Wednesday, 26 February 2014

Storytelling 2 | Midnight Train 2199

A story about a journey to discover eternity love

‘We can’t turn back time, 10 years was enough for us. We ain’t love each other anymore. I need to quit this please.’ said Lisa. Her eyes were flooded with tears, it was hard to say this but she has to end this relationship for being together with Johan, a famous filmmaker whom she met during a catwalk session in Shanghai. The sparkle of love that she used to cherish with Paul has lost in nowhere.   

Though it has been nearly 3 months since Lisa left, Paul could never get over the split up. He thought that he was working hard enough to secure their future. He has been working days and nights with the numbers to earn better for their living. Being a typical accountant in Hong Kong, he usually spends 6 full days in the office, except allowing himself for 6 hours sleeping everyday. However, Lisa felt being ignored, this was not something that she thinks could work for their future.


On the 9th of September, 2009, Lisa was married to Johan in a grand wedding. Their wedding was reported by the media vastly. This was the night where Paul got himself drunk on the road. He threw away the newspapers with a series of photo from Lisa’s wedding published. He kept walking unconsciously until he came to an old abandoned railway station.


Paul found a schedule pasted on the wall. There will be a midnight train at 3 a.m. heading to the year 2199. The schedule stated that this is the once and the only chance offered every 100 years by the future. It is said that ‘2199’ is an era where lost love will be found and love will be eternal. It is basically a paradise that human beings have been longed for.

‘Welcome to Midnight Train 2199, you are guest number 98!’ 


A robotic lady in metallic silver wear welcomed Paul when he stepped in the train. He got himself a seat next to the window. The train was driven so fast that he could not even see anything outside from the window. He was not sure about where he would be taken to but this could be the last hope that he has to get back the love he lost. He met people who have lost love like him. They were all having the same purpose, they wanted to live eternally with their loved ones.

Paul was not aware about how long time has passed until he heard the robotic lady spoke again, ‘ Welcome to Midnight Train 2199, you are guest number 99!’ The sudden floral smell caught his attention. A lady passed by, and she is Lisa.

Paul asked the robotic lady, 'What's the time now and how long it will take to reach 2199?'

The robotic lady replied, 'We are now in 2011, soon we will be reaching 2199. Please be patient!' Paul realized that he has already traveled from 2009 to 2011.

Lisa was surprised to meet Paul in the train. They sat together and started to chat. Lisa told him that after 2 years of marriage, Johan divorced her. She was trying to look for Paul but he seemed to have lost since their break up.

Paul and Lisa did not mention about the reason they took the train during the conversation along the journey to 2199, but they both understand that they hope they could turn back time and live together eternally.

It is common in human beings. We usually do not know how much something is valuable to us until we lost them. We try everything to get back things that we lost and we usually not sure about whether we are still offered a second chance. Most of the time, things are beyond our control. Precious things are always temporal, such as love.

‘Attention dear passengers! Our train has experienced some technical problem, we are now traveling backwards all the way to 1999. We will try our best to get you to 2199 soon.’

It was the 99th day since Paul got in the midnight train. He slowly realized that there was no paradise in 2199 and the train will never reach 2199. However, this is a place where he leaded himself towards a journey of self recovery and discovery. He met Lisa and relearn every moment that they have missed when they were attached. God has offered them a chance to recollect those sweet memories they had over the past ten years while they learned a new lesson about love.

The train was about to stop at 1999. This was the year when Paul and Lisa were 17 years old and they have yet to meet each other. Paul and Lisa stared at each other for about 5 minutes, and then they kissed for 9 minutes. They smiled at each other and boarded the train. That was for the eternity.

Oh love, we don’t have to look for eternity, the eternity sits in our memories, the memories live in our heart, till we die and forever.... 

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