The buzzing drowned out everything else. I couldn’t think over the sound of it blaring in my ear. I couldn’t see anything; it felt as if my eyes were sewn shut. My body felt heavy and slightly sore. The taste in my mouth was stale, but also didn’t seem to incredibly out of place. Lethargy had set in, and moving was excruciatingly difficult. If I had the energy to lift my hoof I gladly would have, but my exhaustion prevented me.
I tried to slip back into the pleasant oblivion I had been in before. When I had been nothing, and was content to stay that way. The buzzing would not allow me to however. Right next to me, the screeching continued to pull my consciousness from the black. I mustered all of the will power I could to lift a single hoof.
The alarm clock sailed off my table as I slapped it, aiming for the off switch. I hoped the damn thing would die, and leave me to sleep in peace, but unfortunately it continued to scream from where it laid on the other side of the room. With a sigh of defeat I rubbed a hoof across my closed eyelids to help them open.
Wearily I sat up in bed, and looked around my crummy one room apartment. A couple of shirts were strewn across the floor; some even had some dirty dishes weighing them down. The small table that I had sitting next to my bed had several stacks of books surrounding it. The Stand, the book that was currently dominating most of the space on the small table, was open to where I had stopped reading last night. The large blue book had been an interesting read so far, but I still had a long ways to go before I finished
I stretched out my hoof and clicked on the small lamp that was also resting on the table near me. Mixed with the natural morning light that was beginning to stream in through the window the small room seemed a little less sad. I started to stretch out my hooves before I got out of bed, just like I did every morning, when I was interrupted by a pounding that came from the room above me.
“Shut that damn thing of or Celestia help me…” My landlord screamed through the ceiling at me.
“Yea I know. I’ll get it,” I yelled back, as I got to my hooves and casually walked over to the alarm clock that was still going off. I gently reached down and flipped the switch to off.
I shook off a few flakes of paint that had fallen in my mane during today’s daily screaming match. Normally my landlord was a pretty nice guy, but for some unknown reason I had ended up on his bad side. I picked up the clock and tossed it back onto the table where it had sat before. The toss was great, but it couldn’t quite stick the landing, and fell onto the bed.
I walked over to the mirror that I had hung on the wall above my dresser, and picked up a comb that was resting in front of it. Just like every morning some flakes of paint had managed to survive my vigorous shaking, and had embedded themselves deep into my hair. Since I couldn’t show up to work with bed head, and paint in my hair I quickly combed my mane. Even though it seemed like a slightly girly thing, combing my mane always got me up in the morning.
I stepped away from the mirror; satisfied that my two toned yellow mane looked at least somewhat presentable. Now that my eyes weren’t heavy with half sleep, I hurried to the small fridge that marked the kitchen area of the apartment.
I opened the fridge and gazed into its depths hoping to find something to eat for breakfast, since I doubted I was going to have time to get anything on the way to work today. The only thing I had that didn’t stink like it had rotted weeks ago was a single carton of milk. I had heard somewhere that liquid diets were supposed to be good for you.
I quickly chugged down the contents of the carton, and willed my body to accept it as all the sustenance it would need for most of the day. I then tossed the empty carton into the trash that was just on the side of the fridge. From the look and smell of it, I would also need to empty the trash sometime tonight.
Satisfied that I had managed to get a few calories for the day I walked back to my dresser, and retrieved the toothbrush and toothpaste that were resting on top of it. With toothbrush and toothpaste in mouth I walked to the door, and exited the apartment. Happy that I saw no one else waiting in the hall, I quickly made my way to the shared bathroom only to find it locked. I cursed under my breath, and leaned against the wall as I waited.
The hall had seven doors along its sides that each led to a small one-room apartment identical to mine. The eighth door was for the shared bathroom, which everyony on the floor had to use. The walls of the hall themselves were covered in a beige paint that had begun to chip off long ago. The smell of cheese filled the hall, no doubt coming from room 803. Cheddar’s room always smelled like cheese, but surprisingly the flavor of said cheese would change on a day-to-day basis.
