“All aboard!” He shouts, and Zach begins to panic, throwing the cigarette into the snow where it sputters out and melts through to the platform.
“Wait! That girl!” He shouts as people begin boarding the train, cowering over the foot stool as the conductor leads them inside, Zach runs up, out of breath, and in a panic, remembering his fleece blanket he had left in his seat along with the bag of luggage under the train and gasping out a quick version of what just happened, he points to the front of the train, where a snow drift piles at edge of the platform, struggling with the right words.
“There was a girl, she got off with me and -“He stops, deciding to start over. The conductor seems un-interested in what he is saying and holds a whistle in his grip, helping an old woman out of the snow and over the icy footstool.
“Careful now, miss.” He says, holding the smiling woman by the hand as she wobbles inside.
“She was on the train, and she got off with me. We were smoking a cigarette and all the sudden she ran off into the woods. Can’t you wait for her?!” Zach gasps for air, looking back at the snow fall and glimpses the girl doddering through a dense area of woods behind the train station.
“There she is!” He shouts, almost knocking an old man over who is slowly making his way aboard.
“Sorry kid, her loss, all aboard!”
“Well, can I at least get my stuff then?!” The conductor laughs and shakes his head no.
“No time! Unless you’re off in Idaho.”
“Well I need my shit.”
“You’ll have to pick it up at our corporate office in Seattle.”
He looks into one of the clean Amtrak train windows and notices a woman with the teeth of a rabbit, looking down and chuckling at him, and he turns to the conductor, his teeth are a rabbits.
It was his destiny, meeting her was his destiny.
Zach flashes his ticket stub and tells the conductor he is getting off here.
“I can’t take these fucking bastards anymore; I’ve got to get away from these god damn rabbits!” He says aloud.
The conductor blows his whistle and yells one last call, and Zach runs into the train quickly pushing people out of the way, grabbing a small leather backpack and jumping back into snow.
“Get out of the way you god damn rabbits!
“All aboard, now for Oregon and Washington.”
For a moment Zach stands in the freezing cold snow, watching in a lost state of unconsciousness, (his back pack over his shoulder, a tape player and a hundred hits of acid on sugar cubes inside) staring down the old fashioned train yard, he sees the girl of his destiny running away deeper into the woods and he begins to shiver.
“Can I please get my blanket?!” He shouts, shivering, and clutching his shoulder strap tightly.
The conductor shrugging pulls the footstool into the warm train as Zach pleas with him for the blanket. “Your loss, Hero! We’re on a schedule here in rabbits-vile” He says, shutting the giant metal door.
“No! Please don’t leave me out here, please don’t leave!” The train door latches and Zach sees the cleaning bucket and wash rag inside before the train pulls out of the yard, without him and the girl.
“No! Please!” He shouts, tears running down along his cheeks. “God damn it, fucking rabbit fuck!”
A snow covered field lies ahead, a broken down truck covered in snow pokes out, and he accepts his choice to stay. As he moves forward, through the snow to the dense pocket of trees where the girl had run, using the freshly cleaned tracks as his guide, he follows them into the woods, and watches the snow fall over head.
***
Lee Straus pops the door open, and folds her long pale legs out of the Dodge.
“I need to stretch , it’s a long trip out here,” she says to Wyoming, yawning to her self and looking down at her black fishnet stockings attached to her garter belt , sighing.
“Okay,” Wyoming says, popping the driver’s side door open and stretching out her sore legs, and rubbing her jeans.
“Can you hand me a cigarette?” Lee asks, with puckered lips in the shape of an ‘O.’
“Sure.” Wyoming says, reaching into the pack and pulling one out for Lee.
“Here,”
A light puff of fog comes out of the woods behind them near the sky and the girls stretch for a moment, Lee smoking a cigarette and Wyoming pulling out maps inside the car.
“Where are we?” Wyoming says, squinting at her map.
“Castle rock,” Lee responds, bending down to look into the car.
“I don’t know Lee, this feels a little creepy here, and I mean what are we going to do if he’s hiding in the bushes and lunges at us or some shit?”
Lee laughs, half-choking on cigarette smoke and lingering on the passenger side door.
“He doesn’t wait in the fucking bushes, Wyoming, that’s not what he’s like. Honestly, he said he’s not even home right now, he said he was leaving town for a couple days after he dropped me off.” She looks up at the moon beneath fog. “He is pretty unpredictable though,” She adds.
Wyoming looks over, agitated.
“Thanks for letting me know that, Lee I’m so glad I came prepared.” She holds up the buoy knife and laughs sarcastically.
“Well, I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you because I don’t want anymore trouble,” She inhales a bit of smoke. “I figured you wouldn’t be able to do anything with the...”
“Okay, let’s just go up there; we drove all the way out here, now I want to see the place.”
“Sure, let’s go.” Lee climbs back into the dart and they peel out, taking the trail up the small incline, following Lee’s direction. “Okay, its right up here.” Lee shakes the words out.
Ahead of them, is a dark forest with the gravel road leading up onto a hill side around a bend where Lee says, to stop.
“This is it.” Lee says, pointing out a place in front of a rickety cabin. In the high beams of the old Dodge Dart, the small discrete cabin seems creepy and abandoned; it’s obvious that no one has occupied the estate for a very long time.
“Are you sure?” Wyoming says, shivering.
Running her hand along the door, Lee feels for the handle and pulling it quietly, lets her self out.
“This place doesn’t seem right, Lee. It’s abandoned, I don’t know…” Wyoming is shaking as she rummages under the seat for the weapon, grabbing hold of the knife.
“No, like I said, he’s gone for the week and I want to trash the place, get some money from his stash, that’ll show him to mess with me like he has.” Lee suddenly sounds drunk, as if she’s been possessed by a bottle of whiskey and schnapps. Wyoming simply looks to her friend with the biggest mischievous smile across her face that Lee has ever seen.
“Well, fuck let’s go!” Wyoming clucks prissy girl style at the thought and gets out with a loud clunk, bending down to the car and flipping off the engine, and then clicking on the manual lights.
“Let’s go,” She says, slamming the door hard.
***