The Clock by Donna Page 24/07/2021©

The Clock by Donna Page 24/07/2021©

Tick, tick, tick, tick.  

She looked up. She had not noticed the clock on the wall beside the door before.  She was sure it wasn't there when they called her through.  But there it was, ticking loudly.  It showed two minutes to five.  

Slowly a train pulled into the station.  She could not believe what she was seeing.  This was no ordinary train, at least not in her world. She was used to catching the 7:15 to the city every day. A sleek silver train with matching carriages. Free WiFi and full of people, jostling for a good seat.  All ignoring each other, concentrating on the device in their hand.  Some actually reading a book.  This train was different.

Firstly, it was a steam engine, the type you saw at the old Railway Museum in Ipswich.  The tender full to overflowing with coal.  Two old men were in the engine, covered in blue overalls and soot.  Beards to their waists.  

The thought crossed her mind "Did people really look like that, am I stuck on some movie set."

The old lady tapped her shoulder "That's our train, love. Time to go"

The clock chimed.

Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong.  Five rings resounded through the station.  

"I am not going anywhere, this is not real" 

She found her legs and finally stood up. The stairs were at the other end of the platform.  She ran towards them. If she could just get off this platform, she would wake up, surely.  She ran faster, the stairs didn't get any closer.  She was moving as fast as she could now. But she could not reach those stairs.  She stopped, puffing, she hadn't run like that since sports day at high school.  

She turned around.  She hadn't moved.  "What the heck" 

The old lady came up to her again.  "Love, you have to stop fighting this. You need to get on the train.  You can't move forward until you do"

Dong, dong, dong, dong, dong. The clock chimed 5 again.  "What? How?"

"No, I am not getting on any train, what the hell is this, why will you people not let me out of here.  I am not ready to move on anywhere"

The old lady looked at her with kindness. She made her feel strangely comfortable, she was the only thing that did.  This was all wrong.  Except for the old lady, she was vaguely familiar.  She seemed right.

"What has happened to me, why am I here.  I know I stepped off the footpath and I fell.  It was just a fall.  I am dreaming, aren't I?  This is me being unconscious on a hospital bed somewhere, right?" she looked pleadingly at the old lady.

"Love, I can't tell you what happened.  That is not my job, my job is to get you on the train.  See, the blue carriage there, that is where you need to be, just open the door and get on."

Suddenly she was at the blue door. 

"How the heck did that happen?"

People were getting in the carriages all down the train.  The yellow carriage was already full.  People were leaning out the windows looking at her. 

"Just reach out and open the door, grab the handle and turn it, it really is that easy" 

"NO! I am not getting on this train" 

She shoved through the people behind her. Somehow the old lady was on the other side of the crowd before she got there.  She stopped.  Falling to her knees she sobbed into her hands.

Again the clocked chimed five.  "That is impossible," she thought "time does not simply stop."

The old lady held out her hand, she looked at her resignedly, she took it and stood up.  Guided towards the train again, she reached out and turned the brass handle.  

The door swung open. 

The Platform by Donna Page 15/07/2021 ©

The Platform by Donna Page 15/07/21 © 

 "What the Hell," she thought, although, by the look on the face of the doorkeeper, she may have said that out loud.

The platform was full of people. Old, young, in-between.  There even seemed to be animals everywhere. Dogs bouncing around. Cats, licking paws, looking smug. Birds flitting around and Fish, seemingly floating in mid-air.  

All the animals were heading to the overhead bridge.  Brightly coloured in oranges, blues, greens, yellows, a veritable rainbow.  Of course.  The Rainbow Bridge.  It was real.

“No, it couldn't be, that would mean…”

There was a boom gate at the bottom of the stairs.  Any human that tried to get to this bridge was unable to pass, no matter how hard they tried.  Four legs, fur, fins, scales, and tails, they could all go on by.  She smiled; a feeling of warmth came over her.  For every small critter that passed over that bridge, the cloud it disappeared into go brighter.  

People jostled, just like they did at Central station.  They all seemed to be trying to be in front. Just like going to work, everyone wanted to get on the train first.  That was the last thing she wanted.  Turning around, she headed back toward the door.  There seemed to be several different doors on the platform.  All with different architecture.  All looking old and all very unfamiliar. She found the boarded-up door she walked through to get on the platform.  

She wasn't going anywhere, not yet, she was too young.  She had a life to live, adventures to have, worlds to explore.  Walking straight ahead, looking at no one else coming through, she was determined.  And bam!! A solid wooden barrier. How could that be? She had just glided through, and people were coming the other way toward her.  

The old lady who arrived on the platform beside her saw what she was doing. "Oh love, it's too late to go back.  Once you are through the door, you can't get back to the other side. It's gone. For good."

"No, it can't be, I want to go home" she cried "This can't be happening, it's a dream right."

She turned back away from the door, staggering, she needed to sit down.

“How can this be happening?” she cried into her hands “I need to wake up”

“No love, you can’t wake up, whatever you knew before is no longer there, its all gone” the old woman consoled.

“It was your time, the Fates cut your string."