Bored, I decided to fill the time by looking out at the magnificent Manehatten coast. Sure there was plenty of trash lining the sidewalks of the streets below, and the water was so polluted that it would probably leave you bald if you were to take a swim, but seeing the ocean at sunrise made up for it. If I gazed off into the far distance, away from this crappy building, I could almost imagine being somewhere decent where I could breath the country air and actually like the ponies I worked with.
The bathroom door opened behind me pulling my attention away from the window. Out walked a mare still a little wet from her shower; she had a towel wrapped around her head. Her coat was a dark blue and her mane, which was hiding under the towel, was a lush indigo. Her name was Violet and I had been pining over her for the last year, ever since I first saw her.
“Good morning, Lucky. Sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you up,” she said, as she stepped away from the bathroom door so that I could use it.
“Drrn’t wrrry abrrt rt,” was all I could manage to choke out through the grooming supplies I had in my mouth. I quickly spat my toothbrush and toothpaste into my hoof so I could make another attempt at a greeting.
“Don’t worry about it. Waiting here gave me some time to enjoy the sunrise,” I said motioning to the window.
Violet looked to the window and smiled. “I’m surprised you could even see the sun through that grimy thing, or the pollution for that matter.”
“One can always see the light. It is looking for it that is the hard part.” I pushed myself off the wall and made my way over to the bathroom.
“Always the philosopher. I never really understood how important philosophy is to being a secretary.” She quipped as she walked to her room, and levitated her keys out of the towel that was on her head.
“Administrative Assistant,” I quickly shot back.
“Semantics,” she replied as she opened her door.
“Now who is being the philosopher,” I called to her as I set my toothbrush and toothpaste in the sink.
“You caught me. My dear, Lucky Star you have uncovered my secret passion. Please promise that you will not tell a soul.”
Smiling, I leaned out the door to the bathroom to get a look at her. She was standing there in the hallway smiling back at me. “I wouldn’t dream of it my lady.” I ducked back into the bathroom so that I could get my teeth cleaned before I took off for work. “How did that audition go by the way?”
“Oh yes! I haven’t told you about it have I?” I began to brush as she started to talk; I knew that these stories could run for a while. “ When I first showed up I saw that they had five other fillies waiting to audition for the same part. Naturally, this wouldn’t deter me in the least, but I recognized some of these other mares. They have been in some really big plays.
“Well perhaps not really big things, but definitely some Off-Broadway productions. Well I recognized one of them, but that isn’t the point. The point is that I was there, just a small town girl going up against these heavy weights. Needless to say, when they finally called me in I was terrified.” I spat the minty paste that was in my mouth into the sink, and began to put my toothbrush back into its protective casing.
“You got the part didn’t you?” I called from the bathroom, and heard her huff in response.
“I was not done with my story,” she called back.
“I’m sorry. Please continue.”
“Well, as I was saying,” she began, picking up right where she had left off. “When I was finally called I was absolutely terrified. I walked onto the stage and introduced myself like I always do, and I was about to start when one of the directors stopped me.
“I asked if I had done something wrong, and she told me that nothing could be further from the truth. She said that I was exactly what she had pictured for the role, and hired me for it right there on the spot.” I wiped some of the water from my mouth and walked back into the hall.
“She cast you without even hearing you speak? That sounds a little far fetched.” I said as I also made my way back to my room and opened the door.
“However fanciful it may sound let me assure you that it is one hundred percent true.”
“Well I do suppose that they would have been hard pressed to find somepony else that has as much raw talent as you do.” I replied as I tossed my dental supplies onto my bed from the hall.
“That is one of the nicest things that anypony has ever said to me,” she said in mock surprise. I gave her compliments like that all the time. “We will have to celebrate the news. We can make a meal of it. What time do you get off work today?”
I nearly tripped as I started to walk into my apartment. Violet and I usually traded pleasantries in the morning, and I had secretly wanted to ask her out for a long time now, but I never thought that she would be the one to make the first move.
