As directed by The Daily Prompt
Write a story or post with an open ending, and let your readers invent the conclusion.
Slightly apprehensively, he opens the envelope.
“Hope it’s not another damn bill!” He thinks to himself, heartily sick and tired of the monthly merry-go-round of pinching from Peter to pay Paul, juggling all the knives in the air, and never being able to take a breather.
He removes the paper in the envelope. And gets the surprise of his life!
“I won!! I can’t believe it, I won!!”
The competition he entered a few months ago, a competition that promised to take him on s great train journey, the likes of the Orient Express, has selected him as the grand prize winner.
He just needs to go to their offices to pick up the itinerary and be ready to board the train in 2 week’s time.
Slowly he sits down on the threadbare couch, blindly staring at the first piece of good news he’s had in the past few years, trying to figure out how he was going to add this knife to his growing collection of swords pointing directly at his heart. Get leave from work, or try to at least. Can he afford to take unpaid leave if they don’t want to give him the few days? Who will look after the flat?
Then again. Nobody will miss him. No kids, no wife. no animals, just a few plants on the brink of death. Maybe not even the boss all that much, but he will do what he has to to get this done…
2 weeks later.
He’s standing at the station, tickets in hand, suitcase standing next to him. The life he’s leaving behind nothing but a faint memory.
They would not give him leave. Not even unpaid leave.
He looked at this situation and realised he was not going anywhere. He was not accomplishing anything other than digging the hole even deeper that it already is.
Quit the dead end job he’s been sitting in for the past 10 years, collected the pension payout, paid all the bills, sold everything not worth keeping, and here he stands.
The only things he owns in the entire world, are the tickets for his journey, the suitcase filled with clothes, and a few photo albums stored in a secure locker at the station.
Dazedly, he hears the whistle blow to board the train. “I’m free” he thinks.
I’m completely and utterly free…
Good one.
Thanks!!
Hey, this is the start of a good novel rather than a story – how does one conclude it in a few paragraphs?
Probably the middle rather than the start Col – i can picture the first half full of anxiety, then the decision, and then the adventure.
I’ll have no idea where to begin to make this a full on story – I’m better at the loose ends
You do a great job of creating the loose ends to be tied up, though!
Ag fanks Col
I love it ghiatjie! you must carry on with this one.
Glad you liked it Esperanza
Maybe an adventure for the mysterious stranger will cross my mind one of these days
Can’t resist it, though …
The luxurious dining car had no single tables, and the waiter apologetically placed him with a prim lady about his age whose who looked most uncomfortable at having his company foisted on her. She seemed painfully shy, and in an attempt to draw her out he found himself ruefully telling her everything about his circumstances. As his story unfolded, he could see her reserve beginning to crumble. By the time they got to cheese and biscuits, she took a deep breath and said, ‘But how extraordinary! I’m in very much the same boat …’ she smiled, ‘…train! I’ve also abandoned everything to come on this excursion.’
As city after city was visited, and sight after sight was enjoyed, the two became inseperable. They seemed to be completely on the same wavelength with most things, and towards the end of the trip he came to realise that for the first time in his life he was utterly in love.
Sitting together in his compartment after dinner on the last night before the final destination would be reached, he took her hand and said, ‘I’m in no position to ask you to marry me, but if you’ll have some patience I’m determined to turn my life around and make a success of it. As soon as I do, I’ll come rushing to you. Do you think that then you might consider …’
She put a hand over his mouth with a radiant smile. ‘I’ll take that as a proposal, and the answer is … yes!. And now, there is something I haven’t been completely frank about. I happen to be a quite disgustingly wealthy heiress, and I had become so heartily sick of fortune-hunters that I took to living like a recluse until some impulse made me come on this trip.’ She paused to watch as his expression became one of complete joy before adding, ‘And now, shall we plan the wedding? With you having brought me out of my shell so completely, I quite fancy a big one.’
And they all lived happily ever after
*defensively* So I LIKE fairy-tale endings!
of course they did chickpea!! What would life be like if we could not dream of happy endings?
Sometimes I think that it would be better if you couldn’t dream about happy endings. That way, if you don’t get it, you won’t feel so disappointed
You’ve got it all wrong my dear.
Happy endings don’t always happen, and they usually don’t happen like the do in books and movies, but they do happen.
But, if we’re not open to them, they can’t happen and that’s just sad.
And happy endings should be the reason you do everything, because they come in all shapes and sizes, not just love.
this is an ending I can live with Col
I also fancy a big one
Wedding that is…
Not to mention the wherewithal to make it possible!
Oh, absolutely!!
Such a pleasing ending, Col.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if you had the guts to do that? Just let go of everything you know and head into the unknown…
That’s the exact reason why kids should explore the world before they start working – know what’s out there before responsibilities suck you into the black hole it eventually becomes…
A brilliant, courageous man, and good luck to him, I say! I just love that story. Thank you for bringing a smile to my face
The pleasure is entirely mine Sarah
Glad you liked it!
I saw a picture of a train dining car today, so the story was brewing already, and when the prompt came, I thought, how fortuitous
. . . free from a world comprised of nothing but greed and hurt. The only thing keeping people chained to what drives them stir crazy is the routine manner in which they try to gain some wealth. To belong somewhere within a society of deceit and decrepit fantasy. Some failing horribly, and some succeeding only through blood and tears.
He had his savings and pension payout, enough to sustain him for a few months. This new step seemed an adventure as he climbed the steps, into the passenger car. Another whistle sounded, just at the right moment. That whistle sealed the deal. For the first time in so many years, ten, was it, a smile broke through the barriers that confined his usual frown, and he accidentally placed his suitcase on top of a little girl without realizing. She squirmed out from beneath the suitcase, her frown comical, to say the least, her arms crossed over her small chest. He laughed as she stomped away towards a gray-haired woman, supposedly her granny. The train started to move. He is free. The distance will break the bonds he have with his old way of living. He is going away and he is going to replenish what ten years took off him. He is going to live for the first time ever. He will make it.
Loved the story all the same!!
Makes my heart beat faster.
He will make it. The biggest and most difficult steps have been taken – he’s free from slavery.
Time to start living…
I make comment in trepidation…. To be, or not to be ‘free’…. that is the question…!
Lately, I’ve often wondered what would happen if I just wont into the blue yonder – leave everything and just disappear.
Then I realise, I have animals that needs me, kids that sometimes needs me, a mom that might want to look for me, and I stay put.
Does not stop me from imagining a life free from all the trappings – king of like Edward Norton in Fight Club…
Yeah; that’s why I said “trepidation”…
It sounds like a good plan, but…..
It’s morning for me, nigh night for you…!
It’s after 10 pm here. I just got back from my group – we did the Quick waltz and some mambo steps tonight – I looked like a pro!!! Got complimented again tonight – makes my heart glad!
I should actually be in bed already, but hey – checking out the blogs – way more fun
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Great story, 68. Sometimes you have to be prepared to risk everything for the sake of finding out what else is out there.
A difficult decision AD, very difficult.
But I think it might be rewarding too.
He gets on the train, meets a super rich woman and by the time they get off they’re in love and live happily ever after
You and Col had exactly the same idea
I’m a romantic! I was gona go with something more thrilling like the train goes through a tunnel and when they come out on the other end they’ve travelled through time and then he meets the love of his life, falls in love and lives happily ever after
As long as the ending is happy, the how is not that important
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Thank-you so much for liking my page
I like happy ending too
Have a Beautiful week
Daniel angel from Cape Cornwall
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A great pleasure Daniel.
hope your week is just as spectacular