Last Departure

• Reese Blandon, Grade 10, Cerdon College
• Short Story
• 2021

Excellence Award in the 'Play On Words 2021' competition

Scratch! I light my match and place the flame in my lantern. My lantern beats with life in the dim darkness of the night. Asphodel Station stands in solitude in the sky, engulfed in dark wistful clouds. The train ballast reflects like glass and shows the dim lights of the human civilization beneath us. The soft chugging of the steam train moves mechanically down the long railway, entering the fairy floss shaped clouds. The crispy cool air whips my face. Asphodel Station is a serene place to be at night. In the daytime, the station is bustling with passengers waiting to cross the spiritual planes. Reaching their final destination: Elysium.
I walk on the platform, taking a breather and observing the grandeur of this world. A paper plane swoops down from the rooftops. It pokes my cap. Scared and off guard, I manoeuvre my lantern around me as if it defends me from danger.
“Hey, Timothy, What’s up?” A short girl calls and plucks a playful tune from her sticker-filled guitar.
The cool mist escapes my mouth as I laugh. I look up to meet her gaze. “You, apparently.”
Lydia.
Chuckling happily, she sits on the rooftops. Her skin is merging with the moonlight, little by little her body is whisking away. The day I’ve feared for a long time has arrived.
My eyes were reactively sobering up. “It’s never too late to take the train to Elysium, Lydia! I am chained to this place by the creator! Leave me. There is no point for you staying here just to disappear forever.”
Lydia lets out a passionate roar, “B-But I don’t care about this creator and his stupid rules!” Lydia’s voice quivers in anguish. “He took everything away from me… I want to spend my last moments… with you.”
Our silence is deafening in both our ears. No matter what I do, I can’t reach her.
“Here is my last performance, we got a full house today,” She gracefully plucks the strings effortlessly. In unity with her guitar and her voice, she sings in a sweet delicate voice. I hold my breath as I bask in her symphony.
“Look at the bees, look at those trees, look at the world from this hilltop
Just kids, in this world, that we called home
Used to claim the playground as our little zone
La, la, la
Kids, just kids, before entering the corporate schemes
To be freaking out at middle school dances
When being superheroes were our wildest dreams
When we were free to take those chances
La, la, la
La, la, la together this is our last departure, glazing into your heavenly eyes
I will forever love you, until the end of my lines.
La, la, l-.”
Her final notes departed with the winds of Asphodel Station. I grasp the paper plane in my shivering hand. Tears speckled her inked writing on the thin paper. My lantern blacks out. I hate the sound of my silence. Lydia…