“Six!” I exclaimed. “I get off at around six this afternoon,” I repeated this time with more control.
“That is great to hear. You can pick me up around seven tonight then.” She turned away from me and went into her room closing the door behind her before I could say anything else.
“It’s a date.”
____________________________________________________________________________
The subway was crowded like it always is. Ponies rushed past each other, not bothering to stop and apologize when they accidentally bumped into sompony. I was no different from everypony else as I hurried along my route. Every time that I stepped into the terminal I envied pegasi for being able to fly wherever they wanted and not having to deal with this. I am sure that there is something else that they probably envied about earth ponies that I never thought about, or at least I hoped there was.
My clock had told me, as I hurried to put on my work clothes, that apparently I was going to be late for work today. If I missed the train then there was no way I was going to be even remotely on time. Luckily, I had managed to get to the terminal just as it pulled in.
I rushed the last couple of meters to the open train door, and got inside as quickly as I could. The doors closed just behind me, almost catching my tail between them. I let out a sigh of relief, and looked around for a place to sit. As usual there was nowhere to rest so I got out of the middle of the walkway, and stood off to the side.
A lively cross section of Manehatten could be seen whenever you take the subway. Several business ponies sat in the train reading the newspaper, and avoiding eye contact with anypony. Several vagrants also occupied the car, most were sleeping, but some would go from pony to pony asking for loose change.
Some high school kids playing hooky were also on the train talking with one another in hushed tones. Their manes were spiked and they had leather collars around their necks. Their earrings and eye shadow was what really gave them away as being punks. They probably thought that they knew suffering, and were expressing it through the way that they dressed. Just wait until they had to get a real job, then they would really know what suffering was.
I sighed and leaned against the wall of the train, before I instantly recoiled as I felt something sticky on its surface. Upon closer inspection I noticed that I had leaned into some gum. Luckily, none of it stuck to my clothes, and I was saved from the nightmare of having to explain that to my boss when I showed up.
The train lurched, and caused some of the less experienced passengers to brace themselves against something so that they wouldn’t be thrown. The doors to the car opened, and the conductor said something unintelligible over the intercom. Having ridden the subway many times myself I could pick out a few words here and there. Knowing this to be my stop I quickly exited the car before the stream of ponies exiting and entering hit its climax.
I looked back at the train a moment before I remembered that I was very close to being late, and hurried to the exit. I quickly climbed the stairs leading out of the terminal and out onto the street. The building that I worked at was only a few blocks over.
I walked briskly down the sidewalk passing several vendors along the way. One even called out to me as I walked by.
“Lucky! What are you not stopping for something today?” he asked as I walked past.
“No time Herb. My boss will kill me if I’m late again.”
“You tell that boss of yours that he owes me for your breakfast then.” I heard him say behind me.
“Will do,” I called back.
I hurried along the Manehatten sidewalks to the giant office building that loomed in front of me. The building itself was over fifty stories high, which was not exceptionally impressive since it was sandwiched between two eighty-story buildings. The glass paneling did manage to catch a lot of the light that found its way through the maze of the city to strike the structure. At about two in the afternoon the entire building would shimmer as the sun beat down directly onto it.
I finally reached the doors, and let myself in. As usual the lobby was a buzz with excitement, but I couldn’t stop to pony watch. I quickly made my way to the Starbucks that was in the far corner of the lobby where my drink orders would hopefully be waiting.
“Cutting it a bit close aren’t you Lucky?” asked the mare from behind the counter as she pulled out the two coffees she had behind the counter. Her name was Chocolate Cream and I had also considered her as good marefriend material, though we would probably stay just good friends.
“Well aren’t you a life saver. One black and the other…”
“Two creams and one sugar. Just like every single day you come to pick them up,” she replied as she place them in a tray and passed them to me. I tossed a few bits onto the counter, grabbed the tray, and quickly hurried over to the elevator.
