dark train

the strangest thing happened yesterday. and somehow since i am only barely awake right, it seems even more surreal.

i was on the way back from a campus down in the southwestern outskirts of madrid and heading to a small group on the northeastern side off the city. i was a bit pressed for time and hoped that i could get there in an hour and a half (which i did, by the way).

anyway, i had to switch train lines before i jumped on the metro to finish my treck across the city. i stepped on the train and pretty quickly noticed all the lights inside the train were off. strange.

the train paused a bit more than normal, so i asked the lady next to me (who was on the train before i got on) if the train was working, despite the fact that we were in medio-darkness. it seemed a bit strange. but within a minute or so the doors shut and the train left. still no lights, but the train worked. and now pitch black.

so we are zooming through tunnels as normal. but the entire train (at least the car i was in and those around it) is pitch black.

pretty quickly it occurred to me that i felt like i was on some amusement park ride, although better because it was real. something like the old pirate's of the caribbean at disneyland. it's an odd thing, but i have a memory from when i was two and at disneyland and went on that ride (or at least i think it was that one). it's a memory that i had countless dreams of when i was little, some nightmares and some just dreams.

anyway, so we are jetting through tunnels without any light except that coming from the tunnels and the occasional cell phone light. it was definitely surreal. but i laughed at myself as we rode down the track because i really was ecstatic about this dark train ride. it was pretty fun though, particularly at the almost end of a full day (which happened to involve several train rides mixed with the normal metro rides). it really only lasted a couple stops because then i had to get off, but it was one of the highlights of my day (even though it may be seemingly insignificant).

so... later i was telling one of my roommates about this and she said, but someone could have mugged you or... and yeah, the brief thought went through my mind. but i was more ecstatic about the ride. and, as tends to be the case, i thought of what i would do if that were to happen.

somehow since i think that i am superwoman at times, i always think about how i would take them out (granted in reality i have no knowledge of karate nor any great martial art, but then it always makes perfect sense in the realm of my mind). there was one medio-sketchy guy who was waiting with me and the other lady by the door standing, but he went upstairs (it was a double-decker train) to sit down. and since i had my cell phone in my hand, i could always make the light come on and use it as a little flashlight.

so, yeah, that is my story of the cool, dark train. somehow it wouldn't be the same, but i wish fun pitch black trains would ride across town more often.