'My name is The Conductor', he began ',and you are one of the lucky few to have earned a trip on our luxury liner: The Bygone Express', he proclaimed, in an overly joyous voice with his arms moving around in embellishment in the air.

  Pending could only stare in disbelief as he muttered under his breath, 'What the fuck'.

  The Conductor only stared back at him, with the same unnerving smile placed on his face, keeping his mouth shut. Pending stared back incredulously as they sat in what could only be an uncomfortable silence, until Pending cleared his throat and sat up straight, seeing as the other man would not speak any time soon.

  'Hey, um, look. I never registered for whatever this is,' he began, looking to the side in hesitation with a forced smile, ' I'm pretty sure you have the wrong person.' he said, trailing off slightly.

  Hearing this, The Conductor softened his expression and waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. 'That's why you're one of the lucky few, dear passenger,' he said in a sing song voice, 'We hand-picked the people who we thought, needed this trip the most, and you', he continued, pointing at the tense man in front of him, 'are one of the few'

  Pending avoided his gaze purposefully and looked around, letting out a small, uncomfortable chuckle. 'I really don't have the time at the moment for a trip like this, and I don't exactly want to go on one either' he remarked, 'and I can't just up and leave without anyone knowing', he finished, shuffling slightly in his place beneath the tree, brushing up against the rough bark.

  The other man looked to the side with his hands on his hips and a thoughtful gaze. He let out a large breath before taking a few steps forward and crouching down, eye level with the man before him. 'I promise you, as the conductor of this train, that this trip will take no time at all. None of your friends or family will realise you're gone', he explained, 'You may not want this trip but I promise you that you need it. This train will take you where you need to go', he ended, staring at Pending head on with nothing but honesty in his eyes.

  Pending looked at the man in front of him in complete confusion. He wanted to refuse the offer and leave. He wanted to laugh at the man for assuming he'd agree to whatever this was. He wanted to say no. But something about the man before him, the utter truthfulness he spoke with and the complete understanding in his eyes, made Pending want to trust him.

  Pending looked down at his lap and fiddled with his fingers, with his keys clattering against each other. He reluctantly sighed and looked up with slight hesitancy. 'I guess I could go then', he mumbled, as his hands clenched into tight fists around his keys, 'if no one at home notices'

  With that, The Conductor's lips raised higher and he stood up in one sharp movement, 'Then we better get going', he replied, holding out his hand to the other man on the floor. Pending avoided the outstretched hand and slowly got up, clutching onto the handle of his bag and the corners of his camera tightly: knuckles white. He saw the other man's smile falter slightly as he hurried to bring his stretched out arm back, but chose to ignore his reaction. He swung his bag around his shoulder and camera strap around his neck before giving a small nod to The Conductor.

  The Conductor grinned again, before turning on his heel and hurriedly walking over to the train, not looking back. Pending stumbled slightly at the sudden movement before hastily walking behind The Conductor, trying to match his pace. The Conductor abruptly paused, causing Pending to stagger before make his way next the other man. He looked up from the floor to see one of the train's cabins, brushed in a plethora of flowers and rope like vines, hiding the seemingly ancient architecture beneath it.

  'Is this safe?', Pending asked incredulously to which he got no response from the other. The Conductor raised his hands and clapped two times before lowering them again. Upon hearing the sharp noise, the doors of the cabin swung open with a rusty squeak, hitting the outer walls of the cabin. The Conductor took a step inside and stood by the doorway, waving his hands around the door.

  'Come on in', he exclaimed with cheer, waiting for Pending to make the next move. In turn, Pending snapped out of his daze and raised his leg to step inside of the open cabin door. As he entered, a rush of air brushed past him, blowing him away and leaving him slightly dazed as he registered to interior.

  The inside of the cabin was starkly similar to that of the train he had travelled in moments prior, with numerous handles and poles placed around the room, scuffed linoleum flooring and seats scattered around, hugging the walls the cabin. Countless windows were placed around the walls, leaving sunlight to seep through the glass. However, unlike what he was familiar with, like the exterior, roots and leaves wrapped around corners of the room; through some seats and around metal poles. Flowers burst out of the cracks in the floor and walls, embracing the vines with it.

  Pending turned around to face The Conductor, only to see two others stood nearby and another leaning against the opposite wall. The Conductor, noticing his questioning gaze, said, 'These are your fellow passengers', gesturing to the shortest one and the one leaning against the wall, now stood upright, 'and we', he said, gesturing to him and the one next to him, 'are your staff'.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  'As you know, I am The Conductor, and this is my assistant, Collyn', he continued, pointing at the girl next to him. She seemed to be fairly young with an equally as joyous character as The Conductor. She had long brown hair, swept slightly to the side, curling at the small of her back and light brown eyes. She wore the same hat and button up as The Conductor, with a grey waistcoat and pocket-watch decorated with cute stickers hanging from its pocket. A similar grey bag was swung to her side, covered in pins and decorations, similar to those on her mismatched, vibrant socks. The girl grinned and waved colourfully at Pending, to which he gave a small one in return.

  The Conductor then turned to the other two in the cabin and said, 'This is Fey, she's one of the passengers here', while gesturing to the short girl. She was also fairly young, and seemed to be Collyn's age. She had light brown hair, half tied up, just below shoulder length. She wore a light blue knee length dress and a jumper, with white Mary-janes. She had a small white bag hung around her shoulder and a gentle smile on her face. What stood out most to the man was the countless ribbons tied around her body, covering her joints. Her hair was tied in a way which covered the right side of her face with a ribbon, with her hands covered, with gloves adorned with similar ribbons. Something about the sight seemed eerie to the man, but he chose to ignore the feeling.

