Have you ever thought of going to a place where you will be happy? Away from all the drama in life, the stressfulness of your job and hard times with your family or friends. Away from reality full of problems like drama online, politics going on, or just get away from it all. It could be anywhere around the world you could imagine going to, whether for a few days on vacation or just a nice little trip to a place nearby. But what about a place that is full of magic and wonder, with scenery you'd see in a fantasy film or even a Disney movie? Well, everyone has a happy place of their own right? Tell you what, so do I and there's one that is nowhere close to being in reality.

One night, I was having a rather rough day. Work was just non stop, full of screaming kids, so many people to bag and lots of noise going on. I almost literally snapped after being stuck inside a grocery store all day, and I actually had a meltdown right in front of the whole store. Boy was I overworked. My mom yelled at me, saying "You need to act like an adult", which resulted me being furious and snapped back at her. We didn't say much in the car on the way home, which gave me a sinking feeling in my heart.

I went to bed at around 10:30 PM that night after playing on my laptop, but my mom barely came into my room to say goodnight to me. Either she was still mad at me, or she was upset. I couldn't really tell. But still feeling like crap, I retired to bed, sad and bothered. Trying to get some sleep was hard. I twisted and turned under the blankets, trying to get myself comfortable. But none of it worked.

At around 11:59 PM, I sigh in defeat, still unable to fall asleep no matter what I did. The stress of today kept filling my mind and I wasn't able to get some sleep this way. People often say "When things in the real world get too stressful, take a short while to close your eyes and visualize something nice. Go to your happy place in your mind and think of things that make you smile". So I began to imagine a place where I can stay happy. Full of my favorite characters from movies, tv shows and even video games. I vision them running around having fun or doing what they usually do, with my friends also having fun. But then… it all started.

Starting with a rattle and a rumble, my room started to shake as if an earthquake was going on! I started to feel very scared and hoped my parents were going to be alright! Surprisingly, they didn't even bother to come out, since they were more than likely in deep sleep when this was going on. Our dog barely barked either, as if they were put under some deep spell. Then a loud whistle blew all around the room, followed by chuffing sound as a train was coming to a stop just outside my house.

Shocked and surprised, I immediately put on my pajamas and, quietly, I hurried out the door to see what was going on. The train soon stopped right in front of the house as I quietly closed the front door. There were no railroad tracks that ran down my street at all, so I was very confused about all of this. Was there some kind of magic going on or something, like in Tom Hanks' Polar Express film? I didn't know what was going on then.

Then, slowly and almost as if to make my jaw drop, the cloud of steam slowly lifted. The train looked amazing. The cars were all colorful, being in the cancelled "Greenbrier Presidential Express" colors, all of them were fancy looking and looked exactly like K&L Trainz's version of the train, except the cars had these weird markings on the top end of the cars, beside "Greenbrier Presidential Express" lettering. The markings read "FL&HP", a railroad I most likely have never heard of before. In front of the consist, was what made my jaw drop some more. It was a steam engine, a 2-8-4 Kanawha that was in FL&HP lettering as well, but the tender had the railroad's full lettering on it than short lettering. It read "Fantasy Land & Happy Place" on it. The engine however looked more like Nickel Plate Road 765 when she was dressed up as a fictional C&O Kanawha #2765 in 1993, but last I heard she was in her home in New Haven, Indiana going for a rebuild, so this couldn't really be the 765 under that disguise, or was it a sister engine that got secretly restored?

"ALLLL ABBOOOOARD!" shouted the conductor, who exited one of the passenger cars.

I looked at the conductor, confused as all hell. I really couldn't see him due to the cloud of steam surrounding him, only seeing the lantern he was holding. I looked around to see if he was looking at anyone else, but found that I was the only person outside right now. "Was he talking to me?", I thought.

"ALLL ABBOOOOARD!" the conductor shouted again.

