The Ghost Train

Background on story:
My family always takes an annual weekend trip to Devil's Lake. During that trip, we usually stop at the North Freedom Train Museum. The idea was inspired by one of the trips there.
Enjoy!




The Ghost Train
(By nice_woman26)

There was a group of friends, known as the Explorers, who traveled through time by a small mirror. They did not have any control over where they went.



Steve looked down at his watch; it read 9/25/95 and the time was 9:55 am.
He then looked up to the sky and saw many gray clouds. He saw the trees near him and they were blowing in the wind, so he zipped up his jacket. He put his hands into his jacket pockets. In his right pocket, there were two matches. In the left pocket, he found a black stocking cap. He took it out and put it on over his dirty blonde hair. Steve pointed to Jon and said, "See that man? He's wearing something fancy." Jon looked in the direction he pointed and saw a man with a black suite, white shirt, black pants, and a black derby hat.
"Maybe he's Amish," Jon said and laughed. Steve rolled his eyes.
“What are we going to do here?” Jon asked.

"I don't know," Steve added. Jon kicked the stone next to his boot and frowned.

"Let's take a walk; maybe we can find something to do,” Steve said and yawned.

They strolled through cobblestone streets and passed Colonial-style houses.
Many Model T cars whizzed past them on the road. Most of the women who passed them on the sidewalk wore dresses; the men wore suits and black knit pants. One man stopped and stared at them. He asked, "What are you wearing?"
Sue looked down and answered, "blue jeans". The man frowned, and walked on.
"Look," Sue said and pointed. They looked and saw a horse pulling a buggy.
"See, there are Amish people here," Jon said. They walked for awhile when Steve stopped and pointed straight ahead. Everyone saw a train station and heard a train whistle. They slowly walked to the ticket window.


"We would like four tickets to the end of the line," Steve told the attendent.
"Four tickets to Deathton, $10," the attendent said.
"Only $10?" Sue asked. Jon looked behind them and saw a blonde haired bombshell wearing a long red dres.
The woman told Sue, "$10 is a lot of money."
"That woman looks like my ex Nicole," Jon happily said. Steve turned to look at the woman and smiled. He turned to Jon and said, "No she doesn't and stop talking about your ex. I don't talk about mine."
"You can't. You never had a girlfriend," Jon told him.
"Ouch. Let's stop talking about women," Steve replied.
"Stop talking about women? Is that even possible?" Jon asked. Steve laughed and said, "We can still talk about women, but not now."
They paid for their tickets, and boarded the train. As they stepped onto the platform, a gust of wind nearly knocked all of them off. They walked onto the train, unaware of the adventure that awaited them!



Steve sat by the window because he always liked watching the sceneryy. He first saw many tall industrial buildings and then the train slowed to the station. He took a book out of the backpack he had along with him and started to read. Steve looked out the window a few minutes later and saw red oak trees, many golden maples, and a few green trees. A few minutes later, the train slowed and he looked out the window again. He saw many rotten boards in the station, and some gaps on the plank where some boards should have been. A few people got off and the train started again.

The train continued and the group and saw a sign that read: “You are now entering Deathton. Population unincorporated”. They heard someone complain "why does it have to be hot when I'm working?" They looked out the window and saw the conductor. He walked to the friends door. He pulled on the handle but it wouldn't budge. He tried again but it still wouldn't open.

“This door isn't opening. There's no one to repair the passenger car here, but there's someone who can help in the city before this one,” he told them.

The friends heard crunching of gravel and a slam of the conductor closing the locomotive door. Everyone then heard a metallic screeching sound. They all gathered around a window and saw that the car in front of theirs snapped apart from the rest of the train!

“The conductor should come back when he notices what happened,” Jon explained.




They waited for many hours for the conductor who never came back.

"This sucks; there's nothing in these cars," Jon complained. "What are we going to do?"

“We could check to see if the doors are locked and the one in back of ours,” Steve said. Jon first checked their door and then slowly walked to the other train car door.

“All the doors are locked,” Jon answered, disappointed. Sue pulled a book out her backpack, and started to read.
"What book are you reading?" Lisa asked her. She showed her the cover.
"Dating for Dummies? You need that book?" Lisa asked with her hands on her hips.
"Yes," Sue said quietly.
"You just talk with men, that's really all there is to it," Lisa replied. Sue shook her head and said, "There's more to it than that, according to this book."
"Ok, whatever," Lisa answered, dropped into the seat next to Sue, and closed her eyes.



Everyone slept for a few hours and Steve awoke when Lisa tapped him on the shoulder.

