The Stranger on the Train

 

There once was a story told about a subway train that ran from Middle Ground Hills, Brooklyn to downtown Manhattan. This train was known to have a large ridership and also it was well known for making several stops at certain undesirable stations.

One evening during rush hour, two men sitting next to each other bumped bodies when the train made a short stop. One man, who realized the train had caused the bump went back to reading his Kindle. Unfortunately, the other man, who was not in his right mind, took the bump to mean an altercation and quickly pulled out a knife and stabbed the man reading his book several times.

The stabbing was life ending and the man slumped over his Kindle. Before he died, his mind raced with thoughts of his wife, home and his baby triplets. He didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to leave them. He tried so hard to hold on, but death’s fingers were reaching for his soul. This conflict between death and staying alive caused the man’s soul to wind up in limbo where all spirits like his find themselves.

After this terrible tragedy, all day and throughout the night, this man’s spirit rides the train. He sits in the same seat, looking around anxiously, waiting for his stop so he can get home to hug his wife and babies. He doesn’t realize that time will never come because he is stuck between dimensions.

Several riders on the train say they have seen a stranger on the Middle Grounds line. It happens when the train lights flicker of go off briefly and they think they see a shadow or, sometimes, an outline of a man holding something in his hand. Others have seen a rounded outline of a face with a worried look.

Some say they’ve seen the stranger on the train, others say they haven’t. Regardless of which answer is given, not one of them will sit on the seat the man with the Kindle was sitting on that fateful night.

Ellen G.