Double-Dog Dare

“How much longer?” Jordie whined.

Jake gave Jordie a playful noogie on the head. “Just wait for it. Trust me, you are going to love this!”

Mugby poked Jordie and the two teenage boys laughed. They’d come to the abandoned train depot every year for the last three and this was the first time they’d brought their little cousin along with them. They were pretty sure no one else in town knew what happens at midnight on Halloween. They weren’t even sure it did happen. Maybe they were having a joint hallucination, but if it did happen again this year, they wanted to see Jordie’s reaction.

“I’m sleepy,” Jordie whined again.

Suddenly, a loud, rumbling noise echoed in the old depot.

“Here they come!” Mugby shouted over the deafening sound.

Smoke filled the depot and the clanking increased. Jake stood on a rail of the center track, allowing the vibrations to move through his body. He held his breath.

“You gonna do it this time? I double-dog dare ya!” Mugby shouted.

Jake nodded and then closed his eyes. They aren’t real. They aren’t real, he repeated in his mind. He exhaled, clenched his fists, and braced for the impact, just in case.

Mugby tugged on Jordie’s shirt and pulled him away from the three sets of tracks. The rumbling grew louder and Jordie covered his ears.

And then it happened. Three trains materialized on the tracks, clinking and clacking along faster and faster. Jordie screamed in delight, jumping up and down and waving his arms. Mugby figured they were in a race because all three kept a close pace with one another. They were nearly upon Jake. Mugby bet Jake would jump away; he always jumped away before the center train reached him. To his surprise though, Jake wasn’t jumping.

“They are gonna hit Jake!” Jordie yelled and rushed out onto the tracks.

Mugby didn’t see that coming. Jordie had always been such a fraidy-cat. “Oh, hell,” he mumbled to himself and took off after his cousin.

Jordie wrapped his arms tightly around Jake’s midsection, causing Jake to open his eyes. The train barreled down the track mere feet away. He looked to his right and saw Mugby running toward them, but before he could say anything, the train whizzed right through him and Jordie. It felt like a million jolts of energy hitting him all at once.

Within seconds, the rattling echoed far behind them and the smoke dissipated. Jake stood there with Jordie who was still squishing his stomach and roared loudly. Mugby, standing inches away, joined the laughter. They’d lived.

“Holy hell!” Jake yelled. “That was awesome!”

Jordie loosened his grip on Jake and pulled away. Tears streamed down his face.

“Why are you crying?” Mugby asked.

The boy wiped his nose on his jacket sleeve and sniffled. “I thought Jake was gonna die.”

It took a few seconds for Jake to realize the implications of Jordie’s words. Damn, the kid would have died with me. No one had ever cared that much about him, not even Mugby.

“Hey, kid,” Jake said as he looked down at his cousin, “we didn’t die. None of us did. It’s going to be okay.” Jordie looked up and gave Jake a half-smile. “Your a hero, you know that?” Jake grabbed Jordie up into his arms and swung him around.

Jordie staggered a bit when Jake finally planted him back on the ground. His half-smiled had turned into a huge grin. “Can we do it again next year?” he asked, excitement ringing through his words.

Mugby laughed. He hadn’t seen that coming either.

©2021 Lori Carlson. All Rights Reserved.