I managed to slide into one of the elevators, and the doors closed seconds behind me. I pressed the button for the forty-third floor, and sat down. I glanced at my watch over the tray of coffee in my mouth, and saw that I had two whole minutes before I would be officially late. I anxiously tapped my hoof against the floor as the elevator slowly rose to my floor, allowing ponies to exit every few floors.
Finally, we reached my floor, and I rushed out of the elevator so that I could make it to my desk before my boss walked in. As I raced to my desk I saw that my luck was holding out, and my boss had yet to arrive. I mentally sighed as I pulled out my chair, and set the coffees on the desk.
I triumphantly sat down and began to look over the papers that had been placed on my desk. Apparently, I was going to need to go all the way downtown this morning to pick up some dry cleaning. I just hopped I would be able to get off in time to make my dinner date with Violet.
Hardly thirty seconds later my boss, Gold Coin, stepped off of one of the elevators and began walking towards his office. The ponies that were walking the aisles between the cubicles gave him a wide berth as he passed by. Gold Coin was one of the vice presidents of the bank that I worked at, and was known to fly off the handle quite easily.
He was an earth pony like myself, but he had a rusty copper colored coat whereas mine was white with a slight blue tint. His brown mane was slicked down against his head and neck by an extreme amount of hair gel. I had never seen him out of a suit, but depending on how he felt any particular morning he would wear a different color tie. Today’s tie was green, which meant that he was feeling particularly good.
As he passed my desk I quickly stood up, and retrieved his coffee from the tray on my desk. I matched his pace as we walked to his office and entered it. Without saying a word he made his way around his desk and sat down. Like I did every morning, I quickly placed the coffee onto the desk in front of him and waited to be addressed.
It is said that you can learn everything you need to know about somepony by looking at the belongings in their home. The same could be said about looking at what somepony kept in their office. Looking around Gold Coin’s office you could tell exactly what kind of pony he was.
He sat in a very imposing black chair. The seat on the other side of his desk was small, and noticeably shorter. This meant that unless you were an unnaturally tall stallion, when you were in Gold Coin’s office you would always be looking up at him. This put him in quite literally the seat of power.
His desk was devoid of all clutter, and he had no pictures on it like many of the other vice presidents did. Anypony would tell you that in the office Gold Coin was all business, and this reasserted that fact.
Despite having a great view of the city from his office the blinds were always closed, and the only light in the office came from the harsh halogen lights overhead. Gold Coin had a few file cabinets behind him that he used to store his business papers and records, and a small briefcase sat beside his desk. Aside from these however, the room was completely devoid of furniture. In the office Gold Coin cut away all superfluous things, and never beat around the bush. It was really strange that he was taking so long to begin our daily briefing.
“Lucky, what do I have on my agenda for today,” he finally spoke after taking a long sip from his coffee.
“Today is mostly clear, Mr. Gold Coin. You have a meeting at nine with a potential investor,” I replied immediately.
“Remind me who I am meeting with.”
“Yes sir. She is a representative of the local farmer’s union, and I believe she is looking to invest a large sum of bits. This year the local crops over-produced, and the farmers made out quite well. The predictions for next season show that the same will likely happen,” I said, knowing exactly what information he wanted to hear.
“Meaning that if we can get them on our good side now there will be plenty of bits to make in the future.” He considered the information for a moment before he gestured for me to continue.
“At ten there is supposed to be a meeting upstairs, but I am not exactly sure what it is about.” He didn’t prompt me to stop so I continued. “After the meeting it seems that you had me clear your schedule.”
“Yes I have a lunch with some important ponies. I will need my change of clothes picked up for lunch. Please have that done by the time that I return from the meeting.” He pointed a hoof at me to show me how important it was that I ran this little errand.
“Of course sir. I will have it by the time you are out. Do you need me for anything else?” I asked as I slowly made my way to the door.
“No that will be all for now. Make sure you are extra polite to this farmer mare that shows up. I’ve heard that they really get off on common manners,” he said as I exited the office, and closed the door behind me.
