"Fairy" Toby muttered to himself as he stared at a nearby clock on the train station wall, his head lay propped on his right fist and his eyes seemed drowsy, it was probably around 4 am back home, he was without a doubt jet lagged. Each time the big hand moved clockwise indicating a minute had passed, Toby would name a random creature, he hadn't moved his eyes off of the big hand for half an hour straight. If he named something that was real, he would then have to name something that wasn't. So far he had named thirty four, and he would have to think of six more until it was finally midnight. "Frog" It kept his mind off of how terribly boring and tedious sitting and waiting is, two things he very much hated. Toby wondered how his friends were spending new years eve, he very much would have liked to join them wherever they may be and enjoy the very rare opportunity of having a whole week off from work. "Dragon" Still, he found himself sitting in a train station amongst a number of other strangers who all seemed to have more on their mind than a new years party. Nobody was really sacrificing anything at the moment, if nothing happened at midnight than there was always next years celebration, but if something did happen, well, who knows. "Giraffe"
One of the strangers who had been sitting next to Toby gave him a look, she must have been listening to him mumble a variety of creatures the past half hour. Toby had a rather blank face staring at the clock, he looked back at the girl and gave a big smile, but she just looked the other way. His smile faded as he studied the girl sitting beside him and pondered why she was in a place like this. There was a funny feeling in the air, well to Toby there was. "Troll" Everyone could be anywhere but they're here and it's strange yet comforting to know he wasn't the only one putting his faith into something as ludicrous as the midnight train. "Excuse me?!" the girl retorted causing Toby to jump in his seat, he realized he was still staring at the girl as the minute passed. "Did you just call me a troll?!" Toby attempted to explain himself quickly in one sentence but ended up mumbling a bunch of incoherent words. "I was talking to the clock!" was all he could get out.
The look of anger on the girls face turned into confusion and she merely turned away from him. Toby sighed, staring curiously at his breath which could be seen clearly thanks to the December weather. He began to observe the rest of the strangers. In one minute the midnight train will arrive, or, is supposed to arrive. A dreamlike suspense filled the air as the train station grew quiet, no doubt this was the moment everybody was waiting for. The amount of hope and desire in everybody's hearts was almost palpable. The sound of people counting down from ten could be heard even down below, in the train station. Toby anxiously gazed at the empty tunnel, waiting for the clock to strike twelve. The entire trip here his heart and mind were filled with the upmost amount of optimism, not a single drop of doubt occupied his thoughts. There was nothing, though. Nothing. People cheered and celebrated as the clock struck twelve, but Toby sat quietly, let down and overcome with disappointment. As the other strangers stood up he refused to budge and kept his eyes locked on the empty tunnel.
Everybody stopped in place as suddenly a train unlike any other bolted out of the empty tunnel and came to a stop. "Mermaid!" Toby shouted with delight at the sight of the train due to the fact that, well there was a mermaid! And a tree with eyes, and a rabbit holding a rifle. The double doors slid open and Toby stood up, awestruck at the sight of the midnight train and couldn't help but start laughing. His stomach tickled with excitement but this feeling altered into disbelief as he saw a boy standing inside the train, looking around curiously. Toby's eyes began to water with tears of astonishment, joy and wonder, the child inside the train was him, it had to be! He could feel it in his heart. "Wait!" Toby shouted as his younger self began to move through the train, he quickly walked through the double doors and entered the train along with everybody else. Looking around Toby began to search for younger Toby, he ducked under tree branches and stepped over crowds of singing mice, attempting to move through a crowd of pretty much anything and everything.
The doors that lead to the next train cart were blocked by a peach as tall as a basketball player, he wore a conductors hat and blazer and seemed to be of some importance. "Uh, excuse me! Can I get through please? I think I may be inside that cart" A pair of eyes, arms and a mouth practically materialized on the peach and he used his new face to give Toby a confused look. "My dear boy, how can you be in there if you're right here?"
"Er, well not me exactly, I meant like another younger me y'know!"
"You have a little brother?"
"No! It's me from like, seven years ago, and i'm in that cart!"
"What were you doing in that cart seven years ago?"
Toby gave a stressful sigh. "Can you just let me inside the cart?" the Peach rubbed it's non-existent chin, pondering the boy's request. "Don't you think it's unfair you get to be inside the cart twice? just take a seat in here, there's plenty'a room and this cart isn't so bad if I say so myself." Toby grunted frustratingly, upset that he had been thwarted by a peach. Turning around he walked through the branches and above the mice once more, and realized he had gone a significant distance from where he had entered. There were now less humans and more oddities, this part of the train was rather crowded and difficult to move through, more so due to the features all the various creatures had which provided a number of obstacles to move through. The last thing Toby wanted was to step on somebodies foot or claw or paw or fin or branch or, well, y'know. As Toby moved through the crowd, a bear wearing a red t-shirt stood up from his seat in the train and unintentionally shoved his bear belly into Toby which practically launched him into the back of another person. He was human, like Toby, or at least he looked human, who knows. "Er- Sorry!" he shouted. The man looked like he was in his thirties, and wore a white blazer along with matching white slacks. It was kind of a relief to bump into a human, especially one that looked wealthy.
"Hey, nice suit! You rich or something?"