“What is it?" Steve asked.
"I just... just... just... h....heard a noise,” Lisa stuttered.
"Are you sure?" Steve asked. Lisa frowned at Steve and answered, "I definately heard something. I didn't make it up."
"Like you always do," Steve said under his breath.
"I heard that! I don't always make things up," Lisa replied.
"Not always, but a number of time," Steve agreed. Lisa frowned at him.
"Ok, let's calm down," Sue said. Lisa rolled her eyes at Steve and slumped down in the chair next to her.


A few seconds later, they all heard someone run and then the person screamed. Everyone shot each other fearful glances and no one dared to talk. Steve broke the silence by asking the empty car, "Who's there?" Steve felt a chill run down the back of his spine and, like on a cold winter's night, he could see his breath in the empty car. They all heard someone run and then Steve was pushed to the floor!



Someone knocked and they all looked out the window. They did not see anyone but heard a voice.
“Is anyone here?” the voice asked.

“Who is it?” Steve asked. No one answered. The friends were not looking when the thing walked through the door!

“Who is it?” Jon asked again.

“The conductor. I worked on the train with my back turned. I heard someone come up behind me. It all happened in a split second. I just had time to turn around and scream when someone plunged a knife in my back. I didn't get a chance to see who it was, but I think one of you guys did it,” he said.

“It was not us. We waited here for you the whole time," Steve said.

“I know it was one of you. I'm not sure just who, but I'm going to scare all of you... to death!” the conductor said and laughed like a madman.



Someone knocked on the door from the inside anbd laughed.
Then, it got ice cold.
Steve found two matches in his pocket. He lit one to start a fire in the fireplace in the other car.

“What time is it?" Lisa asked.

"My watch says 12:16," Steve answered. "Why?"

Lisa got up from her seat and walked over to Steve, who was in the other car.
"Ghosts don't bother people in the morning; they don't like the sun. If we threaten it then maybe it will go away,” Lisa suggested. Jon said, "Hey Lisa."
"What?" Lisa asked.
"I can see your legs," Jon said.
"So?" Lisa asked, with her hands on her hips.
"You have some great legs," Jon said and pointed to them. Lisa looked down and noticed that part of her dress had a tear on it.
"Great, this is a new dress," Lisa complained to herself.
"That is so typical of you Jon. Since high school you always looked at women's legs and you still do. Some things never change," she told Jon.
"Yeah, so. What's wrong with men looking at women's legs? Especially if they're nice legs," Jon said. Lisa rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
"What do you think Steve?" Jon asked.
"About what?" he said.
"Lisa's legs," Jon answered.
"They're ok," Steve added.
"You don't like women's legs?" Jon asked, surprised.
"I do but Lisa is a friend. I don't look at her like a piece of meat," Steve added. Jon was about to say something, but didn't. Lisa heard Steve say that and she leaned over. She whispered into his ear, "Thank you Steve" and kissed him on the cheek. Jon saw this and said, "What? I don't get a kiss?"
"Why would you? After what you said?" Lisa said and sat in the seat next to her.

“Come on guys! We want to get out of here, right?" Sue asked, her hands on her hips. Jon rolled his eyes at Sue. He leaned over to Steve and said, "she's always serious, isn't she?"
"She is, but she has a point. You want to get out of here, right?" Steve asked.
Jon nodded and turned around to face Sue. Sue turned to face the ghost and said, "Look, the sun is beginning to rise.”

“You’re guys are stupid! I can see that it's still night,” the ghost said.



Next, the two cars had red mist and it was boiling hot . The ghost went into their bodies and took their voices! Luckily, the friends knew how to read mouths well.
“Where is the mirror?” Sue asked, concerned.

“It is in the other car. The mirror only works when we're outside,” Steve mouthed back.



“On three, let’s make a move for the mirror. One… two… three…“ Steve said.
The friends took off on three. They grabbed the mirror.

“I’ve got it! Now we have to find a way out,” Sue said.



The ghost watched them the whole time. In an instant, all of the doors were nailed shut. Steve put his hand in his pocket and saw he had an extra match. He lit it in the car they were in and the car soon caught fire. They ran out of the room and watched. The fire destroyed every seat but not the door. Just then, everyone heard a loud noise; the bathrooms in the other car exploded. They heard another loud noise. The doors broke open and the friends ran out of the car. Soon after Steve ran out of the car, it exploded!

“Wow, we were close!” Jon said. “I can talk!”

Everyone said “hello” and discovered their voices were back.

“Let’s get out of here,” Sue said.

They all jumped into the mirror, where another adventure awaited them...