Train Ride

‘Hi grandma’
‘The trip, well…’
I wish I could tell her it was fine, except that would be a lie, here’s the real story.

I was walking across the boardwalk and all I could here was ‘I’m sorry, your mother is dead’, Racing through my mind. Clink Clink went the metal floor as I fumbled my way up the train and to any vacant seat I could find. The train was nothing that I expected it to be, it was very quiet and the seats were covered in scribble, the lights above me flicked every now and then, so there was no way I would get any sleep tonight, It was a very long train, luckily I got a seat up the front. As I looked down the hallway I saw that the train was fairly full.

Nobody really noticed me, a little 12 year old boy sitting by myself with my hands in my lap. I have never seen my Grandmother or even heard of her until a few days ago, and now I am going half was across the country to live with her. I just hope that she doesn’t throw me out as soon as I get there. A lot of other people were on the train; I wonder if the story was as bad as mine, maybe they had lost a loved one. If they had I know how they feel, you lie awake all night dreaming and hoping that they will come back.

The loud bellowing noise of the whistle ringed in my ears and slowly the world that I knew slipped past my eyes. I was heading into an un-known territory; I was leaving everything that I knew. I looked outside the window we were in the outskirts of the town by now. The train ride was going to be another 4 hours so I thought I might as well get some sleep to pass the time. I reached for my Ipod that I got for Christmas and selected an album. I don’t know if you have ever tried, but going to sleep on a train is like doing math at the circus it just doesn’t happen. The train was still quiet but some commotion was coming from the back.

I tried to think of mum. The sweetest lady I ever knew. The food she always cooked had her ‘special touch’ as she called it and it tasted great! Whenever I needed her she would be there and I know a she's in heaven watching me now with the same loving smile she always had. I was drifting off to sleep wishing that she was still here.

Then noise down the back was getting louder and louder, it was keeping me awake, then I heard a terrible high pitch scream and the whole atmosphere changed. A moment later I turned around and saw four men running at full speed towards me, they were wearing black and holding guns. One by one they stopped. Finally two of them ran past me and towards the driver.

I’ve heard lots of stories of this happing to others but I never thought that it would happen to me. Before Mum died I remember her saying that in our world bad men take over planes, boats and trains, and, and nobody gets out alive. My heart jumped into my throat and I could fell it pound a thousand times faster than normal. Babies were crying and panic was everywhere but the most dominate noise was the hijackers yelling and the odd gun shot into a window. I was frozen with fear, my mind raced with questions but that all changed when I saw one of the hijackers coming toward me. All the other noises disappeared and the only sound I could hear was the Thud thud of my heart. I clenched my teeth together and a little tear appeared ‘GET OVER!’ I squinted to see if he was talking to me and to me surprise the old man in the row behind me came and sat next to me and the hijacker left. The man next to me did not look scared or frightened; in fact he looked as if it was a normal train ride.

‘Nice ipod.’ He mentioned. ‘Do you mind’ and then he just grabbed it off me. I looked up at him and saw that he was checking out the head phones. ‘These are nice headphones, thick and strong’, then he handed it back to me. He looked around to see if the hijackers were coming and luckily they were down the other end dealing with an angry passenger. Then he turned around and I could see in his eyes that he had a plan. After he told me the plan my heart sank back down into my belly. He wanted me to kill the hijackers! Just imagine me a 12 year old boy killing a full grown man with a gun. I would pretend to go to the toilet and then use my headphones to strangle him when he turned around. I didn’t like the idea it was our only hope. I had to do it for the sake of the train passengers.

I got up and walked up to the hijacker on the other side of the train. I had never found it so hard to walk, my feet felt like concrete and my body was stiff all over. I got closer and closer to the hijacker, my eyes swelled with tears and as I stood behind the hijacker I just realized how hard this would be. I couldn’t take it anymore and I burst out crying. Immediately the hijacker saw the earphones ready in my hand, he lifted his gun and pointed it at my head. I cried more and more I was shaking with fear and terror. The last noise I heard was multiple gunshots quite close before I fainted. My eyes closed and the crying stopped.

I woke up as that train doors opened, it was day now and all the passengers were looking me. I got up and saw to my surprise that I wasn’t shot not even hurt. One of the passengers told me it that there was an undercover cop on board the train and then just before they were going to shoot me he shot them. I walked out and saw grandmother, a sweet and loving old lady that had a present in her arms. She walking towards me with her arms out stretched. I knew life was going to get better.