She noticed the token on the platform and picked it up, slipping it into her pocket before boarding the train.
Once seated, she closed her eyes and replayed her day. God, she needed to get away. Glasgow may be one of the world’s friendliest cities but today she needed to get far away.
She felt a vibration in her pocket and pulled out the token. It was glowing, an eerie pearly white. She tried to read the words but the characters weren’t familiar.
The train ticked, hummed, click-clacked. She closed her eyes, holding the token, and thought, I should just go to London.
She opened her eyes at the squeal of brakes as the train eased to another stop. Her brow furrowed at the symbol outside her window: a red circle with a blue line. The Roundel.
Wait — what? London?! No-no-no-no-no-no!
If she really wanted to start over, she needed to go to a new continent.
The token vibrated. The doors swooshed shut and the train left the station, plunging into darkness. Clackety-clackety-clackety. Again she closed her eyes. Again she opened them at the squeal of the brakes.
Times Square — 42 Street Station.
New York. No, she thought, farther. The train unexpectedly lurched out of the station. The token flew from her hand. Darkness.
When it stopped again, she had no token. She looked at the other passengers. Their green skin tone and oddly-shaped heads told her. She WAS far away — and now with no way back.
This is my rather tardy response to this week’s Unicorn Challenge. The Unicorn Challenge seems so simple, just 250 words based on the photo. Yeah. Right. I whittled out so many words that this may no longer make sense.
For another ultimate exile, here’s the Kingston Trio singing about poor old Charlie, riding forever ‘neath the streets of Boston.
And all of this grew out of a quote I read the other morning about meteorites. Go figure.
“From above and outside the earth, there come the meteorites. These are debris from other galaxies in the cosmos. They were stones falling through the universe and the earth got in the way. This is the ultimate exile. Stones that fell out of their own story, fell onto a foreign planet. They are now total exiles here. They will never be able to leave.“
John O’Donohue, The Four Elements. “Fire in the Earth”
Hot Dogs and Marmalade 
And she can’t even phone home! Clever and exciting story, Sally.
Very ET-ish — the phone home aspect.
Glad you enjoyed the story!
Three in One!
This is one of the ‘universal truth’ stories – which one of us hasn’t done the equivalent of sitting on that subway and wishing…
And not wanting to hear ‘Be careful what you wish for!’
It makes excellent sense, it’s so well crafted, light-hearted – and serious as well.
The final passengers with their ‘green skin tone and oddly-shaped heads’ are the perfect ending.
Still smiling – at the story, but also at the song, which was a friend of mine’s party piece – brought back memories.
And No 3? John O’Donohue – what a man.
You’ve set me up perfectly for a Monday morning!
I’m so glad you liked it — all lof it!
John O’Donohue is a relatively new discovery for me — and I LOVE his writing!
Fun tale, Sally, summing up the ‘I wish I was somewhere – anywhere – else’ feeling that we’ve all had at times.
Which is why I’ve had over 30 homes in my life.
But not one on Planet Green Skin!
30 homes?!?! I can’t imagine! I’m very much a rooted person.
I just listened to a podcast about St. Kilde and the people who had lived on the one island their whole life (until, of course, they were loaded onto a boat and brought to the mainland.) I could have happily been one of those people (until, of course, I was loaded onto a boat and brought to the mainland)
I’ve always been nomadic, Sally, just moved home again a couple of months ago.
But my oldest and best friend, in whose home I’ve been for the past two weeks, has spent his whole life within a 10-mile radius of where he was born.
We’re all different.
Wow! This one took an decidedly sudden turn into danger! Great writing – you took me along!!
Love this. Delightfully whimsical. That token has me intrigued. I’d like one of those, but having now read your story, I’d be very cautious what I wished for. (That’s probably always a good policy, even without a token.)
Oh my goodness, that was quite a ride – I like where the picture took you!
Thanks, Keith. I live in a rural area and have had very little experience with mass transit. Magic tokens, however, I have loads of experience with them — in my imagination.
Methinks she should have saved 1 wish….quite the ride, Sally! 💞