No apologies if your head gets stuck in train doors!
The Writer’s Digest recently announced a very short story contest called The Shortest Short Story Contest which requires a story to be told in 132 characters or less (in Twitter) or 140 characters or less in its website. In an impulsive moment, I thought “why don’t I write any little story that comes to my mind?”.
Here’s what I wrote in 132 characters:
“The train doors crushed me. Stuck, struggling, I prepared to be dragged viscously to my death. Suddenly, the doors opened. Oh god!”
Someone made a nice comment about this little story, so I thought I’d tell the full story here. Yes, it’s a true story – it actually happened to me!
I had landed in London, Heathrow in a snowy, very cold winter one January, after a good six weeks in the tropics. It was obviously a shock to the system, besides, I was very tired after the 14-hour flight. Taking the underground train (or tube as it’s called in London) to Central London, I was half asleep when I realised my destination had arrived. I rushed to pick my suitcase and bags up.
I was wearing leather gloves, and struggled to lift the suitcase handle which had a spring that flapped it firmly down when not being lifted. I took out my gloves but my fingers were numb in the freezing weather a weather that I really hadn’t gotten used to just then. I could hardly feel anything with my fingers. By the time a managed to lift up my suitcase and gather my other bags and speed out, it was too late. The train doors slammed hard with me stuck in between them clutching all my bags with my numb hands! I was absolutely terrified.
I had visions of being dragged by the train, crushed against the walls of the underground tunnel and being torn to pieces. Arghhh! Horror of horrors! Thankfully, oh, so thankfully, a few seconds later, the doors opened and I walked out, my blood circulating properly again at last. Only at that moment did it occur to me that these trains must have sensors and safety features built in that prevent them from moving if the train doors are not shut properly. Of course – it makes perfect sense! Silly me! Nevertheless, technology is not always reliable and there is always a chance of something going a little awry, so I have to admit, I would still be a little scared if it happened again, if not as terrified.
Well, that’s my little story! I wonder if someone could have imagined it from the shorted 132-character version!
tinkerthinktank 