I made my way back to my desk at a rather sedate pace. Since he didn’t have much to do today it meant that I also had an easy day. If I really rushed I might have been able to get off around four-thirty, and have plenty of time to prepare for my date later. With renewed vigor I dove into the stack of papers in front of me.
The time passed quickly, and I hardly noticed as a tall toned mare walked from the elevator, and made her way over to my desk. Luckily, my years of training at my position kicked in before she had to get my attention. I looked up and saw the red mare approach quickly.
“Hello, would you happen to be, Mrs. Cherry Blossom?” I asked as I stood from my desk.
“Mrs. Cherry Blossom is my mother. Please, call me Cherry,” she replied as she stopped in front of my desk.
“Well, Mrs. Cherry I believe that Mr. Gold Coin is waiting for you in his office. Please see yourself in.” I sat down at my desk, and waited for her to close the door behind her before I returned to my work.
I was about to start again, but stopped. I realized that right now would be the best time for me to go and pick up Gold Coin’s dry cleaning. If I left now then there was no possible way that I was going to be late coming back, and if I got it done then I could concentrate on other things and knock off early.
With my mind made up I stood from my desk, and threw my saddlebags back on. I quickly downed the rest of the coffee, and tossed the cup in the recycling basket. I looked into some of the cubicles as I walked by, and saw that everypony else was busy. Thinking about it, there wouldn’t be many ponies that I would have to rush past at this time of day. I smiled to myself, admiring the rewards I would get for doing this little chore early.
The ride down the elevator was uneventful, and I just listened as the plain music floated in. The trip was uninterrupted, and I soon found myself in the lobby. Compared to how things were this morning the lobby was a ghost town. I only walked past one other pony as I made my way outside.
The streets of Manehatten were still bustling with activity, but were not nearly as hectic as they had been on my way to work this morning. I deftly maneuvered my way in between ponies, careful not to run into anypony, and even managed to sidestep some gum that was on the sidewalk. There was a trashcan not one yard away from where the gum was on the ground. I shook my head at the apparent disregard for littering, and continued forwards to the subway terminal.
Unlike the streets above the subway was all but deserted. I had expected the traffic flow to have lessened somewhat, but not nearly this much. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I made my way to the platform, and waited for the train. I didn’t have to wait long as the train came speeding down the tunnel, and stopped in front of me.
The doors opened soon after, and I stepped inside the train. I found a spot to sit and claimed it for myself. Relaxing in a seat was by far better than standing, and I would not allow anypony to tell me different. The train rocked forwards as it began to move, but I had long ago gotten used to it.
I pulled a newspaper from my saddlebags, and began to read through it. I immediately turned to the sports page and was informed that our hoofball team had lost yet again. I don’t know why I was still even a fan after this abysmal twelve-game losing streak. Depressed at the news, I put the newspaper back into my bag, and patiently waited to arrive at my destination.
Fortunately, I didn’t have to wait long, and I was soon standing in the terminal. This terminal was much busier than the other had been, but was still mostly empty. I watched as a drunk stumbled around asking ponies if they had any money or booze on them that they would give him. It was a sad sight, but one that I had grown used to.
I ascended the stairs, I was soon walking the familiar streets to the dry cleaners that I had dropped Gold Coin’s tuxedo off at three days prior. The store was only half a block away so it didn’t take long before I was standing in front of the door. The cleaner’s was small, and had a pawn shop right above it, but it was the best rate in the city. I had also known the owner growing up so she gave me a discount.
The bell above the door rang as I made my way inside. The elderly green mare behind the counter looked up at me as I entered; a smile graced her lips for a millisecond before it turned to a frown.
“You were supposed to pick this up yesterday. Why are you so late?” she asked as she sifted through the various clothes behind her.
“The ticket says today,” I replied as I pulled the stub from my saddlebags to show her.