Curious and shrugging a bit, I walked up towards the conductor. To my shock though, I was completely surprised to find one of my OCs I created. The OC's name was Nathanial and rather than a human, he was actually a dog. An Airedale Terrier with tan with black markings, light tan eyebrows, mustache and beard, brown ears, spoke in an old man accent, and was wearing a conductors shirt and hat. He was real! He looked real and sounded real!

"Hello creator" Nathanial said with a toothly smile. "So, you coming?"

My eyes at that point were about as wide as they could get, but I was so stunned that I couldn't smile at how amazing this was. "W-Where?"

The dog laughed, "Where? Why to Fantasy Land my creator! This is 'The Fantasy Land & Happy Place Railroad'!"

Again, I was stunned and felt like I was having a crazy dream. "Seriously?" I said. I looked from the dog to the train for a couple of moments, then looked back at the Airedale Terrier. "Seriously?"

Nathanial could see that I thought this was all crazy and it was all just a dream. "Ohhhh, right right right right!" he said, shaking his head a bit in realization. He handed me the lantern, "Hold this for a minute. Thank you."

I held the lantern for my OC, watching him pull out a clipboard. Even for a dog, he sure knew how to hold a clipboard properly rather than using his teeth. He started doodling something on it pretty quickly, more quicker than I could, as if it was a cartoon. When he was finished, he turned it around and began to explain.

"The people who dream about their happy place often comes to life whenever they think about it. Yours has come to life after apparently a stressful day. You could say that the magic of your creativity and inspiration has brought your happy place into reality! So, if I were you…" Nathanial paused impressively, taking the lantern out of my hand. "...I would think about getting on."

That left me pondering at what he had just said. Was it true that I had made my happy place become a reality? Is this really a dream or is this real? I looked at my house for a little bit, seeing that nobody has even woken up yet, much to my surprise. Then I looked back at the train and Nathanial. Which did I prefer? Going back to bed and try to have a goodnight's sleep and deal with my mother in the morning? Or take a trip to my happy place?

"Come on come on, we have a schedule to keep and your dog might wanna be up soon" the Terrier noted, pulling out a conductor's watch to check the time.

Soon, after a little moment of silence, I made my decision. "Yolo!" I said, quickly climbing onto the train.

Nathanial smiled warmly at me as I climbed aboard. He waved his lantern up and down to the crew at the engine, signaling it was time to go. The engineer replied with two blasts of the whistle, as steam began to leak out of the cylinders and the wheels turned on the tracks. The journey had just begun.

Inside the coaches were many people, most of them being ordinary people apparently heading to destinations within my happy place. There were office workers typing on their laptops or talking on their cellphones, while children were watching the houses in my neighborhood go by with their parents or relatives. Of course that was in the coach behind me, but in front of me was something rather different. Rather than it being an ordinary coach, it was called a club car where there were twin pianos being played. One was being played by H20 Delirious, while the other was being played by Daffy Duck!

"I'm way better than you man!" Delirious said, who was wearing his "salesman" outfit he wore in one of his Grand Theft Auto 5 videos.

"Does anybody know what this salethman is thayin?" Daffy said, still playing on his piano. This reminded me of the Who Framed Roger Rabbit scene where Daffy was playing a piano with Donald Duck.

I looked around the club car, which looked like an ordinary dining car on the outside, and saw that the whole train was full of first class stuff. Furnitures, tables, seats and even lights too. I couldn't even explain how a car like this could have two pianos in the same room. Maybe they got it in somehow like in cartoons.

"I've worked with alot of crazy people before, but you are dethpicable!" Daffy told Delirious.

Delirious was taken aback, "Hey man, I got fired from my job as a salesman motherf***er! I need to make a living!"

"That creepy clown face doethn't make me feel comfortable either!"

"Oh yeah?!" Delirious grabbed Daffy and threw him into his piano, shutting it right on top of the black duck. His beak was sticking out just like in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, while Delirious went back to playing his piano.

"Thith meanth war" Daffy growled.

I could only stifle a chuckle at how entertaining this was. It was like a club full of comedy and entertainment, but the club was like a palace on wheels and the entertainment was a YouTuber and a Looney Tunes character. It certainly felt real and I hoped to God that I wasn't dreaming at all. No sooner had I gotten into an empty seat, when a man walked up. You'd be shocked who that man was.

