Story: Toy Train Sorcery

Author's Note:  This story is inspired by The Sorcerer of the White Lotus Lodge from The Chinese Fairy Book by R. Wilhelm, translated by Frederick H. Martens, 1921.  In this story, a sorcerer instructs his students to watch a bowl that is covered by another bowl while he's gone - no peaking at what's inside! Of course the pupils peak, and find that the bowl is filled with water, a small boat made of straw floating on top.  The sorcerer comes back and scolds them for disobeying him; he claims to know they disturbed the bowls because it caused his ship to capsize.  A similar instance occurs when the sorcerer tells his students to carefully watch a lit candle while he's gone, presumably to make sure it does not go out.  The students fall asleep and the candle goes out.  When they awake, they quickly try to relight it, but the sorcerer gets back and scolds them once again, claiming that he was made to navigate in the dark because of their inattention.  More things happen after this, including the sorcerer killing one of his pupils, being arrested, then escaping by fighting a giant, but all of those are irrelevant to my story, though interesting nonetheless!  I really liked the idea that the items left to the students by the sorcerer somehow affected him in real life, so I based my story entirely off of that.  (Unfortunately there's not really any immorality in my story, but I enjoyed writing it anyway!)
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The young boy leapt off of the school bus and burst through the front door, rushing to make his way to his bedroom.  His mother called for him to slow down, but he couldn’t hear her over his own excitement; he had been waiting all day to finally play with his new toys.  When he opened the door to his room, he shrieked with excitement when he saw the antique chest sitting on the floor.  The chest and all of its contents were given to the boy by his grandfather, who had been given it by his grandfather – they were at least a hundred years old.  He propped open the lid and briefly admired the trinkets before yanking out a delicately crafted train and the accompanying wooden sections.  He assembled the long, intricate track and placed the train on one end.  “All aboard! Fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride,” he announced as he gently pushed the train toward the other end, delightfully making sound effects as the train rolled along.  He suddenly felt a strange pull on the train and he let go in surprise.  He watched in amazement as the train moved along the tracks by itself, quickly picking up speed.

The antique toy train.  Courtesy of the California State Railroad Museum and Wikimedia Commons

“Does it feel like we’re going faster to you, honey? Like, a lot faster?” the woman said to her husband as she peered out of the window of the train. “Hmm?” he replied, only half listening as he continued to type on his laptop. She continued watch the trees zoom by, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach.  “Does it feel like we’re going too fast?” she repeated after a few minutes, this time putting her hand on her husband’s shoulder.  “Look,” she insisted.  He sighed and glanced out of her window to appease her, but he felt uneasy with what he saw.  Everything outside of the train was almost indistinguishable - the forest looked like a green blur.  He began to notice that the train ride felt more like an airplane zooming down a runway.  “Yeah, yeah,” he hesitated, “you’re right, we are going a little fast.  I’ll go ask our attendant if this is normal,” he said as he stood up.  He walked toward the front of their carriage, noticing that other passengers were starting to look confused and alarmed as well.  As he approached the attendant, the train went over a bump and he lurched forward, nearly falling down.  After the man regained his balance, he squared his shoulders and softly cleared his throat.  “Excuse me, ma’am. Is this a normal speed for this train?” he asked the employee sitting at the front of the train car.  She turned to look at him, but said nothing. He looked back at his wife, who was watching him anxiously, her eyebrows furrowed. He cleared his throat again. “Doesn’t it seem like we’re going a little fast?  Is this norm- -“ Before he could finish his question, the train hurled off of the tracks, throwing the screaming passengers out of their seats as they plunged into a ditch.

The tragic train wreck. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The toy train clattered as it fell toppled off of the wooden tracks.  The boy stared at the train for a moment before slowly picking it up.  He began closely examining his new toy, looking for a motor or winding mechanism of some sort when he heard his mother calling him from downstairs -“Timmy, dinner’s ready!” she beckoned.  He wrinkled his forehead, set the train down, and raced toward the stairs.  He decided that he’d had enough of the train for now, and that maybe he’d play with the toy airplane after dinner instead. 

 

What could go wrong? Courtesy of Pixabay