The Dream Train

Welcome to Traum

Ana opened her eyes when the train began to slow down. She raised her seat back up and looked out the window. The sun was just coming up. They were pulling into an adorable little town that looked so quaint it had to be a tourist trap.

Sam snorted from his sleep and looked around confused for a second. He seemed to remember where they were and raised his seat up to peer out the window. The train pulled up to a station so brightly painted that the ones at Disneyland would have looked pastel by comparison.

The train whistled and a voice came on over the intercom. "Last stop boys and girls. Please make sure you have your belongings and your entire party before you deboard. Thank you for riding with us!"

Sam and Ana looked around. Was Cammy going to come and get them? Should they get off the train with everyone else? In front of them, the other passengers were gathering up their belongings and heading to the door.

Ana was surprised, again, that the passengers seemed to all be kids. A few were teenagers but many were little kids. She stood up to see better. The teenage girl who had smiled at them the night before looked over at them. "Hey, you two better get a move on. The train is only here for a few minutes to let everyone off and then it turns around and heads back the other way."

Ana and Sam looked at each other. The friendly girl smiled at them. "Hey, I'm Amanda. You can follow us if you want. We've been on the train a few times, we know where to go. Better hurry though. I've heard about kids who didn't get off in time and ended up headed back the other way."

Ana shrugged at Sam and he moved into the aisle to follow Amanda. "Come on. I'm sure Cammy got busy. Let's see if we can find someone at the station who can help us." They followed Amanda and her siblings down the aisle.

As soon as they stepped off of the train they were greeted by a young man in a red uniform. "Hi there. Are you Ana and Sam?" They nodded and he smiled. "Great, come with me."

"Wait, where are we going?" Sam asked, hesitating.

The guy smiled. "To the hotel. Everything is ready for you."

"Is our grandmother here?" Ana asked.

"I don't think so, yet. We've got a place for you, though. Come on."

Ana and Sam followed the red uniformed man out of the station onto the sidewalk. About a quarter block from the train station was a small hotel. The red uniformed man led them inside. "You are in room 312." He called over his shoulder. "Third floor. It's a great room. It's right upstairs from the pool and there's a breakfast room, I'll show you. The game room is right through there," he pointed to a set of double doors to the left, "and if you need anything you can call down to the desk."

He led them into an elevator and pressed the button for the third floor. The doors dinged open and the man led them down a hall to the left. "Here we are," He said, pointing to room 312. "Down that hall is the breakfast room. It is open all day. Those elevators over there take you to the pool. It is open 24 hours. And this," he opened the door with a flourish, "is your room."

The hotel room was beautiful. There were two big beds, a sitting room, and a kitchenette. Through the bathroom doorway, Ana could see a big tub and a shower.

The uniformed man spoke to them again. "We know you don't have anything with you, so we took the liberty of getting you some personal items, there are toothbrushes, hairbrushes, deodorant, and in the shopping bag on the table, you'll find some new clothes.

Ana turned to him. "Thank you so much!"

He smiled and tilted his head to the side. "It is truly my pleasure."

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