"Hey partner. Hey! Mister!" the man called.

I turned and saw Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2, one of my favorite video games made by Rockstar Games. You can tell how shocked I was to see him, dressed up in his cowboy outfit, well trimmed and wearing his hat like a badass.

"Where you going? To a costume party?" Arthur asked, noticing that I was in my pajamas.

I shook my head in disbelief, answering his question. "Uhhhh... no, not really. I-I don't have any other clothes with me at the moment. Eheh."

Arthur chuckled a little, "I can see that. I'll go get you some clothes, paid by myself. Got plenty of cash on me after robbing a safe in Coalport." With that he left, leaving me to watch the show.

I couldn't believe it! Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2, on a fancy train like this and in the flesh too! I must've made my happy place much cooler than I thought. I shrugged and then watched the show, seeing both Delirious and Daffy fighting over each other. They were hitting each other with clubs and boxing gloves while still playing their song. It ended with Delirious firing a grenade launcher that only caused both pianos to fall apart and both of them were pulled away by a huge cane into the next car, with the passengers cheering and clapping at the show.

By then the train had left my neighborhood behind and was now traveling along the reservoir that was just near the houses. The lights on the train shown against the water as it soon began to pick up speed now free from traveling down the road. I wasn't sure where exactly the train was going, but hey, anywhere is better than at home. Just hope it didn't lead me straight to hell. By that, I mean another stressful time. I smiled to see Arthur coming back with a nice pair of shorts, a shirt and some sandals.

"Here you are partner" Arthur grinned, placing the clothes right next to me. "It's not much, but better than you walking around like a crazy person." He tipped his hat and then walked away.

I waved "goodbye" to him and watched the scenery go by some more. The train followed the reservoir, until it suddenly took a left away from the water and started heading into a large forest area, heading straight for the mountain. I was expecting we were gonna enter a long tunnel, but rounding a bend, I saw the tracks leading right into the mountain, but with no tunnel!

That was when I began to panic, "Oh no! No no no no no! We're gonna crash?! Right into the mountain!?" I began to tense up, regretting my choice already. So much in fact, Nathanial hurried over towards me.

"No we're fine! We're fine!" Nathanial said calmly.

The train got closer and closer to the huge mountain, with no sign of stopping! I began to tear up, fearing that I was going to die on a train about to crash into the mountain. But then, a huge colorful portal opened up as the locomotive sped right into the portal mouth. The entire train was soon inside the portal and into a long but colorful tunnel! All around the windows, people could see colorful lights and shapes of all sizes, but not enough to give anyone a seizure thank goodness.

"See?" chuckled Nathanial happily. "We're fine kiddo!"

I sighed with relief, watching the beautiful lights and shapes rush past. It's almost like we're in a tunnel in Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, except it wasn't showing anything spooky. The train soon began to exit the tunnel, popping out of another mountain and soon began to make its way down via several tunnels, bridges and loops. The scenery immediately changed from the warm summer air in the middle of the valley where my home was, to high mountain peaks. Along the way down however, through the night, I could see various characters waving at the train as it went past. From humans to animals, they ranged from Aleu, Kenai and their family, to Sheila from Spyro, which made me shyly wave back at them. The moonlight reflected off the mountains, showing off the snow covered peaks and tall mountains as far as the eye could see, while the train twisted and turned around the mountains.

"Where exactly is this train going?" I asked Nathanial curiously.

The canine in the conductor's uniform chuckled, "Well we're heading to Coalport, the first major city along the route and is the first major stop before trains enter or exit the real world. We should be there under 2 hours."

But then the train began to slow to a complete stop, right in the middle of a snowstorm. Nathanial and the passengers were confused. Why did the train stop all of a sudden. The Airedale Terrier groaned and hurried outside with a lantern in his chops, walking through the snow to the front of the train. I meanwhile leaned out as much as I could to see what was going on, finding a group of Engineers from Team Fortress 2 wearing snow clothes.

