A Strange Morning"

 

One night I had a terribly strange dream, it was in the middle of winter. When I woke up, a strong wind was blowing outside my window, so strong that the curtains in my room were moving as if there was a draft. Strangely, the door was closed. I woke up covered in sweat; the room stank terribly. I guess I didn't shit myself from fear, I thought. I decided to check it out. I lifted the duvet, took off my panties – I always sleep in panties, even in winter, everything's fine. I suddenly remembered that I'd eaten quite a lot of beans before bed, so I must have farted after that. Getting to the point. I dreamed that I was taking the train to college, as usual. Even at the station, everything seemed different, but I guess I wasn't at my usual station, so where am I? I decided to ask the man who had just arrived:

"Excuse me, sir, where are we?

" To which he graciously replied, or rather shouted: "What?!?"

I thought he might be deaf, so I decided to ask louder:

"Excuse me, sir, where are we?!

He didn't answer at all. I decided to ask again, and if he didn't answer, I'd wait for the train. After all, if there are tracks here, trains must run through here.

"Excuse me, sir, do you know where we are?!!!" (This old man didn't say anything... so I wait for the train)

. After about twenty minutes, the train arrived. This didn't surprise me; trains are rarely on time. After its arrival, I boarded the first carriage, hoping to meet the conductor there. I wanted to buy a ticket and finally find out where I was. But the conductor was nowhere to be found. I walked the entire train, and strangely enough, no one was there. The train was moving faster and faster, and the sun was shining outside. "How could this be? It's the middle of winter," I thought. In the last carriage, I met an older man, the one from the station. I tried again to ask where the train was going, where we were, etc. But again, I received no answer. After some time the train slowed down and entered a long, dark tunnel.....

Outside the windows, you can see some houses, apartment buildings, probably a town. How do I get off this damned train? I wondered. I know, there's supposed to be an emergency brake here. I walked around the entire train again, but it wasn't there – this isn't a normal train, there's no one on board, not even a conductor. What am I doing here? I wanted to sit down and cry; in fact, tears welled up in my eyes. I might have even shed a tear or two. Suddenly, I heard a screeching sound, the train began to slow down, until it finally came to a complete stop. It didn't do it the way trains usually brake; it was neither gentle nor gradual. The train stopped suddenly, as if something had happened. We were at some station. I didn't know what station it was, but I preferred it to this strange train. I got off this damned train as quickly as I could; I'd had enough train rides and excursions for today. I noticed a woman in the distance and wanted to ask where I was, but when she saw me, she started screaming and running away. I didn't understand what she was screaming for, or why, and what had terrified her so. The woman was looking at my hands so strangely. Is something wrong with me? I glanced at my hands. They were covered in something. Some thick, sticky, red liquid. The liquid was warm and dripping from my hands, drop by drop. It's blood, I thought. Why had this happened again? Why don't I remember anything from the tunnel, where that old man who was also on that train was? So many questions. I glanced at my hands again and...

That's when I woke up. I quickly got up and went to the bathroom to wash my hands; they were strangely sticky. On the way, I glanced at the clock; it was five-thirty. Great, I thought, I won't even get any more sleep; my train leaves at seven today. Well, at least I'll take a shower and eat a healthy breakfast. Hmm... after all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. As I promised myself, after a slightly longer bath than usual (after all, I had a bit more time), I made myself a delicious, healthy breakfast. I listened to the radio for a while and went out to catch the train. Today, I didn't feel like leaving the house, let alone taking the train. Something inside me told me to stay home. It's strange, because I love trains, so even though the bus station is closer, I take the train. I struggled for a moment. There was a moment when I thought I should have stayed home today, but I had classes. There was no one at the station. This surprised me a bit, because it's always difficult to find a seat in the waiting room. What a strange day this is, I thought. After a while, an elderly gentleman entered the waiting room; he seemed familiar. But I couldn't remember where I knew him from, where I'd seen him before. The man sat down at the far end of the waiting room and left the door open. It was snowing outside, and a strong wind was blowing. The waiting room became chilly, I moved closer to the heater, but after a moment I realized it was useless. The heater was cold anyway. This went on for a while, and the train was delayed again. Great, I told myself, I'll be late for the lecture again. It wasn't that bad, it was only ten minutes late, which is quite short for Polish railways, especially in winter. I got into the first carriage to be closer to the station exit. Maybe I'd make it to the lecture, I hoped. The train was empty. I hadn't noticed it when I boarded; there wasn't even a conductor—I noticed it when it started moving. Then I remembered why I'd gotten up so early today. But it had all been a nightmare. Now I was even more surprised by the empty train and the lack of a conductor. I didn't feel comfortable with it. I had chills all over my body, and I was sometimes warm, sometimes cold, alternating between them. I was terribly afraid, not knowing what or who. It was only two stations, twenty minutes, nothing would happen, I tried to calm myself. In the distance, I saw this man walking towards me. He passed compartment after compartment, and I thought he was heading towards me. Why wasn't he sitting down? – there's plenty of room. There's a station, it's only the first, but maybe someone will get on. No one got on, but that didn't worry me much. What does this guy want, why is he here? He was approaching quickly. He only had two compartments left to go. My hands started shaking, and I was still terribly afraid of this old man, not knowing why, maybe it was because of my dream? The old man had already opened the compartment door, approached me, and asked:

"Excuse me, miss, does she know what time it is?

" "It'll be after seven-thirty, I don't know exactly, but somewhere around there," I replied, terrified.

Then the old man sat down across from me, even though the entire carriage was empty, which made me even more terrified. He sat there, watching me intently. He was silent, not even blinking, and just staring at me. I decided not to look at him, at least not like that; I wanted to do it discreetly. It was quite difficult, considering the distance between us. The old man sat and watched, wondering why he was looking at me like that? After a moment, I saw that we were already approaching the station. I'd never been so happy to see this city. I quickly got off the train. A loud scream rang out nearby. A woman was looking in my direction, screaming at the top of her lungs. My hair stood on end. People started turning around; I didn't know what was going on. I immediately remembered the old man. Why hadn't he gotten off the train? She shouted at the driver not to leave yet, that she was on that train. It was a strange morning, even for me.