It was a gray afternoon. The fog was very thick, and it didn't seem to be lifting anytime soon. The train whistled loudly as it steamed down the tracks. The smoke belching out from the engine. The tracks creaked and groaned as the speeding metal raced across them. The trees raced passed the windows of the hulking metal machine. The inside wasn't any more charming. The interior matched the fog and the ceiling was black iron. The seats were wooden frames and rubber padding. The windows were dusty and a few had tiny spiders crawling around on the sill.
The only thing that was fashionable about the interior design were the flawless cobwebs that stained the corners of the windows.
The travelers consisted of several people of all shapes, sizes, and colors. A middle-aged woman was asleep on her suitcase. An elderly gentleman was reading a newspaper while swatting a spider off his tailored coat. Two peculiar gentlemen were sitting up front wearing similar brown plaid jackets. All the passengers were dull and worn-out in appearance…all but one. A young cream-colored cat sat closer to the exit door.
She wore a white shirt; black trench coat, pants, boots, and gloves; a blood red tie, and a beautiful ruby locked safe inside a heart-shaped locket. She was reading a small book with a picture of a long dark shadowy neck of a monster rising from water, a massive body of water, on the front cover. The title read "Tales of Nessie". Water droplets on the young lady's window fell softly onto the sill, a rhythmic tapping sound, a sound only she could hear. The feline's ears twitched every now and then when she heard a noise that wasn't the tapping. She sat still, reading her book, not speaking, not moving, just still.
She sat alone in her seat but this didn't faze her. The train began to slow and the train whistle blew with a shriek. The train finally came to a halt in Mississippi. The cat looked up from her book and looked out the window. The fog had lifted. "Next stop: Mississippi!" The conductor hollered. The cat put her book in her coat and swiftly made her way off the train. No luggage. She looked at her silver watch which read 2:30pm. She looked around the platform with a slight hint of annoyance. She wasn't the only one; people were pacing, looking at their watches, arguing, muttering profanities to themselves.
"Jen!" cried a female voice. The cat glanced over at a small bustling crowd where a dark brown cheetah was waving her hand vigorously "Hey Jen!"
The cat sighed and walked slowly to her friend, avoiding bumping into the other folks. "Marley." she said. "Jenni! I finally made it on time!" Marley cried. "Keep your voice down!" Jenni hissed. Marley covered her mouth "Sorry. Sorry, I'm just excited." Jenni sighed, "Thank you. And your punctuality has improved…finally." Marley rubbed her arm nervously, "Umm, Jen?" "Yes?" "I…I couldn't get us…a…car…or anything. Salesman was such a snob.
Plus, the cheapest car they had was $700!" Jenni sighed heavily "I'm not surprised. Times are tough on everyone these days. You know, I've been on a train for 12 hours so, why don't we just walk?" "Ugh! Do we have to?" Marley groaned. Jenni shot her a sharp glare. "Oh, Fine."