am I?”

The waitress just laughed again and walked her up to the counter. Once she slid onto a stool, the other woman handed her the plastic menu and hurried off. Adele stared at the counter, unsure how to process what was going on.

“Sweetheart, you want some coffee? You look a little pale,” a gruff voice barked at her. She lifted her gaze to find a portly gentleman looking back at her. He was wearing a white t-shirt which was covered in grease stains. An apron was tied around his waist, keeping his pants safe from similar blemishes.

“Yes. Yes, I don't feel very well. I don't know where I am,” she tried to explain, lifting a hand to her head.

“Don't worry. Happens to everyone. You just sit tight, it'll be here soon,” he assured her, then he turned to grab a pot of coffee.

“What will be here soon?” she asked. He flipped over a cup and began pouring coffee into it.

“Your ride.”

“What ride?”

“Your ride.”

“How do you know it's mine?”

“Because it's everybody's, sweetheart.”

“You're not making sense!” she snapped. Everyone in the diner froze for a moment. She glanced around, then took a deep breath. “I'm sorry, that was really rude. Sorry. But what ride? Like a taxi?”

“Don't worry, I understand,” he patted her hand, then nudged the coffee cup closer to her.

“Thanks, but if you understand, can you explain to me what's going on?” she continued with her questions.

“It's the train,” he spoke slowly, as if she were stupid.

“Alright. Okay, so a train is coming,” her brain started racing. She hadn't seen any tracks outside, no subway station or anything like that. “When will it be here? How will I know it's mine?”

“Because it's coming for you. It'll be here in, ooohhhh ...” he glanced up at a clock, then whistled sharply through his teeth. “Holy cow! You gotta go, it's gonna be here any minute!”

Adele was surprised as he started moving around the counter, but then the waitress appeared back at her side. She grabbed her by the elbow and helped her out of her seat.

“Would you like your coffee to go, miss?” she inquired as she propelled Adele to the door.

“No, I'm good. But wait – what train? And how do I pay?” Adele demanded. Both the greasy cook and the waitress laughed.

“Pay? Why dear, you've already paid. Off you go now! And here, here's some pie for the trip,” the waitress handed her a small paper bag. Adele didn't know what else to say, so she allowed herself to be pushed out the door.

She walked a couple steps away from the diner and stood in the poppies. Put her hands on her hips, crinkling the bag. There were no tracks that she could see. There was no break in the poppy field to indicate where often-used tracks might be laying. She frowned and turned back towards the diner – she was going to march inside and demand to know what in the hell was going on.

But then the most amazing thing happened. While she was watching it, the diner began to move. There was a groaning sound, and inside the windows, Adele could see people sway from the inertia. Then just like an actual rail car, the diner started to roll forward. It was slow at first as it slid past her, then it started to pick up the pace. Before she could even fully process what was happening, its speed quadrupled and the diner car shot off into the horizon, quickly disappearing from view. Her jaw dropped.

“What the fu-”

The air was sucked from her lungs as a train barreled past her, right in front of her face. She shrieked and stumbled backwards, falling on her ass. She gasped for air, holding her hands over her ears to block out the noise. She'd never been so close to a train while it was in motion, going full speed. The sound was so loud, the wind so ferocious.

Then, just as she was beginning to catch her breath, the locomotive began to slow down. The deafening roar quieted to simple click-clacks as the wheels moved along the rails. Rails that hadn't, she was almost positive, been there before. There was a soft screeching when the train finally came to a complete stop. Steam poured out from under the beast, and all she could do was stare as the doors on the cars started opening up.

“Oh no, I'm so sorry. I was supposed to be here earlier. Are you okay?”

Adele looked up and watched as a man stepped down to the ground. He stopped when he got to her side, then gently grabbed her arm, helping her to her feet. She didn't know what to think anymore. She started laughing, holding out her arms while he brushed leaves and grass off her dress.

“I'm crazy,” she gasped. “Oh god, I'm completely crazy.”

“No,” he chuckled, then he bent down to pick up her bag of pie. “Not crazy, I promise. Disoriented, sure, but not crazy. C'mon, let's get you inside.”

He helped her onto the train. She laughed the whole time, deciding to go with it. If she was gonna hallucinate, she might as well enjoy it. She was wiping tears from her eyes by the time he'd seated her in a private compartment. The beds had been turned up and the table was down. She was almost back to normal by the time he started taking out her piece of pie.

“Did I take acid?” she asked him. He smiled, but didn't respond. Just placed a plastic fork next to her plate before taking his seat across from her. “I've always been curious about acid. This is awesome. I can't wait to tell ...”