She turned around, and grabbed the ticket away from me with her magic. She looked over it a moment before her scowl deepened. “Whatever.” She turned back to the rack behind her, and continued to look through it. After a moment she found the clothes that she was looking for, and levitated them over to me.
“So what lucky mare are you going out with tonight?” she asked as I took the garment.
“How do you always know?” I replied as I draped it over my back.
“It is so obvious. It is hard not to know.”
I rolled my eyes before replying. “You know that mare in my building, Violet. Well I finally got a date with her tonight.”
“Oh so you finally got the nerve to ask her out. It is about time you are always going on about her. I am glad to see that you have at least a little courage in you.” Her compliment made me avert my eyes, which didn’t go unnoticed. “You didn’t ask her out did you? She made the first move! Well I shouldn’t be surprised she is an actress after all. Hey look at me.” She got serious for a moment, and made sure that I was paying attention to her. “You treat this mare right. From the way that you have described her she sounds pretty special.”
“You know me, of course I will treat her right,” I replied, brushing away the advice.
“That is exactly my point. I know you. You will probably do what you always do and move way too fast with this girl. Try to take things slow for a change, and let her make the moves.” I turned away from her and opened the door so that I could leave.
“Whatever you say Mrs. Sweep.” I closed the door behind me, and laughed a little. Mrs. Sweep had been like a surrogate mother after I had lost my own when I was young. She was always giving me advice, and she was usually right about most things.
I trotted along the sidewalk back to the subway terminal. I had only been out of the office for forty minutes, and would arrive back with plenty of time to spare. The terminal was largely how I had left it. Ponies were milling about as they waited for the train to come along.
I found a bench and sat down so I could wait in relative comfort. Most of the lights that lined the ceiling in the terminal were out, probably broken, or burned out and waiting to be repaired. A few of the tiles along the ground were broken, and some of them were even missing. The air smelled of a variety of foul fragrances, but above all it smelled like bad body odor. Looking across the terminal I saw that there were a group of ponies standing around one spot on the line. I got up from my seat, and decided that I should investigate.
The crowd of ponies at the edge of the rail was pretty thick, but I managed to push my way past them so I could see what all the commotion was about. As I reached the front I had to stop myself as I almost fell off the edge, and onto the tracks. I looked down and saw what had happened to the unfortunate drunk that I had seen in the terminal earlier. He was laid out along the the track below half conscious, but clearly unable to pick himself up.
We all just stood by, and stared down at him. When it came to it I liked to believe that most ponies would help another that was in need, but standing in the terminal at that moment I realized that wasn’t the case. I am sure many like myself were worried for the stallion, but weren’t willing to risk their own lives to go down and save him. He was just some random drunk after all, and I had a job that I needed to get back to. Just then a blur of white shot past me and down to the tracks where the stallion was lying on his side.
It was a pegasus, and she looked vaguely familiar. She bent down and tried to lift the stallion off the tracks, but she was far too small to lift him. She was actually one of the smallest pegasi I had ever seen. I looked from her white coat to her green-blue mane, and in that moment recognized her. She was staring at me, no doubt recognizing who I was.
“Lucky! Help me out man. We gotta get this guy off the tracks,” she called to me from where she stood next to the passed out stallion.
Quick Flash, or just Flash as I had known here in high school was staring up at me expecting that I would come to her aid. She was even smaller back then, and would always get picked on by the other fillies. At some point I had decided to stand up for her since she couldn’t. I was not the biggest stallion by a long shot, and had gotten my flank kicked pretty good, but we managed to build a great friendship.
After graduation I had heard that she had moved away to Cloudsdale, but apparently she was back in town now. She was looking up at me hoping that I would help her out of a mess once again. The rest of the crowd had turned their eyes to me also, no doubt wondering what I was going to do. Before I knew it I had jumped from where I stood down to the tracks.
This was stupid. This had to be the single dumbest thing that I had ever done. Why would I risk my life for some stupid drunk like this? I mentally berated myself as I galloped to where Flash stood over the drunkard. Working together we managed to get him to his hooves, and walked him to where the other ponies were standing at the edge of the station. That was when I saw it; a light that was shining down the dark subway tunnel.
