Stella and the Cassiopeia Station
There
he is. I already know what he’s going to say. He says the same thing every
single morning when I see him. “Hey, Stella! Welcome to the beautiful
Cassiopeia Station! How is your morning so far?!” Maybe he will think of
something new this time…
“Hey, Stella! Welcome to
the beautiful Cassiopeia Station! How is your morning so far?!” The man says.
How
did I know?
“Same as every other morning. Kind of
chilly, though. Say, why do you use the same exact words every morning? Just
curious today, I guess.”
“Well,” the man hesitates, “This is the
famous Cassiopeia Station! Isn’t it grand?!”
He
isn’t lying about that. This station is gorgeous. They use tiles on the walls
to form these pieces of art. Remarkable how vividly real they are. Each section
of the station uses animals from different walks of life. Sea life on the west
side, forest animals on the east, animals from the sky on the north and animals
from cold regions on the south side. I love the ones of the frogs and turtles;
they have them playing with each other on the wall next to the benches where I
wait at…
“Stella? You seem to be
staring off into space, my dear. Are you okay?”
“Yea, I’m fine. Just thinking about how
right you are. This station is very beautiful. I can’t say the same for the
Blue Line train, though. That must have been the very first track built here.”
Stella say as she looks over the man’s shoulder on her tippy-toes.
“Yes, it was. A very long time ago it was
built to take the special people places no one else before them could reach…”
Here
it comes. I couldn’t even finish listening to Mr. Nice Guy over this loud ass
train. Why would they have such a horrible looking train in a station this
beautiful? I guess I never really thought about it before today. I feel off.
Maybe it was the walk… Hmmm, I can’t remember the walk here…
“We better board before
they leave us behind, Stella. That would be a very bad thing, we don’t want
that to happen. After you, my dear.” The man says.
Every
time I board this train, I look through the gap. I can’t even see the tracks,
nothing but darkness and fog under the train. Like clockwork, I walk in, take a
left, walk ALL the way down to the very end of the car and there is my seat by
Mr. Nice Guy. No one is ever in my seat, ever. Come to think of it, no one is
ever in his seat, either.
My seat is made of some old wood that’s
been dried out for some time. I get splinters sometimes if I sit the wrong way.
All of the wood in here looks dried up and warped. Paint all faded and pealing
in spots. No art in here, either. I knew it wasn’t the best train at the
station, but I never really sat here and paid attention like this before.
Everyone has their phones in their hands.
Not looking at each other; never looking at each other. Even Mr. Nice Guy isn’t
looking at me. He stops talking when we get on. So nice outside, then turns to
stone once we sit. He doesn’t have a phone like the others. He reads the same
book over and over: Birds-Eye View by J. F. Freedman. I haven’t read that in
quite some time, but it’s about a man starting his life over after a tragedy. I
wonder if Mr. Nice Guy is Mr. Sad Guy?
“Why do you read that book every day,
Mister?” Stella asked with curious eyes.
Hmmm,
nothing. The man that sits on the other side of me is always on his phone
scrolling through his music list.
“Sir, what kind of music
are you listening to this morning?” Stella asked with a friendly smile.
Wow.
No one wants anything to do with me this morning. I need someone to notice me
today. I want some answers; but I don’t have any questions. What a strange
feeling this is. The woman down the aisle looked at me when I asked about the
man’s music. I’m going to walk down there to say hi.
“Hi, ma’am. I am Stella.
How are you this morning?”
“You should sit back down.” The woman
whispered without making eye contact.
“How come out of all these people, no one
looks at me or away from their phones? What’s going on?”
The
train is speeding up and shaking. I think I better take this woman’s advice and
sit back down. My seat seems so far away. Did I walk this far?
“Do you know me? I feel
like I know you…” Stella asks the man looking through music as she sits down.
“I just want to find my song.” He says.
That
woman looked at me again when I asked him about his music. Like she is waiting
for something. He looks familiar…
“Jack!” Stella shouts in
the man’s face. “The song you’re looking for is Simple Man by Crosby Stills and
Nash!”
How
is he here? Why is Vanessa sitting on the other end of the car? This can’t be
right. The last time I remember them we were…
“It’s time to step off of
the train, Stella.” Mr. Nice Guy says calmly.
“Where did everyone go?” Stella asks with
a confused look on her face.
“They are at their destination now.”
“Why am I here? What is this place? What
happened to me?”
“I can’t tell you these things. You have
to work that out yourself. I can’t interfere with anything. You tell me what you
remember…”
Jack
was looking for a song on his phone while we were on our road trip. He plugged
into my car radio and started to play Simple Man and he knows it makes me cry, I
tried to get his phone from him so I can change it. I couldn’t get to his
phone, so I looked behind me at Vanessa and asked her to help and I lost
control of the car and we landed in the water. There was nothing I could do
after we hit the water. The windows were up because we had the air on, and I couldn’t
roll them down because everything quit working as soon as we hit. Jack tried
punching the windows and broke one of his arms. Vanessa tried using one of the seatbelt
buckles to break the back window, but that didn’t help. I read somewhere that
taking off the headrest and using the rods to smash the window out works, but I
was beside myself and too weak. Water was to our chest by then. It was pouring
in from the vents. I was helpless… We held each other until I blacked out. My
last thought was how could I let this happen? How could I do this to them?
Fuck… Where am I? Hell?
“No, this isn’t what you
call Hell. The Blue Line of the Cassiopeia Station runs for the aimless; the
unforgiven. Even though Jack and Vanessa forgave you from the start. They stuck
around to make sure you got off of the Blue Line, because frankly, you don’t belong
here. You couldn’t help what happen, and I might be breaking my own rules, but I’m
letting you choose what line you want to take to your next life.” Mr. Nice Guy
says.
“What line did they take?”
“I’m sure they are waiting for you at your
favorite bench.”
“How are we back at Cassiopeia Station?
Doesn’t the Blue Line actually go anyplace?” Stella asks.
“Cassiopeia Station’s trains go anywhere
and everywhere. There is no place these trains can’t go, besides the Blue Line.
It just circles back to the station. It gives the riders time to decide their
fate.”
Looking down with tears in her eyes, “How
long have I been on the Blue Line?”
“110 years. Each ride on the Blue Line is
around 43 days in your time on earth. Stella?”
“Mister?”
“I rode with you every day waiting for
this time to come. I couldn’t interfere, but had to wait for you to come around
and except things so you could move on to your next venture.”
“Thank you for looking after me.” Stella
says as she gives the man a tight hug.
“It
was my pleasure. I never want to see you on Blue Line again.” He says with a
smile. “Goodbye, Stella.”
“Goodbye, Mister.”
Where
is my bench? Where is my bench? I see the polar bears on the wall, it must be
further up and to the right. There it is, and there they are. My frog and
turtle on the wall with Jack and Vanessa waiting for me with big smiles. I can’t
wait for this ride into… well, the exciting unknown.
The End
