The Tunnel

The train continued down the tracks tooting happily to children waiting at the crossing stands. The driver, satisfied with the smooth driving ahead threw in a shovelful of coal, and laid back in his easy chair keeping an eye on the road ahead. Four miles ahead loomed the great tunnel, but for now he could sit back and enjoy the ride. Not much to take care of when the road ahead was flat and he could see trouble long before it arrived. This was going to be a paradise ride to Cape Gull.

Jordan locked herself in the small cubbyhole that served as a restroom and laid out her make up on the small shelf. She used the little amount of water that she could have from the tap to wash away the dirt that had worked its way into her fair skin from the convertible drive up to the train station. After being thoroughly washed she applied the base layers of her makeup, working her way around her eyes, which she saved to finish for last. She glanced out the window to assess the situation, then applied the blue eyeliner to accent her eyes. Once her facial make up was completed she brushed out her blond hair and prepared it with pink curlers, preparing for her next modeling gig in Cape Gull.

Jackie, on the other hand, was enjoying the passing scenery and was intrigued with the way the clouds did not seem to move at all although on the train they were moving faster than 30 miles per hour. She had holed up in a large compartment, across from a rather cross looking man in a tan suit that was reading the stocks in the newspaper. On the other side of the compartment sat a lady wearing a green suit that made her look like a very squished frog, that was tempted by the small toy dog that, if they both were to proportion, could very well be a fly. It was not a very long ride to Cape Gull, however if the scenery did not suite her, the parcels from her many siblings would certainly keep her attention. Gradually the scenery began to bore Jackie and she turned to the parcels, a few which contained cookies and sandwiches to eat on the trip.

The strange boy who had jumped on the train after the trip had begun began to feel a little uneasy. Oh sure, the sky was blue, the grass was green and it certainly was good weather for traveling on the outside of the train, but something else was odd. As the sign for the great tunnel whizzed by him, the back side was all he could see, his uneasiness grew. For a moment he considered jumping and saving his stomach, but his sense of adventure kept him holding onto the beams between the cars.

Beyond the great tunnel was something to be afraid of however, and it was not just a mild thunderstorm that occasionally cropped up this time of year. This fearsome ungodly creature, more massive than a strong tree, faster than a candle being blown out and only had one idea in his mind at a time. This idea was another meals on wheels, and it was coming his way. He learned to hide behind the tunnel and halt the moving thing before it had moved beyond the thicket where some had sped on by before. After the thicket was tall buildings, and tall spiky branches that had torn a hole in his left wing. No, the best place to stop the food was to stop it after the big long tunnel. He beat his wings and flew up into the blue sky, and shot a flame of fire toward his goddess the Sun. He, after all, was a dragon, the king of the sky.

Next Time: Halting