Persephone and the Magic Track Jumping Train

There once was a girl called Persephone who was down on her luck. She had been for as long as she could remember proven by her current situation of being a street urchin of sorts.

She sometimes wondered if her name might be the cause. Persephone meant 'bringer of death' and while people did not necessarily die around her, dreams seemed to . Most often her own.

No matter how she tried, or what she tried, everything failed.

It had gotten to the point where she no longer dared to dream a dream of a different life for herself, and so she roamed from city to city, travelling by sneaking onto freight trains.

Having no family to speak of, she mostly slept under whatever cover she could find, asking for food, and more often than not, receiving it.

Sometimes she stole, mostly only necessities. Once in a very great while, she would snatch something pretty. She felt badly, of course, so she did not do it often, not liking that feeling.

She loved to read, libraries were free, so she would go in and read books in the corner until it was closing time. Reading taught her many things and she wished she had a library all her own. She never stole books though, they were heavy and deserved to be read by others.

She stayed away from other vagabonds having learned a costly lesson some time ago. She had no friends until one day she found a little mouse on a train who also was alone. She shared some old cheese with him and now he stayed in her jacket breast pocket, occassionally peaking out to see where they were.

She named him Percy, and he was the only one she had to talk to.

They had many conversations, mostly about life, and experiences they were experiencing. Since Percy mainly stayed hidden, most strangers avoided the little girl who was talking to herself. And that was perfectly fine with her.

Persephone had also learned while being on her own, that walking about with confidence, like you had a reason to be where you were, kept prying adult questions at bay. Except this day, there was a new patrolman hanging about the train station. He tried to get her attention and she pretended not to hear, muttering to Percy: walk with a purpose, walk with a purpose.

Soon other ADULTS were taking notice and turning to look at her which panicked her a bit and she broke into a run.

" I guess it's time to go, Percy. I liked this city."

She ran as quick as she could, weaving through people, ducking gates, until she finally came to the freight section and as luck would have it, a train had just started pulling away. She caught the side bar, pulled herself up, opened the door, slid inside, and closed the door as quick as could be.

She moved into a dark corner behind some crates, and hid in the shadows, eyes closed tight. The train kept going though, no one was shouting, no whistles blowing, they were safe.

" I wonder where this train is going, Percy. " Percy had just poked his head out and wriggled his nose in response. "Somewhere we have already been I'll bet."

She took a blanket and small pillow from her pack and got as comfortable as she could. The rocking of the train soon lulled her to sleep, with Percy curled up in her lap.