  The Conductor continued, looking back towards Pending, clearly avoiding the third person's sight, 'and this is Drew: another passenger'. Drew was an attractive woman who seemed to be in her 20s with sharp features. Her hair was a curly blonde, coiling down to the middle of her back. She wore a black dress with several straps with fishnets and sheer stockings beneath her heeled boots. On her shoulders was a wine red leather jacket, matching the colour on her lips. She held a pipe in her hand, with the smoke from it, coiling around the woman in a weirdly unnatural fashion. She nodded at Pending before leaning back onto the wall, focus shifting somewhere else.

  The Conductor brought his hands up to a clap again, 'That's enough time for introductions. If you'd all excuse me, I'll escort our new passenger to his new room', he announced. To this, Drew rolled her eyes and let out a breath of smoke which curled tight around her form. The smoke swirled darker and grew larger and larger until it consumed the woman, until her presence disappeared. Pending stood in disbelief at the sight, turning to the older man for an explanation.

  'I'll be off then,' Fey's gentle voice echoed as she turned to face Pending, 'I can't wait to meet again', she said, before turning to leave to another cabin.

  'I'll be gone too,' Collyn chirped as she grinned at Pending, 'I'll see you soon sir', she finished with a lazy salute of the hand and a turn of the heel. 'Call me if you need anything Conductor', she shouted as she left the cabin.

  The older man looked down to meet the other man's sight and raised his eyebrows at the other's disbelieving stare. Pending cleared his throat into his fisted hand and looked back up with a slow blink. 'I don't mean to sound rude in any way but what the actual fuck was that', he exclaimed, almost out of breath.

  The other man blinked in confusion, tilting his head slightly, 'What was what?'

  'You know, the lady poofing into smoke? The countless ribbons?', he asked in confusion with his eyebrows furrowed and mouth open in shock.

  The Conductor laughed and shook his head with a wide grin on his face, head faced down. After a few seconds, he looked up to face Pending with a more understanding smile. 'The moment anyone enters this train, their appearance or ability changes in some way depending on who they are as a person. For Drew, her smoke can sort of poof her as you said, among other things. For Fey, her physical appearance changed. You yourself have changed as well', he clarified, nodding towards Pending. Pending looked down in slight understanding before swiftly looking back up.

  'I've changed as well?', he asked in exclamation.

  The Conductor hummed in confirmation before pointing behind him. 'That's enough conversation,' he remarked, 'we've got to get on with the tour', he said before turning on the heel and strolling off again.

  Pending stammered before jogging back to reach the older man. 'The rooms for each passenger are similar to the appearance changes. Each room is designed to match the resident's personality and state,' he explained in a rehearsed tone, 'and each person's room can be accesses through this door with a few words. If you want to enter someone else's room, a sort of request will be sent to them to be accepted or rejected.' he continued, turning to face Pending and a door at the end of the cabin, 'Now tell the door which room you want to go to'

  Pending looked doubtful before conceding and saying, 'my room', facing the door. He turned to The Conductor with a questioning glance. 'Open it', the other man said, while nodding in the direction of the door.

  Pending opened the door to feel the same rush from before blow him away. After a few seconds, his vision adjusted to see a simple room in front of him. The walls were a plain, slightly dark white, with the carpet the same colour. At the far end of the room, stood a singular small white bed painted the same colour, with sheets folded up at the foot. On one wall stood an empty white cabinet and shelf, towering over the man and the other had a simple desk and leather chair with a singular mirror the same plain colour. On the desk were countless plain polaroid photos of different sizes. Pending stood in place in awe at the utter plainness the room had taken.

  'I've never seen a room this dull before', the Conductor said in what seemed to be an impressed tone. He spun around before facing Pending and pointing to the side with his thumb towards the mirror, 'didn't you want to see your new appearance' he remarked with a smirk on his face.

  At the remark, Pending rushed forward towards the mirror and took in his new look. Covering his face, leaving only his mouth visible was a large polaroid photo of what seemed to be the same tree he'd taken a picture of before and a date signed beneath it. He tried pulling it off but to no avail: he couldn't feel it on his face. A backpack hung loosely on his shoulders, holding what looked to be large empty polaroid pictures the size of the one on his face. Hung around his clothes were countless smaller polaroids displaying familiar photos. His camera was now hung around his waist with a book on the other side. Pending stood in shock, mouth wide open as he clutched the end of the desk in distress.

  'I'll leave you alone for a minute', The Conductor said silently before swiftly leaving the room.

  The silence hung heavy in the empty room as Pending stood frozen. Slowly, he trudged over the bed and sat on the edge, with his elbows on his knees and head in his hands. He groaned and thought back to everything that had happened. He felt so foolish as to just enter some floating train just because the owner of it looked to be an honest guy. But at the time, the train just felt so compelling and the offer convincing.

  He was broken from his thoughts as he heard squeaking at the doorway. He looked up to see a little yellow duck stuffed animal standing small, poking through the ajar door.

  'Fey is asking to enter your room', it squeaked out, and stood, waiting for a response in return.

  Pending ignored the incoming confusion and questions and looked up. The girl had seemed sweet and looked to be nice company, and it would be nice to distract himself.

  Giving in, he responded with, 'Let her in'