This new cabin seems to be the complete opposite of the previous one. The sleek modern decor gives way to dust and rotting wood. In the distance, you hear the sound of children playing, or perhaps arguing. You ignore it and hurry onward towards the door at the end of the cart, which seems from a distance to glimmer when it catches the light.
Near the end of the cart, as you approach the door, you can see what looks like a playground sandbox. In its center is a simple doll, crudely made of sawdust and whalebone. Next to the doll, gleaming, lies a surgeon's scalpel.
Nothing of interest, you decide, and turn towards the silver door. There's no handle or motion sensor on it that you can see, just a smooth polished surface that reflects your own haggard face back at you. Not a door at all, you realize, but a mirror. It's floating a few centimetres off the ground, beautiful flower designs carved into the delicate metallic frame. You reach out and trace your fingers lightly across the intricate markings. One of the flowers catches your eye - you're no botanist, but you think you recognize the uniquely shaped petals of a laceleaf. There's a small hole in its center, barely large enough to fit your pinky finger. You could try inserting something, but what?
You think about your new predicament, wondering if you should just turn back.
You're not sure how long you sit there, staring at the mirror, trying to think of a solution. You've tried all the logical options already - forcing the scalpel through the hole, inserting the doll's arm - you even tried sticking your own finger in, and were rewarded only with a very sore pinky (once you managed to dislodge it). Absentmindedly, you pick up the doll, tossing it from one hand to the other as you continue to wrack your brain for answers. As the doll lands face down in your palm, you pause. Did you feel something shift under the coarse sackcloth? You life the doll's chest to your ear, and you feel it again - the rhythmic thumping of a beating heart. You reach for the scalpel.
The little wooden heart slides easily into the hole, and as it does the heart-shaped petals of the laceleaf close over it. The surface of the mirror shifts, seems to liquify. The silver slides harmlessly around your fingers when you touch it, and you can catch glimpses of another train car on the other side.
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proceeds to insert pinky finger
Yes I'm from the party of don't-put-your-hand-down-that-deep-dark-hole but hey, why go for something boring like the surgeon's scalpel or the doll's finger 😂 ooh why not cut off my pinky finger with the scalpel and-
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The hole snaps shut, taking with it the edge of your pinky. You run shrieking out of the cabin, through the previous carts, off the train, and into the closest human settlement, where you are promptly escorted to the nearest hospital. The doctors there are able to patch you up, and you make your way home (mostly) in one piece. As the years pass, you take up music, and soon are known as Raydotn the Nine-fingered Wonder for your prodigious violin playing abilities. You live a long and happy life before passing away in your sleep, 90 years to the day since you boarded the mysterious ghost train.
You never do get your finger back, but look on the bright side - you get a decent discount anytime you want a manicure.
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Thanks for a mighty good laugh mate 😂
Uh, I mean. screams in agony past through the previous carts
And as I look fondly back at life rocking in my comfy chair, listening distantly to some odd pspspsps drifting from a corner, one has to wonder how I made it through all the games just barely being able to press L-Ctrl... No, sir. That's why they called me Raydotn the Nine-fingered Wonder.
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I fashion my hair into a nest and set the doll in the middle of it. Then I proceed to jimmy the lock with the scalpel. Gentle up/down left/right and rotation. I watched MacGyver, I got this.
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I've got the duct tape ready!
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I guess I don't got this, I didn't even warrant a reply. Maybe you should try the doll.
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Nah, it’s my bad for making the puzzle too nonsensical. Should have added something about the doll having organs earlier, or maybe emphasizing the shape of the hole? Oh well. Lessons for next time.
You push the scalpel into the hole and try to poke around, see if there’s some kind of lock mechanism to manipulate. The doll, perched awkwardly on your head, seems to be cheering you on, and at last you feel the scalpel catch on something sharp. The metallic petals close around it, and there’s a short whirring sound as the tool slowly rotates. After a moment, you hear a self-satisfied ding! and the scalpel clatters to the floor. You pick it up to get a closer look, and find that it’s been engraved with the words I RODE THE GHOST TRAIN AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY SOUVENIR.
The blade looks to have been dulled by the process, and the mirror is unchanged, but at least you have a nice little keepsake now.
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I love knickknacks. They go so well on shelves and empty tables. They have a way of bringing memories back to life as well.
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You know...whalebone is also considered very flexible for picking locks. <Eyes the doll speculatively>
I'm for trying the scalpel handle in the hole though. Except creepy dolls...
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You glance back and forth between the doll and the scalpel, wondering which to try first. Eventually, you pick up the doll and approach the floating mirror. You push the doll’s arm into the hole, wiggle it around a little. Nothing happens. You try again with the other arm, then the legs, and even shove the poor thing’s head in as far as it’ll go. No matter what you try, the path forward remains shut. The doll, for its part, suffers all this without complaint, though its expression has a tinge of exasperation in it now. Or you could just be projecting onto inanimate objects again. Either one, really.
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Is there an option to continue petting the kitty?
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Whatever the next cart holds, you decide, it can’t possibly be more rewarding than cozying up to your new kitty friend. You head back the way you came, pspspspsing all the while, and finally you find it dozing on one of the comfier looking seats. It wakes up when it hears you approach, and happily curls up on your lap when you sit next to it.
You pet the cat. It purrs loudly as you scratch it behind the ears. You continue petting the cat. You feel, rather than see, night turn to day, and then to night again. You keep petting the cat. Days turn to weeks, and weeks to months. You do not stop. Civilizations fall to ruin, empires crumble under the passage of time. You still pet the cat. The sun goes dark, the stars fizzle out. All goes quiet as the universe comes to its inevitable end. Everything just… stops.
Except for you. You pet the cat.
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Lovely bit of prose.
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thanks mate
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I was actually going to suggest using the scalpel on the doll but I didn't want to ruin it for anyone. I thought surely someone else would make the connection and maybe have some fun with it. I'm mostly just here to watch other people do things, it's entertaining.
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The key works fine, thanks a lot :)
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Glad to hear it :)
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