"What seems to be the trouble fellas?" asked Nathanial.

One of the Engineers walked up, holding a red lantern in his hand. "The line past the old village is blocked by heavy snow" he explained. "It won't be cleared until tomorrow morning, so you're gonna have to hold up at the village for the night."

The canine was not pleased by this and simply groaned in annoyance, "Very well! Driver!" He turned towards the engineer in the cab of the locomotive, who turned out to be another OC of mine, Ryan Dalmatian!

"Yes Nathanial?" asked the Dalmatian.

"You know what to do. Bring the train to the old village. We're waiting there for the night until the line is cleared!"

"Yes sir!" The spotted dog watched the old canine make his way back to the coaches and once the Engineers were out of the way, he gave two short blasts of the whistle and carefully moved the train through the storm, heading for the old village.

I had no idea what was happening now, but I simply waved at the Engineers, who waved back before they started doing their little square dance screaming "YEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" before they vanished through the snowstorm.

"Attention passengers" sighed Nathanial over the intercom. "Due to the severe weather we are having at the moment, the train is forced to stop at the old village until morning approaches. I repeat, the train is forced to stop at the old village until morning approaches."

The passengers began to groan in disappointment, but I didn't mind the delay. It would be nice to see what one of the towns has to offer in my happy place. Plus it'd be nice to get some sleep finally. Hope the hotels in town were fancy.

When the train finally reached the village, the storm was starting to die down a bit. The village itself looked sorta like Strawberry from Red Dead Redemption 2, except with a railroad line running through it and a train station obviously. A small yard was placed near town, where there were plows and cranes waiting to be taken to the obstruction that was blocking the line further down. All the passengers began to get off and head for the nearby hotel, while others had to stay in the train due to the limited space inside the hotel. I was one of the passengers that was able to get a room.

The inside of the hotel looked quite nice and fancy, being a restored old west hotel with a few modern stuff here and there of course. The owner showed me my room, which I had to share with someone else. That someone else was shockingly my best friend DanTheCrazy! In real life, Dan lived in Croatia, way far from where I live, and I was more than surprised to see my best friend here!

"Ryan!" Dan said happily and gave me a big hug!

I of course returned the hug and gave him a best friend pat to the back! "Hey Dan! I'm so surprised to see you at last!"

"I know! Isn't it crazy? We were talking to each other on DeviantArt, and now we get to meet each other face-to-face! Crazy world ain't it?"

"Oh yeah! Really crazy world!" I couldn't help but chuckle. This adventure was really starting to get interesting. "So what brings you here?"

Dan smiled. He was already in his own pajamas and sat back down on the bed. "I was on the train heading for Houndvalley" he explained. "But of course the train got delayed and has to wait until the track is cleared thanks to this storm. So it looks like we'll be roommates for tonight until morning arrives!"

"Not a problem there" I said. I then let out a big yawn, clearly real tired. "Well, we're gonna have to catch up in the morning. It's time for…" No sooner had I got into the bed, which felt like I was sleeping on clouds, I was instantly knocked out over how soft the bed was and began to snore softly.

My best friend couldn't help but chuckle and shrugged, getting himself into bed before he soon dozed off into a deep sleep too. Tomorrow was going to be one busy day for him and I. Especially for me since this was my happy place and I was really curious at what this place has to offer.

When morning approached, the line was open and the train was able to continue it's journey down the mountain to the city called Coalport. Passengers in the hotel immediately began to board the train once again, with me and Dan following closely behind. We were both dressed up in nice warm clothes due to the train still being in the mountains, with me helping Dan get his bags onto the train. I of course didn't have any bags, nor did I know if I needed anything since all my stuff was back in the real world, so I wanted to help my friend get onboard.

"So, what are you doing here exactly?" I asked Dan. "Shouldn't you be in college right now?"

Dan smiled as he placed some of his belongings inside the baggage car. "Well" he began, "I decided to move to the US so I can be closer to you buddy. So, after looking at some options, I found a nice college in Houndvalley and I'll be able to continue my studies there! What about you? What brings you here?"

