Page 25 of Dreaming of His Omega
“Excuse me,” she said. “You dropped this.”
I automatically took whatever she was holding to me. “Thank you.”
“Not a problem.” She turned and jogged off.
I took a look at the piece of paper; realizing I hadn’t dropped anything. My eyes widened in alarm. It was a train ticket.
“Oh no!” I looked around, searching for anyone who looked like they had just lost their ticket. Obviously, someone else had dropped it and the woman thought it was me. Unsuccessful, I brought it to an official looking man, standing on the platform.
“Excuse me,” I said, holding out the ticket.
“Ah, going coast to coast, hm?” he said, and proceeded to rattle off the stations before I could tell him the ticket wasn’t mine. “Stopping at Elko, Salt Lake City, Glenwood Springs, Denver, Omaha, Chicago, Toledo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Altoona, Vale Valley, Lancaster, and final destination, Philadelphia.” He handed it back. “It leaves in five minutes. You better hurry.”
I started to explain it wasn't my ticket, but froze when my brain finished processing his words.
“I'm sorry,” I said, looking at him sharply. “Wheredid you say this goes?”
“Philadelphia.”
“No, all the stops.”
He looked at me skeptically, but rattled off the same stations, this time without saying Vale Valley. I looked at the ticket again, then stared back at him. I could absolutelyswearhe listed Vale Valley the first time.
“Sir? Your train is about to leave. You need to get going.”
“Yeah. Thank you.”
I turned toward the platform it was on and stared at it. No. This wascrazy. I was not getting onto a train because I was hearing things.
“Vaaaaaale Valley!” screamed a woman.
I jumped out of my skin, then snapped around to face her. What?! She was standing only a few feet away, by the door of the train, in a uniform.
“Laaaaaaancaster!” she yelled. “Fiiiiinal stop, Philadelllllllphiaaaaa! Last call for boarding! Laaaaaast call!”
Was this real? Was this actually happening?
As if he as whispering in my ear, I heard Falkanar’s voice.Life hands me a ticket and I take the ride.I clutched my own ticket. Well, this was probably as close to life literally handing me a ticket as I could get. Should I take the ride? Why not? Whynotgo on a little adventure? There was no name on the ticket, no way to prove it wasn’t mine…
The train whistle blew and I saw someone start closing the doors. I took a deep breath and hurried on. Just moments later, it slowly began to pull away from the station.
“I might be on a train to Vale Valley,” I murmured.
Was that really possible? Could I actually be on the way there?
I was in a daze as I slowly wandered the train. It was close to dinner time and I was starving. I found the dining car and grabbed a small meal. The world outside zoomed by as I ate, realizing that I had no idea how long a coast to coast ride would take. All I knew was that Vale Valley, supposedly, was one of the last stops.
When I was done eating, I took my ticket out and saw it had a seat number on it. One of the waitresses was happy to give me directions. I went down a few cars and into a long narrow corridor. Wait. Six cars down she said, right? I realized the corridor was lined with numbered doors. Private seating? An image of a little booth like on the Hogwarts Express came to mind, and I chuckled to myself as I looked for my number.
There it was! I opened the door and came face to face with a tiny compartment and abed. A sleeper car! I had a freaking bed?! I stood, staring at it for several moments, before a man with a large suitcase came down the corridor, giving me no choice but to enter my little room.
Once inside, I stood awkwardly in the tiny space. I don’t know what I expected on a cross-country trip. It wasn’t my first train ride, although it was by far my longest. I always had a seat in a train car that was more like a bus. Me and fifty other people. I tried to take the window seat and just slumped against it and snoozed. This was wholly unexpected.
And, I realized with a growing smile, perfect for getting to Vale Valley a little sooner… I found a shared bathroom and quickly got ready for bed. The bed itself was too small and too hard. But the motion of the train, and my desire to get back to my dreams, quickly lulled me to sleep.
Chapter Nine
Elarian
