The last stop the Night Train made before crossing into the valley drifted by Leyton as she looked out a window from her warm seat in the passenger car. Her choice to remain on board was now final. If any doubts about the decision crossed her mind, she swallowed them down with a sip of her tea.
She looked at the watch on her furred wrist. 12:02am. It was going to be a long night. She sipped.
The train's horn blew twice, its call echoing off the nearby mountains of Stratus View. Leyton placed her tea down, stood up, and stretched a long stretch. She straightened her green knit sweater and pushed her pant legs back into position, using her long skinny tail as a guide. There weren't many passengers in this car. Rows upon rows of burgundy leatherette seats sat evenly in front of one another, pairs of ears peaking out from some—a rabbit here, a cat there. She was the furthest back, and yet further back she walked, wanting to get a taste of the cool midnight air.
Leyton pressed the button on the door at the end of her car. The door greeted her with a hiss of air as it slid open. She crossed the threshold, repeating her press on the following door.
This car was silent. Empty seats. The muffled sound of years-old wheels crossing even older tracks was the only accompaniment. Leyton glided her paws across the seats as she journeyed further and further into history. She wondered whose lives she was touching, and what memory, if any, the world would have of her meager existence. After all, how could paint and canvas compare to coal and steel?
Before her lay the final door of the train. She opened it, feeling a whirlwind of winter wind wrap itself around her. Leyton shuddered and held her arms close to her chest as she leaned against the railing. Dwindling away was her world; everything she had ever known grew smaller and smaller in the distance. The lights of her small town drowned in the aspen trees. Then the aspen trees were drowned in the snow. And out of the snow stood proud boulders that had fallen from their mountain throne. And into the heart of the mountain the train took her.
It would have been pitch black if it weren't for the light of the train cars bouncing off the tunnel walls. Leyton watched the shine of the tracks seemingly race behind the train. It was meditative, almost hypnotizing. She yawned, her eyelids drifting shut, before an alto voice brought her back.
"You okay?" it asked.
Leyton turned around, eyes open. In front of her, staring at her curiously, was a calico girl about her height wearing a brown overcoat and black jeans. Once she got passed her surprise, Leyton looked back into the tunnel, resting her head on the railing.
"They're serving midnight snacks now. For anyone that's still awake," the calico said. "Salami. Cheese. Hot apple cider. If you're interested."
Leyton closed her eyes. Her stomach growled, but she didn't move. She wrapped her tail around her waist and sunk her paws down her sleeves.
"This tunnel goes on for a while, y'know," the calico said, a bit louder.
Leyton's round ears twitched. She stared down at the tracks flying underneath her. She wanted to be alone but didn't care enough to say it. What would it matter? Everyone on this train were passengers. For only a fleeting fraction of their lives were these people connected. Surely not enough time to get to know someone, anyway. Leyton knew it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, if she even believed in such a thing as a 'grand scheme.'
For the first time in her life, the rat felt free. But with that freedom came disorientation, and it perplexed her. If this is what she wanted, then why did it feel so negative? How was anyone supposed to make a rational decision in this world if every choice had pros and cons? She gripped the railing tightly and sighed.
A white paw, carrying a small cracker sandwich, reached out to her from her right side. Leyton jumped, a small gasp escaping her mouth.
"Woah, easy there. Just thought I'd bring you some food." The calico from before was back. In her other paw she held a steaming mug of... apple cider by the smell of it.
Leyton hesitantly took the sandwich. "Thanks."
The cat grinned. "So, what's Stateline like?"
Leyton hid the surprise of the calico knowing her home town in a bite of the sandwich. She didn't answer at first and instead focused on finishing chewing—the snack was tastier than she thought it would be—but when she looked over and saw the cat still smiling at her, she caved. "Noisy."
"That right?" the cat chuckled. "Is that why you're here? To escape the noise?"
The crackers left Leyton's mouth dry. She looked at the mug of apple cider the cat held. "Can I have some?"
The calico passed it to her. "I'm from Errant Springs myself. Only sounds up there are the sounds of waterfalls."
Leyton sipped the drink. It was already cool enough. "What's it like?"
"Boring as hell," the cat said.
"Is that why you're here?" Leyton asked.
"Not necessarily." The cat gestured to the mug. Leyton gave it back. The cat took a drink from it, then looked at her wrist.
A few silent moments went by. By the fourth, Leyton was all out of patience. "Well uh, thanks for the snack and the drink. I'm just..." she trailed off, starting to walk back inside the car, but the cat stopped her.
"Trust me, you're gonna wanna see this," she said.
"See what?" Leyton said, confused.
The calico just kept staring at her wrist. Only now did Leyton see that the cat was looking at a watch. And mumbling. Something. "...Three...two..."
The Night Train blew its horn again, and the next thing Leyton knew, the ceiling of the tunnel was now a clear night sky full of bright twinkling stars. She looked back, watching the tunnel dissipate with the curve of the train tracks. The train swept past a barren forest on the left, and on the right was a sparkling lake bordered by the mountains that had shown her their heart. The rat was awestruck; never before had she seen the earth like this.
She looked at the cat, who had been watching her with a grin. "What is this place?" Leyton asked.
The cat chuckled. "Whatever you want it to be."
"Okay sure, but for real," Leyton said, rolling her eyes.
"Do you plan on coming back here?"
The rat remained quiet for a spell. She thought about the train, how it wasn't stopping, not even slowing down, how she was connected to it, pulled along by it. She was simply a passenger who had gotten a look at something beautiful along the way to wherever it was she was going. "No, I guess not."
"Keep the memory. Don't assign it a name. It'll live longer that way."
Leyton supposed that the cat was right. She captured the view as best as she could, savoring the icy-wet smell and the cold air passing through her clothes, taking a moment to feel the cracked black paint of the metal railing beneath her paws, and listening to the Night Train take her.
"What's your name?" she asked the air, for the cat that had accompanied her was gone.