Runway Xpress

I did not ask to be a part of this generation but here I am! 2022 in the land of the free (where nobody is really free) struggling to make it further than we did last year. Fresh out of a painful relationship and all I want to do is spend money I do not have. There is a name for people like me, it’s just not coming to me right now. I’ve always wanted to be more, but this moldy unleveled studio is all I got for now.

*Looks at a bottle of Hennessy that was gifted 2 years ago*

I'm not sure if liquor has an expiration date but tonight's a night I want to get over. A shot or two shouldn’t make much of a difference.

*Text message from Zion* “Ash we’re here! *

2min. later the Buzzer goes off, awakening ALL of my neighbors I’m quite sure but that’s on me, I should have met them downstairs!

My girls are always there for me, including Joque. 3 hours of drinking tequila, playing games and catching up somehow lead us to discussing our dreams and fantasies. Monique and Taylor are halfway to their goal, they own a hair salon together but would like to make it international. Joque wants to own his own gay club that also host women once a week. That idea is straight money! So, I really hope he goes for it. As for Zeya and I, we want our hands in everything. Our dreams consist of Runway shows, lots of traveling, acting, writing music for artists, anything that’s going to get us to the point of being financially unbothered.

Pretty sure I went out after that conversation because I stared to dream.

“Excuse me Miss! Wake up!!! Please wake up!” a voice of a woman frantically trying to wake someone up. In between my conscious and subconscious, I’m trying to convince myself to have happier thoughts. I felt a wave of negativity or great discomfort that I thought I could control but then I heard the woman again! This time I heard several people screaming but the womans voice remained the clearest.

“Miss please wake up! Do you have any kids? Everyone's making their phone calls now while we can.”

* Any kids? Phone calls? I think to myself*

This dream has no visuals. I know I want to help the screaming woman, but I can't help what I cannot see.

“She’s not waking up. Check her for a phone, we must know what we are dealing with and why!” yells an older sounding man from a further distance than the woman.

I’m damn near up already working on opening my eyes and then I started to feel the vibration from footsteps of someone approaching fast. I rushed my eyes opened and spotted a woman just about to reach for my pockets.

“Hey, what the hell!” I screamed while smacking her hand away.

Never seen this woman in my life! She’s beautiful, is my first thought! It’s like she's straight out of a movie! From her curly ginger-colored hair to her whole outfit and jewelry. This woman looks like a model, like she's living the life Zeya and I dreamed of. Why is everyone so close? I trying to gather my thoughts as to why this rich looking woman was trying to rob me and then I spotted something peculiar. The crack in the train window is what gave this tragedy away. The whistling, I heard it the whole time and then it got intense and gained my attention.

“Is this a train? Who are you people and why is this train speeding?” I'm flipping out at this point.

“We have no idea, but we all ended up here the same way, everyone here went to sleep last night before midnight and woke up on a speeding train. We lost communication with the driver and the first cart. It’s just us and the 3 empty carts behind us. We have no way of driving this thing with the engine no longer attached to our train cart.” says the beautiful woman.

“My Name is Designa and I work for the media, everyone else here works in retail or sales, how about you? Anything you can think of that may connect us all. " the beautiful woman said.

“Nothing I can think of, I work in the mall court but last night I had friends over and we were discussing our dreams. I fell asleep after a few drinks and woke up here. I’m freaking out right now, no one even knows where I am!” I said nervously.

“Oh my gosh, this can’t be real!” expresses a man dressed up as well.

His name tag says “H&M sales associate” and his name is Michael. I’m sitting here in sweatpants and a regular t-shirt that I sleep in every other night, these people have nothing in common with me at all.

“How do we stop this thing with no help? My phone’s dead does anyone have a phone I can use? Maybe we can get outside help, it's very obvious we are helpless and..” Before I could finish Michael takes a step closer and says “Are you mental? We have all tried our phones, NO SERVICE! Say something useful we have no idea where we are or headed. “

Then a very loud intercom ping interrupted Michael.

“Hello Designa Vatain, Michael Crop, Ashley Tanaki and Samuel James!” a very raspy voice exclaimed.

“We are Unit and each of you have been hand-picked by the universe itself. Unit is not the people, but Unit is also not foreign to this world. We are energy, the type of energy that feeds off of the sacrifices made in this particular universe. Your planet picks four people each year to manually set back or push forward, meanwhile the rest of society will have to follow the fate of the universe. You lucky four get to choose, right now!”

“Now head to the second train cart so we can get rid of the first cart!” “This is an example for those who break rules! If anyone helps or tries to talk for their fellow passengers, we will incinerate the whole train while still moving. Unfortunately, this train never stops so the only way to get back to your life is to answer your question Correctly. You all have one try!” exclaimed the raspy voice.

As we are running to the 2nd cart almost stepping on each other, I realize there is a big red button in the beginning of each cart and the sticker reads “immediately ends game!”

“Boom” almost like an explosion. The first cart lit on fire almost immediately and blew up right in front of us, damaging the windows to the 2nd train cart.

The Voice on the Intercom says “Michael, you are 1st, and you have 30seconds to gather your thoughts before your question is asked.”

Michael runs to us, and we huddle around each other asking “Does anyone know what kind of questions we will be asked?” “I saw the end game button” Designa exclaimed. At this point we all want to get off the train by any means, we are all freaked out.

“Everyone's question will be the same, keep in mind we know your dreams and what everyone wants. Lie and you won’t make it off. Our question is... What is your most valuable asset? You must be willing to sacrifice it and we already know what it is, so be careful. Those who are honest have to sacrifice their assets and if it’s a living thing it doesn’t die! It will cease to exist, and all memory will be wiped of that particular asset, but you will get to live your dreams for the rest of your natural life with no strings attached.”

“Michael are you ready?” the voice proclaimed

Michael then stands and says “yes, I'm ready” My greatest possession or asset is my grandmothers necklace, I’ve had it since 8.”

“You care for that item, true but your greatest asset is your wife. The one you don’t show value to is the one who is most valuable to you! You lied, so your fate is that your asset will now have to live with all the memories of you while you will be converted into energy and made a particle of the universe” the voice proclaims.

Michael then just freaking vanishes right in front of us. I’m especially nervous because I don’t own anything special.

“Samuel, answer now!” says the voice

Samuel yells from his seat “My company”

The voice didn’t respond but Samuel disappeared as well. We have no proof he’s alive or safe but at this very moment I know Designa and I are up next and I don’t know my answer. Designa then whispers to me “my son is the answer, and I cannot live without him. "

She then bolts to the entrance and slams her Gucci bag down on the red button as hard as she can with the pressure of both hands backing it up.

“You cheated Designa, just as you cheated your way through life. Now your son will live on with all his memories of you but without you. You are now a part of the universe." The voice yells very angrily

Oh my gosh I'm sweating now, I’m next.

“Ashley let’s hear it!” the voice spoke to me.

“Umm Unit I really don’t own much and I'm afraid the only asset I have is my dream to be anyone but me. I dream that dream every day.” I cried

Closes my eyes and braces for impact, then the voice speaks again “That dream is now dead, you must live your life knowing you can be no one but yourself. With your great sacrifice comes a great blessing! You will get to live out all of your dreams as yourself! Thank you for participating!” the voice speaks again.

I then open my eyes and I'm in line at an audition “What in the world?”

“May I have Ashley Tanaki!” a woman asks from the front of the line.

“Here” I said while I'm running past everyone else in line

The woman says “Everyone else can leave, the director has picked his star for this movie already from the online auditions, Congratulations Ashley!”

This never happens to people like me, Thank you Universe.