Twice a year I take this road trip
1,634km of bituminized road between Hedland and Perth.
And again, I find myself stuck at a railway crossing;
with a 2.4km ore train meandering along.
I stare into the horizon, eyes unfocussed; the landscape a blur.
Dubba dup. Dubba dup. Dubba dup.
Drowsiness overtakes me. Eyes droop.
Suddenly, the door alarm!
Ping. Ping. Ping.
Awareness returns. Adrenaline surges.
The stranger reaches in; grabs my throat.
My hands claw his face. He lands a punch.
Black spots, as the horizon fades.
Middle of nowhere. So unexpected.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a story in response to a photo prompt – in 100 words or less. You can find other stories here.
RANDOM THOUGHTS by Trish 
From almost hypnotic to scared witless in 100 words. Well done.
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Ouch! But I do like a good train mystery. I feel like there is more to this story.
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Holy cow, that got my attention. A pretty good prologue to a thriller novel?
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Horror at its best.
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Dear Trish,
So much for the usual travel routine. What a wild ride.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Difficult in the UK to comprehend the size of those huge trains. St least that means there’s little chance this scenario will occur here! Terrifying!
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Thanks Iain. It shouldn’t happen out in the middle of the Pilbara either. Chances of some random being behind you at some lonely railway crossing in the middle of nowhere, would be very low! 😊
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“…and then my hand found the handle of my pistola…” — Sorry, I needed a happy ending or I’ll never sleep at a RR crossing again. Good story. Enjoyed it.
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🤣 I seem to lean toward harrowing endings myself! Thanks Bill.
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🙂
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Excellent. I too was mesmerized by the drone of the train over the tracks…and then pow!
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Thank you for reading and commenting!
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Well, good grief! I was nearly asleep when you sprang your perfect surprise 🙂
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Dubba dup, dubba dup … 😱
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Holy moly, Trish! Talk about breaking a good buzz…
Well written, though 🙂
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Thanks Dale! Appreciate it.
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That certainly broke the feeling of reverie I had at the beginning!
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Whoops! 😀
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It’s a good thing. Surprise is good
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