Bruce was nervously tapping his foot, waiting for the next train to arrive at the station, it was pretty late but he really had to leave town as soon as possible.
Bruce was a short and pudgy man, just below 5'5 in his mid fifties, he had greassy brown hair balding in a few patches with a somewhat unkept clean shaven face and a beer gut poking out of his polo shirt. Under his eyes were heavy eye bags as he has not gotten a good nights rest, he abrely had time to shower and was now unemployed, how did it all go wrong he thought.
It all went wrong when he needed some money to pay of his fees. his previous job didnt pay as much as he wanted, so he tried to do something his wife migt not of aproved of, he went to the local casino to get some extra cash. at first it all went acording to plan, he got a ful house on his first time and easilly paid off the fees, but when he though about replacing some old junk in his house, the temptation got to him, his greed overtook him. trying his luck evertime, failing everytime, telling himself he can win big next time.
It became a viscious cycle of wins and loses, his wife left him, he lost his job, his dignity, his money and soon his house. its gotten to the point where he was desperate and tried to gamble with some shady folks, he was bitting of more than he can chew. When he couldnt pay them back in cash immediatly, he had to pay back in other ways, some unfavorable favors, some were probably illegal. though what really crossed the line for him for some reason was the boss asked to be payed in a sexual manner and wanted bruce to suck his dick, the boss said to keep an open mind and be willing to try new experiences. Bruce was raised very conservativly so to him, it was a no deal and now hes trying to get away from all of his problems.
Now again tapping his foot on the station platform on a late full moonlit night. a few minutes passed and the sky grew dark as rain started to pour. drops dripping on Bruce's dirty hat on top of his head that made poor life dessision.
out of nowhere, a telephone rang throughout the station. nobody else was waiting for a train, and Bruce had to get rid of his cellphone as to not be tracked. He looked around to find that strangly the public phone was ringing, that was definitly strange, Bruce might of thought that the phone was busted, maybe the weather messed it up. but the phone kept ringing and ringing and ringing and ringi... Bruce had enough of the noise, maybe if he picked it up and put it back down it would stop, so he waltsed over to the public phone and picked it up. On the other end all he heard was static, as suspected the phone was broken, but before he could put it back in place, words blurted out from the phone. Curios, Bruce put it back next to his ear and waited again. then a monotone almost robotic voice spoke, "Would you like to go Elsewhere?", Bruce had alot of problems and enemies in town and he didnt know who to turn to, maybe it was stupid to agree to a robotic voice on a public phone but to him there was no other option in hindsight.
The phone shut off leaving Bruce puzzled until the distinct sounds of a train arrived at the station, but it was not one he was expecting. The train looked old with an engine at the front, the entire thing was constructed from black metal and painted in a verdant green coat. on the side of the cars the words "Elsewhere Express" was written with the symbol of a butterfly next to it. the cars had windows where you couldnt see in them but you can hear laughter and cheers in them. Bruce was confused by this development.
Soon the doors to the cars and cabins opened revealing a small dimly lit room, suspiciously no one from the train got off from it. but it didnt matter, none of it mattered, this was Bruce's ticket out of town, away from his troubles. He didnt question it, he picked up his stuff and entered the room. as soon as he steped through the door, the room lit up in bright light and the doors shut behind him. the train started to move as the station got out of view until the landscape was blocked by a sudden tunnel.
Bruce investigated the room, there was a door leading the the rest of the car but it was locked, the walls were decorated with butteerfly motifs and plant themed lamps. the moticable things were a desk next the wall covered in a stack of paper with pens to the side to write with. above the desk was a small little gold plaque, engraved in it where the words "What is your final destination?" and below those engravings was a small slit to slide a paper through.
thinking this was a weird train, probably for a publicity stunt, Bruce took a pen and pencil and wrote down, "Somewhere safe where my problems wont bother me" and slid the paper through the plaque. just as he did, the door to the side unlocked and Bruce got curious. he reached out to the doorknob to investigate where it lead to. trying to see what was inside the car.