The question made me frown as I soon began to explain what had happened. Starting from yesterday to when the train arrived at my door, I did all I could to explain to Dan without trying to feel a bit emotional or stressed. Of course, I was feeling a bit tensed as I talked to my best friend, fearing that he might not talk to me again. But I bravely continued on and when I was finished, my face was red with stress and worry.

By that point, Dan could see how terrible I look. So much in fact, he gave me another big hug. It was clear to him that I was in need of cheering up. "You're gonna be alright bud" he said softly, giving me a little pat on the back. "You'll be okay."

I hugged him back and soon, the both of us hurried onto the train where we made our way to the dining car for breakfast. With two blasts of the whistle, the train was soon underway once again, this time with clear track all the way to Coalport. The local residents waved goodbye to the passengers as the train left town, with me and Dan waving to some of the people back, only to stop once we were fully out of the village. As the train traveled through the snowy countryside, Sasha la Fleur came into the car with a big plate in one hand that had drinks on it.

"Hello and welcome back onboard the Greenbrier Presidential Express. I am your waitress Sasha la Fleur. How may I help you this morning?" she said in her smooth voice.

Dan was the first to order, then I was the next to order. I ordered some eggs and waffles, while Dan had the same thing. When our order was set, Sasha took the drink over to one of the passengers and then headed off to the kitchen. As we waited, the scenery changed from snowy mountains to large canyons and cliffs, with the train making its way down the mountain before it would eventually travel through a few more tunnels before following a huge body of water, with a city looming in the distance across a huge bridge.

"Ladies and gentlemen" said Nathanial over the intercom. "We are approaching Coalport. I repeat, we are approaching Coalport. Anyone getting off at Coalport, please be sure to check your belongings in your seat and make sure you don't leave anything behind."

I was quite surprised. So that was Coalport Arthur Morgan was talking about. To me, it looked like one large city in the distance, sorta looking like New York City. It looked quite interesting and something new for me since I never saw skyscrapers in a long time. The last time I saw skyscrapers was when I was in Baltimore, Maryland for a 6th grade field trip to see the Baltimore Aquarium, and when I went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for another 6th grade field trip to see a baseball game. I couldn't wait to see the city up close on the train, and hope to see more trains there aswell.

Soon our breakfast arrived, and as me and Dan ate, the train crossed over the big bridge leading into the city of Coalport. Boats ranging from small tug boats to huge cruise ships were traveling up and down the massive body of water, or waiting at the city port the railroad travels near. To reach the middle of the city, where the city's train station is, the tracks travel along an elevated rail line, passing through various neighborhoods of the city, with one of them looking just like the city from Black Ops' Shadows of Evil. Finally, the train began to slow down as we were soon reaching the city station. Coalport Union Station.

"Attention passengers" Nathanial announced happily. "We are now entering Coalport Union Station, safe and sound. Please be sure that all your belongs are with you and please wait until the train has come to a complete halt at the station platform. Thank you, and have a safe and productive day!"

At the station, there were tons of trains sitting there and waiting for their turns to depart or had just arrived aswell. Most of them were hauled by steam engines, with a few diesels here and there, but most of the trains were passenger trains. One commuter train was being hauled by a Canadian National S1b #3254, while there was one streamlined passenger train that was being hauled by a Union Pacific FEF-3 #8444. The trains were amazing and I was starting to wish I could get out and see if I can find more of my favorite characters in the big city, but this wasn't my stop.

Our train soon came to a stop, just at the station platform. As we waited, more passenger boarded the train while others got off. Even Arthur Morgan got off and met up with Dutch Van der Linde and his gang before they left, most likely discussing another heist they were gonna do. One of the passengers that got onboard was Niko Bellic and his cousin Roman, who apparently were on a little trip to the big city to visit some friends. Dan and I were happy to see them and they waved at us as they passed by.

"Man, lots of famous people on this train, huh?" I smiled happily.

