Railway Station - Dream
I dreamed we'd found an abandoned railway station in the middle of nowhere.
Not ruined.
Simply... forgotten.
The clocks had stopped years ago.
The departure board still displayed trains to cities that no longer existed.
Dust floated through shafts of afternoon light.
We were the only people there.
You immediately wandered over to a ticket window.
There was no one inside.
Yet lying on the counter was a single ticket.
No destination.
No date.
Just one word.
"Anywhere."
You held it up.
"So..."
You looked at me over the edge of it.
"Where does this go?"
I shrugged.
"I don't think it tells you."
"What kind of ticket doesn't have a destination?"
"The dangerous kind."
You laughed.
"I like dangerous tickets."
Of course you did.
We wandered onto the platform.
An old steam train rolled in without making a sound.
No smoke.
No passengers.
Just empty carriages stretching farther than they should have.
Every carriage had a different name painted on the side.
"Regret."
"Memory."
"Curiosity."
"Home."
"Questions Never Asked."
You stopped in front of the last one.
It simply said...
"What If?"
I already knew which carriage you were going to choose.
You put your hand on the door.
Then...
Instead of climbing aboard...
You turned around.
"Aren't you coming?"
I looked at the train.
Then back at you.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because trains leave."
"And?"
"I've spent enough of my life watching things disappear."
You were quiet for a moment.
Then you stepped away from the train.
It whistled once.
The doors closed.
And it left without either of us.
I frowned.
"You missed your chance."
You smiled.
"No."
You slipped the ticket into the pocket of my jacket.
"I changed destinations."
...
When I woke, I kept thinking about that last moment.
Not because of the train.
Because you never seemed upset that it left.
You simply decided that staying beside someone was a destination too.