By: Ed Nichols

The Slow Train

       A train came by the station so fast it was just a blur. So fast we could scarcely read the writing on the side of the train. Everybody was confused. We didn’t understand what happened to our train. Some people said they wanted a transfer. Some threw up their hands. Some threw their suitcases around. A man said, “There had to be a mix-up. I can’t believe that train didn’t stop for us.” A woman said, “I’ve never seen a train traveling so fast. I’m scared.” She sniffled, then started crying. Another man said, “Maybe the government is involved and that is the problem.” Another said, “It was probably a big slip-up by higher-ups.” I agreed with that man. I said, “There must have been a screw-up somewhere down the line.” Soon, another train came into the station slowly. It stopped at the correct location. Everyone started getting on the train. As I stepped onto the train’s steps, I said to the conductor, “Is this train going to New York?” He said, “Of course, come aboard.” Behind me, I heard a young boy ask the conductor, “Is this train going to London?” “Of course,”  he said, “Your journey is just beginning on the slow train.”

A New Way of Life

       A strange twilight appeared this afternoon over my house. An abnormal light I had never seen before. I walked down the road to my neighbor’s house and asked him what he thought about the sky. He said, “Yeah, it’s really strange. Never seen anything like it.” We watched a flock of birds flying in a wide circle. Then we saw two butterflies darting up and down. I said, “I’ve only been in my house a few months, but I have never seen anything like this anywhere I have lived.” I walked back home. Another neighbor, Lewis, walked over to my backyard. “What do you think about the sky?” he said. “I have no explanation. This is very peculiar,” I said. Lewis said, “I have been having bad vibes about our world. I’ve been wondering if it’s all going to end soon.” “It does make you wonder, doesn’t it?” I said. We could see other neighbors standing in their yards looking at the sky. The sun looked like a half-moon. At midnight, with the sun still shining, a few people in the neighborhood began to howl and scream. Some began whining and running up and down the road in front of my house. All night the sun shone brightly. Is this finally the end of our world? In the morning the darkness came slowly at first. But soon it was too dark to see. I ate an egg sandwich and went to bed. The birds and animals went to sleep. It was a new way of life. My neighbors said nothing would ever be as it was before.

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Ed Nichols lives in Clarkesville, Georgia. He is a graduate of the School of Journalism at the University of Georgia. Below is a list of his published books:

I Wish I Could Laugh – A chapbook of prose poems 

Perfect Land – A collection of prose poems

The Boy In The Book – Flash Fiction and prose poems

We’ll Talk Some More – A collection of short stories

The Professor And Confederate Gold – Novel