The train was rushing by the seemingly endless shoreline, making no sound, gleaming in the magnificent mid-day sunlight. The sea was calm, like it had been for as long as anyone can remember.
John had been sleeping for most of the travel, but he now woke up with a startle. A girl next to her, who seemed to have also been sleeping, smiled at him and said: "Hi!"
"Hello," mumbled John, he was still too sleepy to understand what's going on around him. He slowly turned to look out from the window, at the sea rushing by.
"What were you dreaming about?" the girl next to him asked.
John turned to look at the girl, he wanted to know what a person that curious looks like. He saw a short girl with chestnut brown hair and deep brown eyes looking at him with a smile on her face. He smiled back and tried to think of an answer. He couldn't really remember what was it exactly that he saw, but he remembered that it was long. And he liked it, it was full of adventure.
"To be honest, miss, I haven't got a tiniest clue of what I was dreaming. I remember enjoying it."
He then also remembered a girl. She looked quite like her, almost exactly the same. She wasn't a part that John was enjoying in the dream. She was the nightmare, for she had did him wrong, a lot.
His throat got dry when he thought about it and tried to talk about it. He finally said with a hoarse voice: "There was actually a part I didn't enjoy. There was this girl. She looked quite similar to you..."
John couldn't add more. Why was it so hard for him to say it? It was only a dream!
The girl's smile had gone from her face, but her eyes stilled looked kindly into John's. She regained her smile and asked: "What's your name? Mine's Jude."
John turned his head to face the window again and answered: "I'm John. Nice to meet you."
Jude fell silent for a few minutes, it might have even been half an hour. Her face was now sad again, but John still thaught it was cute. It even made him want to take Jude into his arms and comfort her.
When she started speaking again, she didn't sound so happy anymore and she didn't regain her smile.
"Where are you going, John? Where is this train headed? Because... I don't remember where I want to go, I don't remember why or even how I boarded this train."
John looked at him with compassion in his eyes, until it hit him. He didn't know where he's headed either. He couldn't remember how or why he was here. He just happened to be. He dropped his eyes on the floor and mubmled the answer: "I don't know either, Jude."
At that moment, they both started looking around at their travel companions. Every seat was taken, most of the people were also sleeping, some had just awaken like Jude and John.
"Excuse me," Jude said knocking on the shoulder of an older man next to her.
"Could you tell us where this train is heading? We're really in a bind here, my friend and I, because neither one of us can remember where we're headed."
The man didn't even blink at that. He just kept staring in front of him, like Jude weren't even there.
John tried to stand up to go and look for a conductor, but he couldn't. His legs refused to move.
"John," Jude started talking with a low voice, "Do you remember anything before the dream? Do you remember your life?"
John's heart started beating faste. He didn't remember aything, except some portions of the dream. He tried, but he couldn't. He wanted to answer Jude, but he was too afraid of what she would say. He knew what she was thinking about but he didn't want to hear it out loud.
"John... From my dream, I remember a boy. A boy who looked like you. I liked him at first, but as time went by he remained too big of a mistery for me. I was afraid of him, so I denied him. I didn't allow him to communicate with me anymore. I really liked him, I thought he was a nice guy, but I acted like a jerk to him..."
John turned away. They were rushing by the sea, calm, boring sea. He was frustrated at what he knew Jude was trying to say and what he also was thinking. It couldn't be true, not yet!
"John, look at me! I think we're..."
"We're what? We're dead? That we already lived our lives and this is what awaits us after death? An eternal train ride to nowhere? Jude, this can't be true! We're... We're young, we're full of life! How can we be dead?"
Jude started crying, quietly, only letting the tears run down her face, she didn't even try to hide them.
"What else can you explain this all with, John? I'm not sure about it, but... It seems as the most probable scenario... Think about it, how did your dream end?"
John didn't want to think about it. His eyes were tearing up. He thought of his dream, but he was to scared to think about it's ending. He was scared...
The train howled as the sun was falling into the sea, it's wheels started to make sound again, even a wave rushed over the sea and into the shore. And then, it all was quiet again.
