Raya returned the bonbon to the dish. “Why couldn’t we have boarded the train like everyone else? Why couldn’t we have just found our own compartments like the other passengers, slipped off our shoes and enjoyed the grass tickling our feet, and let chocolate melt in our mouths without worrying about anything other than which candy we were going to try next?”
“Is that really what you would have wanted?” Q said. “I thought that all you ever wanted to do was find a way off this train and go home.”
“I…I don’t know.” Raya’s eyes sought sanctuary in a little wooden library of incense that told bedtime stories when lit. A passenger, Raya thought, would have to try very hard to be unhappy in a place that provided you with every comfort. The only thing the train lacked was a true sense of time, which was only a problem if you were counting on it to heal your wounds. “I just know that I don’t wantthis:an impossible choice.”
“An impossible choice doesn’t have a right answer,” Q said. “But one of us is right about the stowaway and the other isn’t. So, if it’s any consolation, it’s not an impossible choice. Just an extremely difficult one. We at least have a fifty-percent chance of getting it correct.” He forced a lightness into his voice. “That doesn’t sound too terrible, right?” he said, trying to smirk but not quite managing it.
Raya returned his sad smile and sat down in front of the dresser. “And how about the decision we need to make about who gets to keep this compartment and stay on the train? Does that have a right choice too?” She scanned the items on the dresser.
A box of tissues.
A brush.
A jewelry dish.
A zippered pouch adorned with the train’s gold knot leaned against a potted orchid. Raya opened it. A silk eye mask, fuzzy gray socks, and travel-sized toiletries were neatly arranged inside. A small vial containing a thick blue liquid nestled between the lotion and shampoo. She pulled it out and gazed into the tiny sea inside the bottle, thinking how pleasant it would be to dive in and never come up for air.
Q walked over to her. “May I?”
Raya handed him the tonic.
Q pulled its stopper off.
“Are you thinking of taking it?” Raya said. If Q forgot about hunting Jace, she would not be forced to stop him.
“No.” He shoved the stopper back. “Yes.” He sighed. “Maybe.” Q slipped the tonic back into the kit. He looked up at the mirror and gasped.
“What is it?”
He squinted. “I thought I saw something.”
Raya leaned closer to the glass. “What did you see?”
The compartment shook, tossing Raya to the floor. Furniture tumbled around them. The painted moon fell and struck Raya’s shoulder. She yelped, clutching her arm. A lamp flew across the room and shattered the mirror, exposing an inky void. The compartment tilted sharply, hurling Raya and Q through it.
“Does the train offer adjoining compartments?”
Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Raya
Raya opened her eyes, her cheek pressed against a hospital room’s cold floor. Machines beeped and blinked, monitoring the bandaged figure in the center of the room. Raya knew every detail of this dream by heart. Tonight, however, was the first time it had begun with her lying on the floor.
She got up, her cheek throbbing, and walked over to Jace. She sat on the chair by his bed and began the long watch until morning came to wake her.
“What is this place?” Q said from the other side of the bed.
Raya jumped. “What are you doing here?”
“Shouldn’t you be asking whatwe’redoing here? And where ‘here’ is? A second ago, we were being tossed around a train compartment.”
“This is real?”Raya leaned over the bed. “Jace? Can you hear me?”
“That isn’t Jace, Raya. It can’t be.”
