No Way To Stop
Edward was aghast. They all put such a remarkably positive spin on what to him was an obviously disastrous situation. They simple fact was they were on a runaway train that was going to crash and kill them all! The sheer confidence of these people staggered him, but he guessed the difference was that they had made the choice to be on the train and he had not. Contemplating the crash again he found his breathing accelerating. He tried to recompose himself. Maybe a change of subject would help? He swallowed and thought things through for a few moments. These people genuinely thought he was one of them, they thought he too had chosen to be there. They considered him to have met Mr.Scayben and taken the deal. He paused for a moment and politely asked, “So there is no way we can stop this train?”.
There was a shaking of heads, then John responded with a chuckle and an answer. He did so in his most matter of fact manner, “No sir, there’s nothing that can be done to escape this train, unless you can stop a 100 ton locomotive with your bare hands and let John C Powell tell you, the laws of physics are hugely against your favour! Yes sir, ask John C Powell and he would say the odds of leaving this vehicle at this current time are approximately zero!”
“Could someone not break a window and jump out?”, asked Edward.
Derek let out a sarcastic laugh, as Peter shook his head and Kevin sighed. Kerry rolled her eyes again. Sian tutted. Edward could tell from their body language this was a question that had been asked before.
“No sir, breaking a window is not an option and I will explain why!”, replied John enthusiastically, “Being a man of learning and science I enquired of Mr.Scayben about the possibilty of what you might call ‘pre-escape’. Suppose if someone could break a window, escape this journey before the inevitable crash, then return to the scene, only to pretend to have survived the crash, thereby claiming the grand $1Million prize? Hmmm”. He paused to let Edward contemplate the question, which seemed a remarkably good idea to him.
Edward began to respond, “…Yes, well I wouldn’t have any intention of returning to the crash scene, but the option of escape…”. John leapt in before he could finish, “Well sir, Mr.Scayben informed me that such an action would break the rules of the challenge and regardless of that, the windows are made of the newest unbreakable anti-vandal glass and that you would have to be as strong as Sampson to break them from the inside! Apparently even the passage-ways between the carriages have been sealed with special welding, officially for ‘passenger safety’ to cover all areas”.
“So there really is no way of escaping this train?”, Edward now pleaded before John.
“No sir, all avenues of escape have been accounted for. John C Powell gives respect where respect is due and Mr.Scayben has all bases covered!”. John tapped his cane with a merry grin on his face. Edward thought that he looked almost bizarrely satisfied, as if Mr.Scayben deserved credit for sealing them into this train. Meanwhile Gary grinned, Derek stood nodding and Kerry stood with her eyebrows raised, how on earth could these people be satisfied or happy that they are trapped with no escape on a runaway train?! thought Edward. His face gave away his dispondency, some of the observers could now sense Edward’s genuine aire of desperation. His defeated manner impacted upon Chloe. She began to gawp, “Oh dear” she uttered with an emotion of sadness. Annoyed by this, John C Powell then opened his mouth, stared around the room and harshly responded, “Forgive me sir, but you are upsetting some of us here and that is no way to behave in this situation! You may be upset yourself, but we should be celebrating this chance of a lifetime we have all been given! You sir, need to shut up right now and stop this delusional nonsense of yours!”
Chloe began to cry, “Oh why did they let him on this train? Perhaps I made a mistake too?”
No Mistake
“There was no mistake! You did this, my dear…”, said Kevin sternly staring at Edward, “To help others less fortunate than yourself.”
“Yes! This is the best chance I’ve ever had to make things better in my life”, angrily scowled Derek, “You, Mr.Edward or Richard or ‘Whatever-your-name-is’, You are ruining what was a darn good time with your stupid questions and made up story about not wanting to be here! Please stop with all this play-acting!”. Derek ground his teeth and finished his tirade with, “We all saw you willingly board this train and now you’re trying to deny that happened, you sound plain deluded and I’ve had enough of it!”.
“I am not deluded!”, Edward pleaded desperately in response, trying to defend himself, “If you must know my life story isn’t much different from any of yours! This past year I’ve lost my job, my house and my wife, but I have no idea why I’m on this train! I went for a morning drink with my brother and woke up here, on a runaway train, with your people, please believe me!”.
“Poppycock!”, responded John harshly. “In my professional opinion I would say it is quite obvious that you signed up to this challenge and are now regretting it!”.
He began smoothing his spectacles with his hand and continued, “You have put yourself into a kind of psychosis of denial, perhaps you blame your brother for some childhood trauma he dealt upon you or it’s the quantity of alcohol you drank this morning that is causing this.”
Sian interrupted with, “Yes he’s probably an alcoholic as well as a very loud snorer!”. She leeringly looked down her nose at Edward after saying this.
Peter tried to defend Edward with a “Hey guys! Look at his face, does that look like a man who is lying to you? I do not think so!”, but was almost immediately shot down by John. “Well I disagree, Mr.Peter, sir! I used to be a clinical doctor and studied psychology until I was uncaringly-for dismissed”. John now started stroking his goatee proudly, “…Ah yes”, he sighed, “…The drinking before arriving on the train…his claim not to know anything about this train…the answer is obvious. Any sober judge would call it for what it is”, he turned directly to Edward and abruptly said “It is a simple self-delusion and denial of your own choosing, as the best way to cope with a stressful situation which you now regret!”. John now stared around at the crowd, seeing nods of approval from several of the others. Chloe dried her tears and joined in with the nodding.
Even Kerry shrugged in agreement, as John’s words did indeed make sense.
Edward felt he had nothing, “I don’t regret anything!”, he responsded,”I didn’t choose to be here!”, he pleaded yet again, but it was obvious nobody in the carriage believed him.
Derek stepped even nearer Edward, they were now almost face to face and Edward founded himself trapped against the bar railing as he attempted to back away.
“Yes you did, we all saw you willingly and happily enter this train and then go to sleep in the carriage. They are not the actions of a man who didn’t want to be here!”, growled Derek at him.