Dan nodded in agreement, "I'll say. Only thing missing is the Balto characters and Oliver and the gang. But I got a feeling we'll be seeing them soon."

"I sure hope so!" By that point, I was having the time of my life. Seeing all the trains, scenery and people, it made me never want to leave. If I would, I'd definitely move to my happy place and live there forever and ever! Forget about all the stresses and issues in real life where I could just enjoy my happy place and have the best time of my life. Get a new job and start a brand new life, with all my favorite characters and friends.

When everyone was aboard the train, it was time to head on out and head for the town of Houndvalley. From what I heard from the passengers, Houndvalley is one of the most beautiful and scenic towns in Fantasy Land, and I was excited to see it in person. With two blasts of the whistle, our train was on the move again and out of the city. As we left, more trains came through, either hauling a passenger consist or a freight drag, pulled by a steamer or a pair of diesels. Surprised no electrics were found laying around.

The journey to Houndvalley was something I'll never forget. The scenery was breathtaking, passing by hills and farmlands, rushing through towns and cities along the way. But what was even more interesting was at the various stops we made at some of the stations, we picked up or dropped off other characters that either both of us knew or only one of us knew. The ones we both knew included Jenny and the Foxworth family with Oliver and Georgette being with them, while the ones I knew the most included some of my friends such as 736Berkshire, TheReadingG3 and even WynterStar93, all 3 of which are friends of mine on DeviantArt. Apparently we were all heading to Houndvalley ourselves. We talked happily about life, both good and bad, while also hanging out with several famous and not so famous characters such as Timon and Pumba, Elsa from Frozen and so forth.

Finally, after what felt like a 4 hour journey, the train finally reached Houndvalley. The town itself looked more like a city, with lots of buildings and houses in the middle of a valley, a trench for trains to travel through the middle of the city, a nice train station that had 6 tracks running through it, with only the 1st and 6th track having platforms, a nice little park near the station where children were playing, and even a nice train yard that had freight cars and coaches waiting there to be picked up. All of us exited the train and made our way to the front of the station, where some double decker buses waited for us along with stagecoaches and taxi cabs of all sorts. We all took the stagecoach into town, where we passed by many other animated characters that all waved at us. They included Dodger and the Company stealing food from a restaurant, John Marston twirling his guns for some people, CJ, Big Smoke and Rider smoking outside a restaurant, even Rain and Spirit were running around town. The stagecoach made a few stops along the way, dropping off some of my friends at different spots around town. 736Berkshire got off at a nice little restaurant to grab something to eat, TheReadingG3 got off at a hobby shop to buy some stuff, WynterStar93 got off to go see the park that was located in town, and Dan got off at the college campus where he was going to finish his studies.

As for me? Well, I went off to see Dodger and the gang, where I spent the whole day hanging out with them and all my favorite characters, especially Rita. As we hanged out, I started to realize that this was the perfect place for me to spend the rest of my life. I got all my friends, some nice scenery to look at and maybe even a place I can work at. It may take a while for me to explain all of this, but I'm sure my mom and dad would be proud of me to take a nice big step in life and I'd finally be happy to have a big break from all the problems going on at work. There's one thing you all can remember. "When things in the real world get too stressful, take a short while to close your eyes and visualize something nice. Go to your happy place in your mind and think of things that make you smile".

The end!

Oliver & Company, Mickey Mouse, Timon and Pumba, and Frozen belong to (C) Disney.
Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto belong to (C) Rockstar Games.
Spirit and Balto belongs to (C) Universal Studios.
Sasha la Fleur belongs to (C) MGM.
Team Fortress 2 belongs to (C) Valve.
Spyro belongs to (C) Toys for Bob, Activision.
Daffy Duck belongs to (C) Warner Brothers. No copyright infringement intended.
Kenai belongs to DanTheCrazy on DeviantArt.
Special mentions include DanTheCrazy, WynterStar93, 736Berkshire, TheReadingG3 and H20 Delirious.
Nathanial and Ryan Dalmatian belong to me.