“Thanks, Lucky. I don’t know what would have happened if no pony came to help,” Flash said as we tried to lift the stallion up to the crowd above.
“Hurry you idiot the train is coming!” I screamed back causing her to redouble her efforts.
The ponies above grabbed the stallion, and started to pull him up. I realized then that there was no way that they could pull him up, and get me out before the train came. I was absolutely screwed. Without a word I took off running away from the train, and to my surprise Flash followed.
“What the hay are you doing, Lucky! The train is coming,” she yelled as she flew along side me.
“The trains slow down as they pull into the terminal. If I can get ahead of it maybe it will stop before it hits me. What are you doing here you idiot fly out of here,” I screamed back as I ran for my life.
“I got you into this mess. I am not just going to abandon you,” she replied. The light behind me started to grow brighter.
“Get out of here, Flash. I was the fastest runner back in Highschool so don’t worry about me. I will be just fine.” I turned to her and gave her the best smile I could muster. She looked really torn about it, but eventually flew to safety leaving me alone on the tracks.
I ran for my life, and heard the train barreling down on me from behind. It had been way too long since I had gone running, and my sides were beginning to burn. The rumbling behind me kept getting louder and louder as I raced down the tracks. I could taste copper in my mouth, but I was almost to the edge of the platform.
“Please stand behind the white line as the express pulls through the station,” a voice called over the PA system in the terminal. The express didn’t stop at this station! The train wasn’t going to stop!
I looked back and saw the subway just a few feet behind me. I did the only thing that my panicked mind could think to do at that point. I jumped for all I was worth, hoping that somehow I would be miraculously saved. I don’t know if it was the adrenaline pumping through my veins or some final thing that happens when you die, but the entire world seemed to slow down.
I saw the ponies standing on the platform looking down at me. Shockingly, many of them looked on expressionless. Some averted their gaze, not wanting to witness some stupid foal get killed by a train. I swear I saw at least two of them looking at me with a small smile on their faces.
The train behind me was still inching forwards at an excruciatingly slow pace. I wanted to keep running, to somehow get away from the piece of machinery that was undoubtedly going to end my life, but I couldn’t move a muscle. I just continued to float in the air as the train inched closer.
I looked back to the platform and saw Flash looking at me with tears in her eyes. She was probably going to blame herself for this, and a small part of me wanted her to. I knew that she had a massive part to play in my impending death, but she wasn’t the only thing that led to this.
That drunk had a much larger part to play; if he hadn’t fallen onto the tracks in the first place then I wouldn’t be in this mess. If I had stuck around longer to talk to Mrs. Sweep then I wouldn’t have even been in the station while he got run over. If I hadn’t been so eager to get my work for the day out of the way, and had waited longer to go pick up Gold Coin’s clothes then I wouldn’t be in this situation either. In the end this was probably all my fault.
The train collided with my outstretched legs. I felt it gently push against them, but for whatever reason my legs pushed back. I wish that they would just allow the train to push them forwards, but they refused to move. I could feel the bones in my legs grind against each other, and begin to crack. The pain shot through me and I wanted to cry out, but I couldn’t open my mouth.
The train continued to push, and eventually made it to my back. When my body still refused to move I felt the power of the train grind against my spine. The pain I felt redoubled before it suddenly vanished. I couldn’t feel anything as the train pressed fully against me, and I began to move again. Something red clouded the vision in my left eye as my body left the front of the train, and flew down the tunnel in front of it.
I fell to the ground, but never felt myself touch the floor. I still couldn’t move and was forced to look back at the instrument of my murder as it ground down the tracks. Slowly, the world gained its speed again. At first it was hardly noticeable, but the train in front of me began to pick up speed. I watched as the wheels sped towards me with renewed enthusiasm. The last thing that I ever saw were those terrible screeching wheels just inches away from my snout. Then everything went black.