how I could hear his heart beating against my ear, how we could hold each other’s stare without an ounce of awkwardness falling between us, and how we swayed back and forth, completely in rhythm with each other. But most of all I loved how the world melted, and all that was left was him and I, in our own space and time, in our own world.
Perhaps this was why when the first whistle sounded, I didn’t hear it. And when the first blood-curdling scream pierced the peace, it faded into the atmosphere like a whispered prayer.
“Mitch! Stop it!”
“Come on, Dude! That’s not fucking funny.”
“Mitch! What the hell are you doing, brother?”
“Brando! Where are you?”
The mention of his name brought him out of our world and into the harsh reality of circumstances. A small group had formed a U shape around the train tracks, while other groups looked on with curiosity.
A second whistle blew in the distance.
“Brando!” Mick found us, his face as white as snow. He yanked at his hair frantically, setting it straight on his head. “You gotta help me. It’s Mitch. He won’t listen to me. He’s had too much to drink. He’s gone crazy.”
Brando clasped my hand, taking me along with him. Bursting through the thin wall of the group, we found the source of the panic. Mitch stood with one foot off the track, the other on the track, and his body titling toward the train’s passageway. He held his thumb out, like he was hitching a ride.
My eyes searched for the train—not too far off in the distance, its bright white light a gateway to death.
Violet cried out, pleading for him to stop. Her mascara cascaded down her face in black ribbons. I went to her, pulling an unsuspecting Brando with me. He had been so focused on Mitch that he went without urging.
“Stay with Violet.” He went to leave, but I reached out and snatched his arm.
“No, no, no…” I pleaded. “Don’t…” I couldn’t get the words out.
“Scarlett.” He glanced toward the train, gauging its oncoming procession of lights and steam and mind-blowing power. “You’d know it. You’d know if something bad was going to happen to me. You’d feel it.”
“I don’t know…I can’t be sure…I won’t allow you to take the chance!”
“I trust you. With my life.” He touched my cheek. “If you trust me, we’re solid, baby.”
My trembling hand let go then.
In a matter of seconds, he had reached Mitch, attempting to talk some sense into him. Mitch kept going on and on about fate, though, and how we somehow had to restart our hearts to really live…it seemed like nonsense, complete and utter crazy talk.
As much as I feared for Mitch, my heart was seized in panic for Brando.
The train whistle sounded again. And again. The conductor sent a final warning. More of the group stepped back, not wanting to be so close.
“Move her.” Brando’s voice came out sharp, and he pointed toward me. Mick stepped in, moving Violet and me from the blurring speed of the locomotive.
Three things happened in quick succession: I screamed Brando’s name. Brando seized Mitch by the shirt and then tackled him to the ground. The train blew through our immediate area, it’s nearness enough to send my hair and skirt flying in all different directions. The pulse of the beast thrummed through the air.
After the train whistled once again, and the entire line moved on for good, an eerie silence descended in its place. I hadn’t even realized Mick held me up until I felt his breath wash over me in a relieved sigh.
Mitch rocked back and forth on the ground, laughing like a loon, until finally he quieted. He held out his hand for Brando, but Brando refused it.
“Yeah,” Mitch said, his voice raspy with drink. “I deserve that.” A few moments passed before he sighed, releasing some of the pent-up sadness. “I’ll live to see another day. But what the hell is another day good for? Answer me!”
When no answer came from below, he looked above, his stare lost to the stars.
Like clockwork, another train whistled in the distance.
This time, I was prepared for it. I had set my hair in a tight bun.
“Scarlett.” Violet grasped my wrist, squeezing. “Don’t do this. It’s just a stupid game!”
“Elliott did it.”
Brando had promised me that he would show me how my brother had spent his time. This was one of those times.
After Mitch had lain on the ground longer than necessary, someone gave him