Platform 4

She was with Lucas, the love of her life, and they were going to their last date, at a motel. After this, they were finally going to get married. At night, the train station felt like a threshold between worlds. There was a cool breeze which carried the calming scent of lavender. “I wish this feeling would never end”, said Lucas with a content expression. Maxine had one too. She was happy, an emotion she felt only when she was around him. That emotion, however, led to a series of events. As she happily twirled, carefree and on top of the world, she slid off the edge of the platform, landing harshly on the tracks.

“Maxine! Are you okay? Hang in there I’m coming!”, exclaimed Lucas, panic surging through him. His face wore an extremely worried expression as he climbed down from the platform and on the tracks.

He helped her get up and supported her as she limped back onto the platform and sat on the floor. Blood gushed out of her knees, which were scraped badly. Lucas examined it, and used his scarf to compress the wound. As he reached for his phone, to call the ambulance, he realised that it wasn’t there. His head spun around and his eyes searched everywhere to spot his phone.

“Shucks”, he muttered.

“What’s wrong?”, replied Maxine, through pained breaths. Her knees were burning in pain.

“I might have dropped my phone on the tracks. Just keep applying pressure on your knee, I’ll be back”, he said, seconds before he jumped back on the tracks. Lucas lunged forward for his phone and was on his way back when he heard the rushed footsteps of children.

They were hurrying to catch the train which will be arriving on platform 4.

As the train announced chimed “The next train on platform 4, arriving in 1 minute, will be going to the city. Please stand behind the yellow line when boarding the train.”, Maxine and Lucas shot each other with shocked and anxious looks.

“Hurry up Lucas!”, shouted Maxine, anxiety taking over her.

However, Lucas could not.

His foot was stuck under the tracks.

Tears filled his eyes as he continued struggling to free his foot. The train was visible and was now getting dangerously closer. He turned towards Maxine and smiled through his aching heart.

“I’m sorry Max. I love you though. I really do”, he said.

Her eyebrows arched as she realised that he couldn't save himself. She screamed for help, but no one came to aid him. Maxine was about to lose the person she loved so much, and she couldn’t do anything to stop it from happening. She tried getting up but her knees refused to aid her. She tried screaming for help but no one stepped forward. All the children and people around her were just as shocked as she was and were rooted to the ground. No one was willing to risk themselves to save him. Glistening tears flooded her eyes and washed down her cheeks as she continued screaming.

The train kept progressing and her heart broke into a million pieces.

“No,” she mumbled, through quivering breaths, “Please don’t leave me”.

Lucas smiled once more and mouthed ‘I love you’ before the train took him away.

Maxine couldn’t breathe. Shock and sadness slowed down her heart and time as she realised that her one and only love was gone.

A hard shove by moving passengers jerked her back to reality. Tears rolled down her already moistened cheeks once more as she stepped onto the train, shaking with fear, that had arrived shortly before. She quietly walked over to a seat and sat down, while her mind pulled her back and forth from her memories and reality. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in as she noticed a familiar woman walking towards her.

It was Lucas’s mum, Lydia.

She was surprised and greeted Maxine with a cheery smile before waddling towards her and plopping onto a seat.

“I was just thinking about him,” Maxine said in a hushed tone, her eyes looking up to Lydia’s.

Lydia’s smile dropped as her empathetic, glassy eyes turned to Maxine’s.

“You were his favourite person. He loved you so much and I assume that you loved him just as much too. You couldn’t do anything sweetie. It wasn't your fault,”she exclaimed.

Maxine couldn’t forgive herself though.

Lydia reached for Maxine’s trembling hands and held them tightly, her touch, warm and comforting.

“Maxine,” she said softly, “you didn’t leave him. It was an accident, and yet you’ve been blaming yourself. This blame is unnecessary, you understand?”

Maxine’s breath hitched.

“You think moving on means forgetting him,” Lydia continued, her voice steady despite the shine in her eyes. “But it doesn’t. It means carrying him with you instead of letting him hold you back.” She paused. “Lucas wouldn’t want you trapped there. He loved the way you lived. The way you ran headfirst into the world.”

Maxine swallowed hard. Images flooded her mind, the lavender breeze, his smile, the sound of his voice saying her name. For the first time, the memories didn’t burn. They ached, gently.

“I don’t know how,” Maxine whispered.

Lydia smiled sadly and replied, “You already are. You’re on the train, aren’t you?”.

The carriage rattled beneath them, the familiar screech echoing through Maxine’s chest. She glanced down at her watch without thinking.

The hands were still spinning.

But this time, she wasn’t counting to her doom.

The train slowed, metal grinding against metal, and an announcement chimed overhead. Passengers began to stand, brushing past her just like before. Maxine’s heart raced, her body tensing out of habit.

Then she breathed in.

And out.

She stood.

Her legs shook, then steadied. She stepped into the aisle, after thanking Lydia, past the memories clawing at her mind. The doors slid open with a hiss, releasing a rush of air and noise.

Maxine stepped off the train.

The platform was bright.

Loud. Alive.

People hurried past her, laughter and footsteps blending together. Somewhere, a child ran past, and somewhere else, a train screeched into motion.

Platform 4.

Her chest tightened, and then loosened.

She checked her watch one last time, smudged and scratched, ticking steadily now. The world wasn’t on fire anymore.

Maxine straightened her jacket, wiped the dried mascara from beneath her eyes, and walked forward, assuring herself that it wasn’t her fault.

This time, she didn’t look back.

She had finally moved on, just like the train.