“Did ya have a good holiday?”
“Yeh. Weird but.”
“Howzzat?”
“Just… welll….everytime we went through a tunnel, and there was lots of em, at least eight, we could hear a child’s voice say one sleep. New day coming. She said this every tunnel. But it was weird, cause when we came back into daylight we couldn’t see no child in the carriage. Then. When we got through the last tunnel the train stopped at a platform and everyone had to get off.”
“Where were you?”
“Place called Fruitland.”
“Right place fer you. You’re as nutty as a fruit cake.”
Thank you to Rochelle Wisoff-Fields for hosting Friday Fictioneers and Dawn Miller for supplying the photo prompt.
About Irene Waters 19 Writer Memoirist
I began my working career as a reluctant potato peeler whilst waiting to commence my training as a student nurse. On completion I worked mainly in intensive care/coronary care; finishing my hospital career as clinical nurse educator in intensive care. A life changing period as a resort owner/manager on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu was followed by recovery time as a farmer at Bucca Wauka. Having discovered I was no farmer and vowing never again to own an animal bigger than myself I took on the Barrington General Store. Here we also ran a five star restaurant. Working the shop of a day 7am - 6pm followed by the restaurant until late was surprisingly more stressful than Tanna. On the sale we decided to retire and renovate our house with the help of a builder friend. Now believing we knew everything about building we set to constructing our own house. Just finished a coal mine decided to set up in our backyard. Definitely time to retire we moved to Queensland. I had been writing a manuscript for some time. In the desire to complete this I enrolled in a post grad certificate in creative Industries which I completed 2013. I followed this by doing a Master of Arts by research graduating in 2017. Now I live to write and write to live.
Maybe they ought to get the Ghostbusters to check it out, just to be on the safe side.
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LOL Perhaps…..
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Haha, Fruitcake… hope he’s not that crazy. 🙂
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Perhaps parrallel universe and he went off on the wrong railroad.
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I looked up the reference of fruitcake in UK and US. Different world may mean different things.
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Does it?
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Yes, but I didn’t read the detail about UK reference. Will read again.
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I love a spooky giggle, especially with a bit of nuttiness thrown into the mix. 😀
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Thanks Megaly. Glad it gave you a giggle.
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Delicious slice of story, iced with a little benign child-ghost, travelling for eternity.
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Thanks Jilly – glad you enjoyed the morsel.
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But what if they’re telling the truth and they did hear a child! 🙂
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I agree. I think he may have hopped on at the right platform but onto the wrong train which took him into a parrallel universe but will anyone believe him?
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Wonderful build=up to a funny ending. Great writing.
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Thanks so much.
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Dear Irene,
The last line sums it up. Enjoyable read on the Fruitland Express. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Thank you Rochelle.
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Sounds like they got to the right place in the end… what about the trip back? less trippy?
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The thought finished at 100 words so I hadn’t thought on that aspect – probably was less trippy.
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sometimes you just gotta call a fruit a fruit-cake
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LOL.
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…or is she????
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we all wonder that…..
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Just because he doesn’t believe it, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!!
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Yes you never know do you. Anything is possible in parallel universes.
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Right!
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