When the Train Whistle Blows

Written by Tyler Means

EXT. SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY

Pounding RAIN grays the landscape. What would be an average neighborhood, light, welcoming, is only washed away with gloom.

INT. CAR - DAY

A car wades through pounding rain: packed to the brim with moving boxes and a GIRL maybe 8 or 9, squished in the back seat. This is JANE. Everything about her looks neat, put together. Her hair has been pulled into a tight ponytail, her clothes uniform, probably styled by her mother.

Her cheek presses against the glass as she watches the rain drip, drip down the window.

Her PARENTS, JOHN and DONNA, both in their mid-30's. They sit in silence, her father at the wheel, her mother beside him. The family listens to the rain and the steady beat of the wipers and the hum of the air conditioning.

A TRAIN WHISTLE blows somewhere in the distance.

Jane pulls her gaze from the racing raindrops and peers into the distance, through the downpour to rows of passing houses.

JANE

You didn't tell me there would be a train nearby.

Her voice almost sounds excited. Almost.

Her parents don't take their eyes from the road.

JOHN

Train? What do you mean?

The TRAIN WHISTLE blows again.

JANE

The train whistle. Don't you hear it?

Donna shoots a glance at her husband. What is she talking about? She pulls out a paper map and unfolds it on her lap.

DONNA

I'll check, but I don't think there are any train stations around here, Sweetie.

Jane sighs, returning her attention to the raindrops on glass. Watches them fall. They didn't hear the train. Oh, well.

INT. SCHOOL - DAY

In a high school classroom mid-lecture, one STUDENT scribbles away in her notebook.

Jane, now 15 or 16, her hair still in that perfect ponytail, and writes only notes. A TRIO OF BOYS sit in front of her, snickering and tossing crumpled up paper to each other.

One hits Jane and she looks up to find the boys laughing at her. Her face flushes and she sinks lower in her chair.

The TRAIN WHISTLE blows.

Rows beyond her, a girl looks back in sympathy. MAURA. She meets Jane's eyes and offers a smile.

INT. BATHROOM - DAY

Jane watches herself in the mirror, maybe a little too long, a little too close. She's now 17. Her eyes look tired, her brown makeup is smudged around the eyes, her breathing is shallow and quick.

Her fingers tease a pair of scissors on the sink. Her hands tremble just inches above the scissors, hesitating before she grabs them.

The TRAIN WHISTLE blows. It grows louder, drawing nearer, chugging on.

The scissors are brought up to her neck. A tear falls down her cheek, just like a raindrop she knew so long ago.

And she grabs a chunk of her hair and cuts it off. And another, and another, again and again. She gathers hair over her forehead, lines the strands between her fingers, and cuts herself bangs.

In the end, it isn't a bad cut. It's cute, even. But it's different.

It's not perfect.

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Maura's bedroom, a haze of fairy lights and funky lamps and everything safe.

Jane lays beside Maura on her bed, tangled between pillows and blankets. Their closeness is comfort, their heads gently pressed together. They stare at the ceiling, watch the colors ripple like a pond.

JANE

I can't wait until graduation. I really need a break.

MAURA

What do you think you'll do?

JANE Sleep. A lot.

They let out soft exhales, gentle laughs in solidarity.

JANE (CONT'D) And then...see you?

Her pinkie finger brushes against Maura's hand.

JANE (CONT'D)

Maybe we can go to the beach or something.

Maura takes Jane's hand and smiles to the ceiling.

MAURA

I'd like that a lot.

EXT. SCHOOL - DAY

Jane, 18, throws a graduation cap into the air among her classmates. She grins at her parents, who stand proud.

She breaks away from her peers, waves at the smiling faces behind her, leaves a chapter behind. She finds Maura in the crowd and rushes to her.

Maura pulls her into an embrace.

JANE

I've already got the tickets, we should be ready to go whene-

DONNA

Jane? What are you talking about?

She's talking to Jane, but her eyes only watch the girl hugging her daughter.

Jane pulls away and grins at her mother.

JANE

For break, we plan to-

DONNA Break? Oh, no.

Donna speaks as if surprised, shocked at her daughter's behavior.

DONNA (CONT'D)

There's no time for that. Remember, you've still got applications and competitions and...

Jane's face falls, her breath increases. The TRAIN WHISTLE blows, drowning out her mother's voice.

She's only on autopilot as she turns and leaves Maura, as she follows her parents out the front doors of the high school, into harsh light.

But what greets her as she exits the school isn't a parking lot.

INT. TRAIN STATION - CONTINUOUS

A vacant, silent TRAIN STATION waits for her. But she still cannot see the train, just a stretch of bare tracks.

Her parents are no longer with her. Jane is alone. She blankly collapses onto a bench and stares down the tunnel where a train should come through.

