Flash Fiction Challenge - ‘Coincidence’
Selena opened her eyes and found herself alone on the platform. She didn’t remember falling asleep.
It was quiet now, nobody else waiting for trains. She wondered what time it was - had the station closed? Why did nobody wake her up? Confused, leaned back against the bench and rubbed her eyes. Her face hurt. In fact, her whole body ached.
She remembered her train moving to the top of the arrivals board, the crush as everybody moved forward, determined to get a seat when it pulled in. There had been a man next to her. Selena remembered the look on his face - and how it made her uncomfortable. He smiled and reached out to her, and she tried to turn away. He was missing his front teeth, and the look in his eyes was…unpleasant. It made her think of a TV show she saw once, about the TV faith healers in America - he looked like they did when they channelled the Lawd and the Holy Spurrit. Exultant and out of control.
Shaking her head, Selena tried to clear the cobwebs. What had happened? She looked at her watch, but it had stopped. 3.05. That was when her train was supposed to arrive. She sighed, stood up, and began to pace up and down the silent platform, thinking about the man with the smile. She stopped suddenly, confused. Where the hell where her shoes?
Without thinking about it, she walked to the edge of the platform and looked down. At the sight of her shoes lying between the tracks, her memory came rushing back. The man. The platform. The train. The man, with his loopy grin. Her, stepping back. The edge of the platform.
The moment replayed in her mind in slow motion - she stepped back, and her foot went over the edge. She pin wheeled her arms, comical for a moment, the man reaching out to her, as others stepped back to let him catch her. He reached out, as if to grab her hand, but she felt pressure in her chest and then a second of curious weightlessness, and rushing, roaring noise that filled her whole head. And then she woke up. Here.
Here, she realised, was not a place that she wanted to be. That bastard had pushed her in front of the train, and she was dead. Had to be - it knocked her out of her shoes! She scrambled down on to the tracks and picked them up, she wasn’t about to spend eternity in her bare feet. As she hoisted herself back up to the platform, she heard a familiar sound. There was a train coming.
Keeping well back, Selena waited until it had come to a complete stop before walking up to the doors. Shoes safely tucked under one arm, she stepped through the doors and into an empty carriage. She sat, and looked at the maps on the wall. None of the stations had names. It was probably going to be a long ride. Looking around guiltily, she put her shoes on the seat beside her, and stretched out. May as well take a nap to pass the time, she was sleepy after all, now that she thought about it.
—————
Selena managed to stop herself from falling to the floor as the train jerked to a stop. She wondered how long she had been asleep.
The doors opened, and a familiar-looking man stepped into the carriage. Selena narrowed her eyes suspiciously and asked “How did you get here?”
The man smiled at her. “I had an unfortunate run in with a train” He had no front teeth.
“What a coincidence” she replied, brandishing one of her shoes “I’ve got a bone to pick with you”
