The Closed Train<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tell ghost stories!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cody giggled, seeing in his mind the shadow of a dark pine tree waving on the folds of a tent, a wolf hungrily peering his nose into the smells.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Quiet, boy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Snapped the old man, swiveling his head from side to side, clutching his bag to his chest.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Calm down, Seymour.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Said his wife Helen. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be out soon enough. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no need to be so tense, and besides, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll wake his poor mother. Woman looks like she hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t slept in months.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
To this Seymour grunted, and pulled his belongings tighter to his chest. He sat with six people in an otherwise empty subway car. How this group found itself accumulated on the motionless Brown line headed towards Quincy\/Wellspring in Chicago could only be attributed to what reporters were labeling \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Bizarre Weather Patterns\u00e2\u20ac\u009d across the country. Following the recent trend in hurricanes and super storms along the East Coast, the Midwest was playing host to a variety of unprecedented natural disasters. At 10:06p.m. on this particular Monday night a mild but nevertheless undeniable earthquake had rumbled through the metropolis, scaring the city\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s government into a crisis situation and halting all forms of above ground public transportation. Any passengers on lines riding above ground, such as the seven strangers on this Brown line, were being told to wait until inspection of the tracks was clear before they could commence moving again.<\/p>\n
The assortment was comprised of seven people; Seymour and Helen, husband and wife of thirty-three years, were travelling home after dinner with their daughter and recent son-in-law. Cody, age ten, had boarded the train with his mother after waiting in the hotel lobby where she worked as the interim manager. This was a ritual in which he participated three days a week, after getting out of school and his tutoring program, until his mother finished her shift. They were now headed home to their 1 bedroom apartment. Sitting across from Cody and his mother sat two young men, in either their last years of teenage life or onto their early twenties, one reading and one wearing headphones. They both had the words \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Loyola University\u00e2\u20ac\u009d displayed somewhere on their clothing. Completing the company was a middle aged woman wearing dark, tight fitting clothing who divided her time between eating her greasy dinner (fried chicken and French fries) and muttering audibly about her fellow passengers.<\/p>\n
The continuous silence lay heavy in the subway car\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stillness. Every few minutes the CTA official\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice croaked through the distorted speaker, informing the passengers of any non-progress. Just as his voice was once again pleading with folks to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stay seated, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be out of this mess shortly,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the sliding door on the right hand side issued a piercing screech, and began to roll open, coming to a halt with a deafening clang. The travelers glanced at one another, shivering in the February wind that rushed into the subway car. One of the college students, Dwayne, took a look at his partner, and then got up to shut the door. After a few unsuccessful attempts, he decided sit with his back to the door, keeping it closed. His companion, Terence, smiled at Dwayne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s selflessness. Still, through all of this, nobody spoke.<\/p>\n
Then the CTA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice filled the void, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ok fellas, we have word that it will be about another 40 minutes until the track is clear. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s looked promising so far. I suggest you all sit tight and help each other out where possible. If you have any food you want to share, that would be greatly appreciated I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
There was an uproar. Cody playfully screamed, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all going to die!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and then ran to the farthest seat from his mother, giggling in his fantasy and turning his head to see if anyone else enjoyed his joke. His mother sighed deeply, pulled out a sleeve of crackers and offered them to the group. Immediately on her right sat Seymour, who sneered at the meager contribution and spat, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need your charity, woman. No need to be giving up the boy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s entire dinner, anyway.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Helen, who had taken out her knitting, whacked her husband with one of her needles. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thank you dear\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said to the boy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother, taking the crackers and passing them forward. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your child is a delight, just a delight.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
The crackers were offered to the woman whose face was buried in her cardboard box of fast food. Instead of accepting them, however, she merely raised her eyes and muttered to her processed chicken, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153God damn train ride. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t handle it no more, God help me I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t handle this no more.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Helen responded by placing the crackers on the vacant seat beside her. There ensued more silence.<\/p>\n
Dwayne lifted his head off his folded arms and grinned at his cohort. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hey Billie, will you spell me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he asked.<\/p>\n
Terence blinked, and then caught on. He smiled widely, and replied, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A little more north, eh?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d At this, the two men switched places.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cody! Come down from there!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cried his mother, as soon as she noticed the boy heave himself onto the luggage rack above the seats.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Absolutely no parenting skills.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Grumbled Seymour. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably dead. Or a drunk. These city families have no manners.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But moooom,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d pleaded Cody. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Look how far I can see out of the window! It looks like the ground is shaking, woah this is cool.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
At this, Dwayne stood up and went to the window. He peered down at the steel pillars supporting the tracks. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ter, the train\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stopped right above the river. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sort of right, it does look like the pillars are shaking.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He pointed out.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s alright, this earthquake isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t enough to knock us off.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Terence assured him. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Spell me, Billie?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Hmmm, a little more north indeed.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
