Don’t Fall Asleep On The Train

Cashapp: $AskVelvetPodcast

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

After a long day at the dispensary, all I wanted was to get home. My body felt heavy, my mind done. Talking to customers all day, answering the same questions, smiling through the exhaustion, it takes it out of you. So on my way to the train, I did what I usually do to take the edge off. I popped an edible. Nothing wild, just enough to relax me for the ride home. I got on the train and it was packed, people squeezing in, voices loud, bodies brushing past each other. I found a seat, leaned back, and let the noise fade into the background as the edible slowly started to settle in. The door stayed open for a minute while more people piled in. Then finally the train started to move. I closed my eyes for just a second, and that's when I heard it. Screaming. Not the playful kind, not the loud joking kind. Real screaming, the kind that makes your chest tighten. I opened my eyes and turned my head and froze. Sliding down the aisles was an endoconda. Huge, its body thick and powerful, scales glowing in a strange mix of bright green and deep purple under the flickering train lights. It didn't even look real, but it was moving too fast, too smoothly to be anything else. People started running, pushing, falling, tripping over each other. Someone hit the ground, and before they could even scream again, the anaconda lunged. Gone. Just like that. I jumped up and ran through one car, then another, forcing my way through doors, heart pounding so loud I could barely hear anything else. But behind me I still heard it. The heavy dragging of its body, the slam against seats, the screams that suddenly just stopped. It was coming closer. The train suddenly screeched and slammed to a stop. The doors opened and I didn't think I jumped. I hit the tracks hard and took off running. A few other people landed beside me, and we ran together. No plan, no direction, just away. Behind us something hit the train from the inside hard. Then everything went quiet. We made it to the next station, pulling ourselves up onto the platform. People standing there stared at us, confused. Run I yelled. I didn't get to finish. It burst out of the tunnel. That anaconda and somehow it looked even bigger. The platform erupted into chaos. People screamed, trying to escape, but it was too fast. It wrapped around people, dragged them in, pulled them apart like nothing. I ran. Up the escalator, legs shaking, lungs burning. Every step felt too slow, like it was right behind me. Thank you, sir, someone said calmly as I rushed past. I didn't stop. I couldn't. I burst out onto the street. Chinatown. Everything looked normal. Cars moving, people walking. Run I shouted. There's a snake. There's a snake in the station. They just stared at me like I was crazy. Like none of this was real. Then the screaming followed me outside. And suddenly everyone believed me. The anaconda exploded out of the station entrance, its massive body knocking into everything in its path. People ran in every direction. A bus tried to pull off, but the snake slammed into it, tipping it over, glass shattered as it forced its way inside, dragging people out through broken windows. I turned and ran again. Faster than I ever had in my life. My chest tight, my legs burning. I had to get home. I had to. My eyes snapped open. I was back on the train, sitting in my seat. Everything was quiet. No screaming, no chaos, no anaconda. Just people sitting like nothing ever happened. The doors were closed now, and slowly the train began to move. I sat there, trying to steady my breathing, telling myself it was just the edible, just my imagination. But then I heard it a slow, heavy dragging sound right behind me.