Beatrice rushed through the desolate train station. She had stayed out late in the city. It was nearly midnight and the final train of the day was scheduled to arrive at any moment. However, just as she arrived at the platform, she saw the train just about to pull into the station. Relieved, she continued running. She ran up to the end of the platform, passing a young man who she paid no mind to, but just as she was preparing to stop short of the yellow line, she slipped on a loose tile. Time went at a glacial pace. She fell forwards, her head entering the path of the train. In under a second, the train was less than an inch from her face. In that split second, she realized that her life was over.
Except that as the train should've collided with her, she was suddenly back on her feet, standing a safe distance away. She watched blankly as the train came to a stop and opened the doors.
"What…?" Beatrice said to herself. She vividly remembered what had happened only seconds before. It all happened in the blink of an eye, but it had happened. She had slipped and she had been staring at the train as it headed right towards her eyes. Was it a daydream? It couldn't have been, could it?
As she pondered what it was, she saw a young man walk past her onto the train. It was the same young man who she had seen as she got onto the platform. He wore the uniform of her school, but she didn't recognize him. As he took a seat near the window, he glanced briefly in her direction before looking away, indifferent.
"Did he save me? But how could he have?" she thought to herself.
As Beatrice was lost in thought, the doors of the train snapped shut before it pulled out of the station. It took a moment for Beatrice to realize that she had just missed her last train home and for the moment, her confusion was replaced with frustration.