Night train

Rena watched out the train window. It was hard to see much outside. There were lights on in the distance, giving small bright spots revealing the shapes of buildings in the distance. There wasn't much she could hear, either, other than the sounds of each connected rail bumping the wheels, sending a shock through the steel carriage. A few hours ago there had been the sounds of people conversing and moving about for whatever reasons. That had died out some time ago, as the passengers had drifted away to sleep.

Rena couldn't sleep, though. She had always had trouble sleeping while in some form of transit. Planes, buses, boats, cars. She had tried to sleep on them all, and she simply couldn't. Something about the motions kept her awake. Come morning, while the others might not be well rested, they were certainly better off then she was. But it had happened enough times throughout her life that she had gotten used to it. When she knew she would be traveling, she would stay up late the night before, so as to delay her sleeping as long as possible. That way she could last longer while traveling before she would start to shut down. 

Unfortunately, the train she was riding was an older one, and didn't have the conveniences of more modern trains. Like outlets. The electronics that she usually used to keep herself entertained throughout the night had all died a while ago, and she had expected not to need anything else, so she had only packed one book, which she was halfway through when she got on board, but was now done with. There wasn't much left for her to do. She had considered going and striking up a conversation with the conductor, but somehow she had the feeling that they wouldn't appreciate a random passenger coming in to the cockpit, or whatever it was called on a train. 

She wasn't sure how long she had been staring out the window before she noticed someone had sat down next to her. She wasn't sure how long they had been sitting beside her when she noticed them. She turned to look, and saw a young boy, perhaps ten, watching her and smiling. 

"Trouble sleeping?" he asked, seemingly full of energy. Rena blinked, as if making sure she wasn't somehow dreaming him, and slowly nodded. The boy nodded in return. "Me too," he proclaimed matter of factly. "My mom used to tell me the best way to pass the time until your eyes shut for the night was a good conversation."

Something the boy said caught her attention. "Used to say?" she asked. 

The boy nodded again. "It's been a long time since I've talked to my mom."

Rena felt pity hit her heart like a brick. "I'm sorry," she said. 

The boy shook his head, still smiling. "What are you apologizing for?" he asked. "Everyone dies eventually."

"How did she die?" The moment the words escaped her mouth, Rena realized what a rude thing she was asking. She must have been more tired then she thought. How late was it already? The boy, however, seemed unfazed. 

"Old age," he explained. Rena was taken aback. How could that be possible? He looked so young... "Dad too," he continued. "Not too long after mom. When they died, they told me only to cry as long as I needed to, because they would be together in the next life, and that some day I would join them."

Rena was starting to feel uncomfortable. There was something very wrong about this boy. He sensed the disconfort, it seemed, seeing as he frowned and put his hand on hers. His skin was cold.

"It's ok," he said gently. She was beginning to realize that his voice was much older than his face. How had she missed that before? "I'm just here to help. You don't have to be afraid of me."

"Why should I be afraid of you?" she asked quietly, her voice weak. 

The boy smiled. "Right."

Rena woke with a start as the sun shone in her eyes, and train's whistle blew to mark its arrival. This was her stop. A burst of adrenaline shot through her, and she gathered her stuff to rush for the exit. 

It wasn't until she got off that she realized at some point she had fallen asleep.