Yokai Express

• Chloe Yatomi-Curtis, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2016

A small girl sat huddled in a ball upon a wooden bench. She stared off into the distance, looking at the old, crumbled buildings, spindly trees and flickering lamps. She had no idea of where she was, nor did she care.
In the darkness, two lights gleamed. The sound of an old engine chugging echoed throughout the station. A rundown train emerged from the blackness. It groaned to a stop, steam spilling onto the platform, enveloping it in a ghostly whiteness. The train doors swung open, shadowy figures filed out of the carriage and made their way to the exit.
The girl stood up cautiously. This train track has been abandoned for years.
A growling sound came from behind the bench she had sat on. She spun around, alarmed. The girl scrambled into the train, not daring to look back. The train doors slammed close behind her. The train whistled and slowly started its descent into the darkness.
The girl looked around and gasped. The carriage was full of strange looking creatures; an umbrella with a huge eye was hopping about on one leg, a nine-tailed fox was conversing with a lucky cat, a Snowwoman dressed in a kimono and other strange creatures.
“Oi, whaddya doin’ ‘ere!” A monkey screeched, a staff in hand. “Humans ain’t allowed on the train!” He jabbed at her with his staff. All the other creatures fell silent.
“A human?” They whispered.
“Now, now. No need to fret” a voice came from the other end of the train. It was a human-like man in a blue uniform, with white ears and tail. “If someone wishes to use the Yokai express, they can, this girl included.”
He faced the girl.
“What brings you here?” He inquired.
“I ran away from home, my life, to escape from it.” Her head drooped “Nothing seems to be going right no matter what I do.”
“Life is troublesome that way.” The white-eared man said “But it’s filled with joy too.”
He looked around the train.
“Life is like this Yokai train; it can be surprising, mysterious, and light-hearted. Sometimes it’s rowdy, annoying, comes off the tracks and loses its way but with a light, you can find your way again.” He looked out to the horizon.
“Where there is darkness, there is light.”
Light shone in the distance.
“After the storm,” the light glowed brighter, “comes the sunshine.”
The train burst out of the darkness into the dazzling light of the station, the ancient buildings made anew, flowers bloomed and the roadside lamps blazed with a gentle warmth. The stifling darkness had disappeared.
The train stopped with a faint creak and the doors slid open. The girl hopped onto the platform.
“Thank you for giving me hope. I’ll try and find that light.” She grinned at the white-eared man.
“I hope you do.” He smiled back.
She waved goodbye to the white-eared man and the others as the train left. She turned on her heels and started towards home.