I thought I’d post a snippet from a short story I’ve been working on. It’s called “End of the Line”.
In the distance, the familiar, white light appeared, cutting through the dark of midnight. She’d watched it come before, but always from the sidelines, imagining what it would be like to face such a beast.
Cassie drew in a shaky breath and steeled herself. Legs splayed, arms by her sides, fists tightly clenched, she waited on the tracks as the train approached. Her legs shook, and strands of hair licked her cheeks in the gentle night’s breeze.
She swallowed the fear threatening to override her. Hang in there, she told herself. Another sixty seconds, and it will all be over. No more drowning, murky thoughts, heavy dreams or stilted breathing. She lifted her head and stared straight ahead, willing her body to freeze.
Closer now, but not coming fast enough. She was scared. As much as she desired to have it all over with, the fear gained ground. Could the driver see her yet? No, still too far away. Why had time slowed down? An ache began in her ankles, spreading up her legs and winding its way around her thighs and into her clenched hands.
The feel of her fingernails scraping the soft flesh of her palms roused her, just as she became aware of the vibrations on the tracks.
Cassie stumbled into the grass growing beside the tracks and ran, tears running down her cheeks. She stopped as she reached the first line of trees and leaned over, resting her hands on her thighs, trying to get her breath back.
Damn it! She wanted to die. Why couldn’t she have stuck it out?
The train thundered by, unaware of the woman hunched over in the darkness, sobbing. She raised her head to watch the carriages pass, slithering alongside Wilkins Woods like a dark snake. In thirty seconds, the night was once again silent.
She’d try tomorrow night. Maybe pick up a bottle of Jack Daniel’s after work. Might help with the nerves.
Slowly, her breathing returned to normal, and she wiped the tears away. Cassie followed the edge of the woods the mile back to her dingy flat. She let herself in and headed straight to bed. One more day. She could make it that far.
Have a great weekend everyone.
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Emma's Ramblings on Supernatural Fiction 
Ooooh that’s great. 🙂 Well done, Emma!
Thanks, Becky!
Not fair! I want to know what happens! 🙂
You’ll just have to be patient 🙂
Jack Daniels after work sounds good to me, but no trains. Ooooo Jack Daniels and honey sounds even better. Hope I have some honey left. Have a great weekend. Ciao
Hey Chris. Honey? I haven’t tried that but I will. Enjoy the weekend, too.
Wow. Way to leave us all hanging. Wonderfully done, Emma. You pulled me right in and now I want to know more. Why does she want to die?
Cheers, Debra. Depression; she doesn’t see any other way out.
Well done, Emma. I want to know why she has reached such a point ot desperation. The descriptions were fantastic and her reaction – – wanting to end it, but changing her mind at the last minute – – tells me she’s still clinging to a flicker of hope for something better even if she doesn’t realize it. Believable and well written!
Thanks, Mae. She is clinging to hope and isn’t 100% certain yet.
Does she really want to die, or can she find a glimmer of hope to live on. Great hanger at the end.What happens?!!! lol
She thinks she does, Laura. You’ll get to see what happens soon 🙂
Great excerpt and the descriptions are haunting! Definitely want to read more 🙂
Thanks L.J.
Whoa, dark stuff!! It scared me.
Good. I did my job.
Gripping, Emma. I, too, want to read more. Really, really great excerpt!
Cheers, Sandra.
You definitely know how to make a reader want more! Great work.
Thank you, Kristina.
I liked the way you let the information out slowly, so that quite late on only I found out she wanted to kill herself, but by then the train was coming. You had suspense and surprise…thank you for letting us have the extract.
Thanks for reading. Saw your email too, very kind of you.
Such sorrow and hopelessness! That much pain deserves a happy ending, Emma. You’ve got me hooked. 🙂
I’m glad you’re hooked. Thanks.
Awesomely tense 🙂 Great stuff as always, Emma!
Thank you.
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