MYSTERY

The Train to Poughkeepsie

Episode 1

Four minutes left for my train now, I was so relieved to hear the announcement for it. Standing on a lone platform in the middle of a cold winter night with only a handful of passengers scattered around was, well, absolutely boring. It is the month of January and all the festivities of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's have died down. The only excitement people like me felt these days were because of paychecks or mittens and hot cocoa. Working after all the festivity felt like a drag and an unexpected travel plans in a chilly weather like this was enough to annoy me to no end. I had no choice though. I just had to take this trip and reluctantly look forward to the train’s arrival, so I can at least get comfortable in my seat. Thanks to the late nights at work lately, my only option was to board the Hudson line 799 at 1:10am. I looked at the clock on display. It was 1:07 and yet I could not keep myself from feeling agitated. Even the battery on my cell phone those time else I would have plugged in my earbuds and tuned into some music. The late night the cold and the dead lull of the station wasn't the only reason for this growing agitation of mine. It was the journey and the girl for whom I was taking this godforsaken trip even at 1:09am, a minute before the train’s arrival. I felt like canceling the journey. My fingers unlocked the phone without thinking and almost dialed Michelle's number. I wanted to tell her that I can make it and that I would see her again soon when she visits home.

I couldn't bring myself to make the call. It would just break her heart if I tell her I'm not coming. I couldn't do this to her. After all. It was the first time that she had asked me to come down to meet her and help her out. How could I even think about ditching my best friend like that? Yes, it was true that it was short notice and despite holding the prime position in accounting, my CEO was simply not willing to let me go on a leave. The holiday season it just ended and asking for a leave was simply out of the question but I had to do it for Michelle. I had to travel to La Grangeville in the county of Duchess. I wouldn't even dream of going to a town like La Grangeville. But that's where Michelle was putting up these days. I had to board two trains tonight to get to Poughkeepsie and from there it will take a drive of about a half an hour to reach the final destination. More or less my entire night was going to be spent in reaching this town I had never even heard about.

My agitation was back. I was deep in thoughts about Michelle, the help she might want in the remote town and my train journey. All of a sudden I felt a strong grip on my right shoulder. A shiver ran down my spine and the sheer suddenness of it. It felt like someone had grabbed my shoulder tight as if they never let go. I trembled and turned around and saw an old woman. Her gaze wasn't towards me but on the floor of the platform. Her face was filled with wrinkles that I saw that her forehead had a black stain. It looked like dried up crusty the blood. The wound was left unattended and now looks horrendous. Her aura made me shiver, and the moment she looked at me directly, I saw her pale-yellow eyes and wanted to run through my life. I forcefully got her hand off my shoulder in panic and heard the train coming in. I turned around to look at the train slowing down at the platform and quickly turned back around to look at the old lady. She was gone. But how did she move away so quickly?

As the doors to the train open nice swiftly shifted my focus towards boarding the train and worrying about the old lady later. Once inside the train, the few passengers that boarded along with me began to make small talk and I completely forgot about the old lady. I even forgot about all the reasons I was agitated about taking this journey and began to wait for my first stop Croton Harmon. I looked out the window and the dark shadows in the city lights began to put me in a better mood. I called up Michelle to tell her that I'm on my way. Unfortunately your phone wasn't in a network location. Strange girl. She is forever on the move and has now gone to an unknown town and her phone is not reachable and wonder her parents are always concerned about her. I chose to leave her a message which hopefully would be delivered to her soon. After all, I could only reach the town of La Grangeville but wouldn't know where to go from there. It would be better if she just picked me up from Poughkeepsie.

I smiled at the thought of Michelle coming to pick me up. I've always picked up the notorious Miss Cox myself whenever she comes back home to Manhattan. It's her turn now and I'm so excited to see the look on her face when I reach her little town. It would be fun to see her taking me around being a part of her crazy mysterious world.

She has been complaining a lot these past few months. She's been saying that Leonard you're the one who needs me around. You never come to me we do you are calling me Leonard meant that she was upset. We've always called each other by our surnames. It's sort of a tease since college. I call her Miss Cox and she calls me Mr. Smith. And we've known each other since school. The names came about when we chose our respective fields. She chose journalism and I took up finance. She began addressing me as Mr. Smith, with her nose up in the air and told me how people in finance think they're also superior. I too constantly teased her about sensationalism in the media. And now her bossy nose wouldn't even last a day in a publication. But her line of journalism was completely different from the primetime news. She began traveling and hunting for nerve racking stories, or association with mysterious abandoned places became her solace, and she was away most of the time. Slowly she began visiting home only once or twice a year. It was hard to keep track of her as she changed locations quickly and frequently. On her last visit she made a fuss about how I hadn't even visited her even once. And I had retorted by telling her that I didn't have flying abilities like her. She'd been upset of the sarcasm, ever since and I could hear it in her tone every time she called me. Now the time had finally come when she wouldn't be able to complain because I'm finally on my way to meet her.

She had called me and asked me to come down to La Grangeville just yesterday. And here I was all packed and on a train to meet her. I was going down there for a week and ever since her call, she hadn't been in touch with me at all. All she mentioned was that she needed my help for a week and I had to be there in a day or so. She emphasized that I couldn't read a lot of this and simply had to come. After that, all communications between us were zero. I just hope she responds before I reach Poughkeepsie.

Michelle was a brave girl who solved mysteries and was lost in her world for most of the time. Getting in touch with her was impossible, but she could get in touch with me whenever she wanted. There was one good thing about her though; she was fearless and gutsy. I'm actually still wondering what kind of help she needs from me. After all, she never asked me for help before in her life. She was pretty capable of finding her way around tricky situations. So what can I possibly do for her that she herself couldn't? She's been away so much that I sometimes wonder if Michelle even exists or is just a figment of imagination. Is she for real or just a myth?