JANE

It never ends, does it?

A FIGURE appears behind her.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

The tracks always end somewhere, even if there's no real destination.

Jane JUMPS, startled, but upon recognizing the figure as a Train Conductor she settles back down.

JANE

Where am I?

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

At the station, waiting for your train, by the looks of it.

JANE

But I was just at my graduation. How did I get here?

A WHISTLE blows. The train is coming.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

What matters more is whether or not you'll board the train when it arrives.

JANE

Where will it take me?

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

Do you board a train if you don't know where it's going?

JANE

No. That sounds dangerous.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

But what if it took you somewhere safe, to a place where there was no pain, no suffering?

JANE

But pain is a part of life.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

Exactly. This could take you elsewhere. You will feel peace.

JANE

Does such a place exist?

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

If it did, would you board the train?

Jane lets the question float away with the echo of the tunnel.

JANE Maybe. She waits a moment more.

JANE (CONT'D)

But I'd be leaving my life behind.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

But as you said, it’s all just pain.

BEGIN FLASHBACK

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Maura and Jane sit close. Their foreheads touch. Their hands hold.

JANE (V.O.)

No. There’s love too, there’s laughter. There’s families, there’s...friends.

Their giggles float softly between them.

BACK TO PRESENT

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

But does love not exist without suffering? To have love is to have loss. To have love is to have pain.

JANE

But then, this place with no pain, there would be no love either. What is the point of going if there is no love?

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

You would rather have love than peace?

JANE

Peace can only last for some time. Otherwise nothing would happen, be happening.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

That’s the price you pay for no suffering. After all, there is always a price to a train ticket.

The Train Conductor hands a golden boarding ticket to Jane. The TRAIN WHISTLE echoes as the train speeds through the station. It slows, then stops. Its doors open, waiting.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR (CONT'D)

The train has stopped, its doors are open. Do you board the train?

Begin Flashback Sequence

INT. KITCHEN - DAY

Jane paces back and forth just outside the kitchen. Inhales, exhales. Her mother cooks something on the stove.

Behind her back, Jane hides a sheet of paper with trembling hands. A chemistry exam with a B circled on top.

EXT. TRACK AND FIELD - DAY

Jane smiles on a podium as she's awarded a first place medal for her race. Her smile couldn't be fake. How could it be?

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

A clock reads 3 AM, ticks on, and on. Eyebags weigh down Jane's cheeks as she buries her nose in her studies. Tears threaten to fall, but she doesn't let them. No time to cry when there's work to do.

INT. SCHOOL - DAY

Jane has just won some academic achievement. Donna and John converse among the crowd, brag to other parents.

DONNA

She's the president of several clubs, a track star.

JOHN

Not to mention an A student. She truly is the perfect daughter.

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

More papers, more studying, more stress. The piles of work never end.

INT. BATHROOM - DAY

The cutting of her hair, her tired eyes criticize her body.

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Quick, quick scribbles of notes, papers straying from their neat piles. Her movements gradually grow more and more desperate. Quick. Jagged. She buries her head in her arms and allows the cries to escape.

MAURA (V.O.)

Jane?

End Flashback Sequence

INT. TRAIN STATION - DAY

Maura approaches Jane at the bench. But she's not there, not truly.

JANE

If I go...I could be done with everything. I thought after graduation I could rest, but it never ends, does it? Instead of being overworked at school, I'll be overworked at some job I probably won't even like, and I'll have even less time to do the things I enjoy, and then my parents will die and...how are we expected to keep going like this?

MAURA

We surround ourselves with love and hold it as long as we can. We take it one day at a time.

It's as if Maura is speaking behind a glass wall. Jane doesn't see her.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR

All tracks end. A choice is made.

The Train Conductor steps forward, still extending the boarding ticket to Jane. The train waits.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR (CONT'D)

Do you board the train?

Jane watches the ticket but does not accept it.

JANE

What about everything I'm leaving behind?

Train Conductor

Like what?

JANE

My mother says I have so much potential, I have such a bright future ahead. They'd call me selfish.

MAURA

Aren't they the selfish ones, making you live a life that isn't yours? You don't have to be perfect, Jane. You can just be and that's okay.

Jane looks in the direction of Maura, and for a moment Jane just might see her.

Train Conductor

Do you stay, where everything's wrong? Do you stay to work and to suffer when it's easier to just walk away?

The TRAIN CONDUCTOR takes another step forward. Jane takes the ticket and stands, watching it glimmer in her hands.

Maura appears to be yelling to reach her, but her voice is lost to the silence. She extends her arm to Jane, but her fingers can't quite reach.

The train doors wait open. Jane's eyes meet Maura's.

TRAIN CONDUCTOR (CONT'D)

Do you board the train?