SOL 29 - Two More! (Train of Thought)

     The Train of Thought comes chugging into the station in a cloud of black smoke. It screeches to a stop just beside Platform 9¾ and the heavy door opens to let passengers in. No one needs a ticket for the Train of Thought. After everyone has boarded, the train doesn't chug away. It simply disappears.

The first stop on the Train of Thought is at a bakery. A scratchy voice on the loudspeaker tells passengers about cake:

"Cake is pretty good. The most recent time I've had cake was two weeks ago at my friend's bat mitzvah. There was lemon meringue cake and chocolate cake. The lemon meringue, ironically, did not have any meringues on it. Instead, there were macaroons. I remember reading something in a book about active and passive voice using cake as an example. 'I ate cake' vs 'The cake got eaten.' And now folks, I think it's time to continue on our trip."

The train chugs to a slow stop at a large red brick house in San Francisco.

"This is where my grandparents live. This is also where I am typing this slice. I was thinking about my grandparents because I was stretching my arms and heard my knuckles crack. My grandpa is a retired medical doctor and he always freaks out when my knees click, when I have a headache, etc. He always assumes the worst. Headache = tumor. Knees or elbows clicking = something wrong with the joint. Sneezing from pollen allergies = horrible cold. Coughing = asthma attack (I don't even have asthma). Speaking of asthma, we will now continue to the emergency room in Denver.

"This, folks, is where I was brought because of a supposed asthma attack a year ago. My family was driving to Moab, Utah, in a rented trailer that we had just picked up that morning. The trailer was cleaned with something that made me continually cough. After all that coughing, my fingers started to go numb. The doctors told us later that it was because of a lack of air. Telling my parents that I was having trouble breathing (who wouldn't when they're coughing) we rushed to the emergency room. I got some medicine for that particular cleaning product which has a very long name and could continue on the road trip."

Passengers looked out the window for the next stop on the Train of Thought, but they were back at the station. To the outside, the train lost a bit of form and became more and more transparent with every person exiting the train. Finally, a small girl with short brown hair and a Totoro shirt stepped onto the platform, and the train disappeared once more.