As Dwayne crossed the car to switch places with his partner the group heard a deep rumble, growing substantially noisier by the second. It reached a paramount level as the sides of the car began to rattle ominously, growing into strong vibrations and shaking the seats under the innocent passengers. It grew stronger; Cody was hanging onto the rack with a look of profound fear, until a terribly violent shake ended the barrage, tilted the subway car off its side and toppled the small boy onto the floor. The ringing sound of steel rattling steel was instantly replaced by the tumultuous screams of the riders as the train righted itself. Cody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother shrieked and rushed to her son\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side. Cody was howling in pain, cradling his left wrist. The others contributed to the noise.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153God help me, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t deserve this. Someone need to let me out here. Boy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gonna kill us all if those damn earthquake don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. God damn earthquake in Chicago!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The woman in dark clothing screamed loudest.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Look at these ghetto kids! No discipline. Boy could have died! No common sense whatsoever.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Here how can I help? Tell me what to do dear. Oh my, what a tragedy. Oh poor child, poor child. What do you need from me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cody, shh hunny. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ok, let me see your wrist. This is why you listen to me when I tell you to do something.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mooooooom! Owww it hurts it hurts!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up! All of you!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Dwayne\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s voice triumphed over the disarray. It seemed as though the structure\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seizure had severely dislodged the subway\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s door, forcing Dwayne to exert double the energy into keeping it shut. He first addressed Seymour, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sir. You need to stop with these comments. We can all hear them and they are blatantly disrespectful. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sorry you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re stuck on a train with black people, really, but you need to shut your mouth. The same goes for you, ma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122am.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He said, gesturing at the woman eating her dinner. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know this is frustrating, but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re all trapped and want to get out just as much as you do. Now, how bad did you fall, buddy? Is anything broken?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Cody stopped his wailing and peered up at Dwayne. He shook his head and sat against his mother.<\/p>\n
Dwayne sighed and said exhaustedly, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Billie, will you spell me?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The two switched positions.<\/p>\n
The woman put down her box of food and smoothed out her pants before she spoke. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I apologize. I should not have been screaming like that, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve had a horribly long day and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m unbelievably tired. I take this line from one end to the other and spend enough time on subways as is. My name is Carole. Thank you for holding that door. Look,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she added, after her speech disintegrated into the hush. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153See across the window, there, at that other subway! People are holding signs against the glass!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d She scrambled onto the seat across from her and cupped her hands around her eyes. Cody jumped up beside her and copied her hand position.<\/p>\n
Carole turned excitedly to the company, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Come look! They say, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcHelp is coming. Within 20 min. Stay Strong.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Ten minutes passed, and the mood comfortably changed. Cody continued to wave and give thumbs up to the passengers in the neighboring subway.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Billie?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Ten more minutes passed. A new note appeared. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Just a bit longer. Help is coming\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Excuse me, sirs\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Helen asked Dwayne and Terence politely. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why do you keep calling each other Billie?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Terence laughed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s from a story called The Open Boat. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re reading it in one of our classes. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about a group of men lost at sea.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Helen nodded. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I thought as much.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Then she paused, and added, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hope we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t meet the same end as those–\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
She was interrupted by a gigantic crash. Everybody on the train screamed as they looked across the window. The subway next to them had collapsed as the pillars supporting the tracks folded like dominoes. The enormous metal centipede splashed onto the roads and into the river, crashing into buildings and spraying debris and pandemonium everywhere. Their own subway began to shake, louder and more forceful than before, as Cody\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother clutched her son to her chest, crying at the top of her lungs. Carole had slipped off her seat onto her knees, sobbing in a desperate prayer. Helen looked about frantically, searching for someone to help, and after finding nobody, snatched up her knitting in trembling hands. Terence and Dwayne stood up and embraced in a tight caress. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I love you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d They whispered. Seymour watched, and seconds before the end of his life, hollered to nobody in particular, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m Sorry!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The subway fell to the earth in a cacophony of splintered metal, grinding noise and forgotten souls. Help never came.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Closed Train \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s tell ghost stories!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cody giggled, seeing in his mind the shadow of a dark pine tree waving on the folds of a tent, a wolf hungrily peering his nose into the smells. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Quiet, boy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Snapped the old man, swiveling his head from side to side, clutching his bag to his chest. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6082"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6082"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6083,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6082\/revisions\/6083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artsatmichigan.umich.edu\/ink\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}