• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

And then I closed my eyes and did some more maths puzzles so I didn't think about where I was going.

And then the train stopped again, and I thought about getting off the shelf and going to get my bag and get off the train. But I didn't want to be found by the policeman and be taken to Father, so I stayed on the shelf and didn't move, and no one saw me this time.

And then I remembered that there was a map on the wall of one of the classrooms at school, and it was a map of England and Scotland and Wales and it showed you where all the towns were and I pictured it in my head with Swindon and London on it, and it was like this in my head

And I had been looking at my watch since the train had started at 12:59 p.m. And the first stop had been at 1:16 p.m., which was 17 minutes later. And it was now 1:39 p.m., which was 23 minutes after the stop, which meant that we would be at the sea if the train didn't go in a big curve. But I didn't know if it went in a big curve.

And then there were another 4 stops and 4 people came and took bags away from the shelves and 2 people put bags on the shelves, but no one moved the big suitcase that was in front of me and only one person saw me and they said, “You are fucking weird, mate,” and that was a man in a suit. And 6 people went to the toilet but they didn't do poos that I could smell, which was good.

And then the train stopped and a lady with a yellow waterproof coat came and took the big suitcase away and she said, “Have you touched this?”

And I said, “Yes.”

And then she went away.

And then a man stood next to the shelf and said, “Come and look at this, Barry. They've got, like, a train elf.”

And another man came and stood next to him and said, “Well, we have both been drinking.”

And the first man said, “Perhaps we should feed him some nuts.”

And the second man said, “You're the one who's bloody nuts.”

And the first one said, “Come on, shift it, you daft cunt. I need more beers before I sober up.”

And then they went away.

And then the train was really quiet and it didn't move again and I couldn't hear anyone. So I decided to get off the shelf and go and get my bag and see if the policeman was still sitting in his seat.

So I got off the shelf and I looked through the door, but the policeman wasn't there. And my bag had gone as well, which had Toby's food in it and my maths books and my clean pants and vest and shirt and the orange juice and the milk and the custard creams and the baked beans.

And then I heard the sound of feet and I turned round and it was another policeman, not the one who was on the train before, and I could see him through the door, in the next carriage, and he was looking under the seats. And I decided that I didn't like policemen so much anymore, so I got off the train.

And when I saw how big the room was that the train was in and I heard how noisy and echoey it was, I had to kneel down on the ground for a bit because I thought I was going to fall over. And when I was kneeling on the ground I worked out which way to walk, and I decided to walk in the direction the train was going when it came into the station because if this was the last stop, that was the direction London was in.

So I stood up and I imagined that there was a big red line on the ground which ran parallel to the train to the gate at the far end and I walked along it and I said, “Left, right, left, right . . .” again, like before.

And when I got to the gate a man said to me, “I think someone's looking for you, sonny.”

And I said, “Who's looking for me?” because I thought it might be Mother and the policeman in Swindon had phoned her up with the phone number I told him.

But he said, “A policeman.”

And I said, “I know.”

And he said, “Oh. Right.” And then he said, “You wait here, then, and I'll go and tell them,” and he walked back down the side of the train.

So I carried on walking. And I could still feel the feeling like a balloon inside my chest and it hurt and I covered my ears with my hands and I went and stood against the wall of a little shop which said Hotel and