Planted Page #2

• Science fiction
• Short story
• Fiction

								

I grabbed her hand as she tried to pull it back. I pulled her in close to my chest. “See, what did I tell you?”
“That you think your right leg is slightly longer than the left one?”
“Hey, not funny! And it’s the left one that is longer. Shows how much you care,” I said as I pinched her sides. She pulled away from me with the biggest smile on her face. I watched her as she gazed out of the large window and made her way past the small wooden table and chairs underneath it. She grazed her hand across the honey colored victorian patterned chair, feeling the soft canvas. She looked back at me with a smirk -- as if to say, “How fancy” -- as she raised both of her eyebrows. 
It was pretty fancy for a train. Definitely not what I expected for the price. I had heard about the government shelling out money to hand over fist to the transportation industry. Something about helping to rebuild trust in the United States transportation systems after the war. It was the same story across every industry though. So many people died when the EMP hit. All electronics were out in an instant. Including engines, cars, planes… I don’t think I’ll ever fly on a plane again after the way I saw them plummeting to the ground. 
“Knock, knock,” sang a boxy voice from the door. It was an android dressed in a calming navy-blue vest and matching pants. His shirt was blush pink and he wore a polka dotted red tie, neatly tied around his collar. His name plate read, J. THOMPSON. At first glance one might have mistaken him for a genuine human. However, his opaque skin and too perfect features gave it away. The government must have repurposed all the war-droids and gave them new skins and new lots in life, like the rest of us. 
“Welcome aboard. Will you be having your dinner this evening in your room or in the dining car?” He buzzed, with a small clipboard in his hand and a mechanical smile on his face.
“The room,” April said.
“The dining car,” I chimed over her.  
We looked at each other and began a staring contest. First one to blink, loses, right. She tilted her head slightly towards the floor and looked at me through her eyebrows. I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to lose this one. It’s the first night and I wasn’t going to spend it hiding away in this box, no matter how nice. 
“The dining car,” I repeated, still locked in with April. She rolled her eyes. I looked towards the door where the man stood.  
 “I’ll mark you down for it. There is a dress code for the dining car in the evenings. You can find the details in the brochure located in the nightstand beside the bed. If you need anything else just push the service button next to the light switch by the door,” he said as he leaned in the room and gestured to the panel. “My designated name is J.T., enjoy your journey with us. Goodbye.” 
He stayed planted where he was, as if he were suffering from some sort of glitch. His left eye wrinkled, in an attempt to work the kink out. I looked over at April, concerned that she might be afraid the android was going to go berserk, but she seemed unfazed. She just looked at him politely waiting for him to recover. By the time I turned my gaze back towards J.T. his face had reformed into a smooth expression. 
“Thank you,” we both said in unison as he clank-ily marched on to the next compartment, disappearing from our view. 
I looked back towards the bed where April sat and pouted, arms crossed and indifferent to my gaze. She stared out the window. I could see her clenching her jaw in frustration like a vice tightening down with every impulse to start fight. I could tell she wanted to yell at me for not letting her win. But she cared too much about what people thought to cause a spectacle.
“Even when I win, I lose.”
She snapped her head at me, “Not now Keith.”
I regretted saying that; it came out wrong. Let me just put my foot in my mouth on our anniversary. I took a much-needed breath and sighed. 
“Why do you think they give those things names?” I asked trying to defuse the tension.
“Why do you have such a stupid face, and never listen to me?”
“April, come on. Why don’t we get ready for dinner and head to the dining car? The train is taking off from the station in 30 minutes or so, and we can watch from there.” 
She said nothing. She just looked out the window. 
“Appprrrrrrilllll,” I repeated with a gravelly moan.
She broke and looked at me, leaving an opening for attack. I tackled her to the full-size bed behind her and I laid my head on her chest, with my arms around her. I looked up at her, and her expression remained unchanged. She just stared up towards the pale blue gray ceiling. 
“I bet they have riesling, the not so sweet kind, like you like,” I said in a hushed voice. She pursed her lips as if to say you can’t budge me. “And I bet the dessert cart is already out.” She looked down at me. 
“There better be cheesecake,” she finally said tightly. 
“Yeah, the thing I said about the open bar was no joke. You better hurry up before you get left behind,” I said smiling up at her. She rolled her eyes at me, and I could see her anger setting in again.
“Is that all you care about Keith? Because if so, I can just leave.” The train lurched forward echoing that idea. I could feel her heart as it pounded in her chest. Heat irradiated from her body under mine, with each frustrated deep breath. It felt like I was laying on top of a tea kettle ready to scream. 
“No, April that’s not all I care about. Come on. I care about us having a good time together. Experiencing something new, together. And not doing the same thing we could be doing at home.” I said in a soft voice and tired not to upset her more.
“All you do is talk about drinking. And how do you think threatening to leave me behind, because I’m not moving fast enough for you to have a drink is even funny?” She pushed me off of her to the other side of the bed, I sat up and looked at her. I paused to collect my thoughts.
“It’s not. I’m sorry. Look, you have your problems and I have mine. Okay, can we just leave it at that... Please, I don’t want to do this right now. Not today. I know, I’m fucked up. But I love you, and I don’t want to mess this up. I’m sorry…” 
She rose from where she was on the bed to her feet with her back towards me. I could see her shoulder as the raised slowly and fell back down. 
“I’m sorry too.” She turned her somber face to meet mine and softly smiled. “Come on, lets get ready for diner.” 
I smiled back at her, and her face brightened. We both got dressed for the evening and headed to dinner. 


I woke up with a slight throbbing in my head. Likely from all the champagne and mixed concoctions I downed last night at dinner. I looked around the room and noticed that the pillow next to me was unoccupied. April was gone and I started to panic a little as I tried to recall what I had said exactly last night. I just had glimpses in my memory of J.T. helping me back to the room. That much I remembered. He lifted me up like a rag-doll and carried me back like I was nothing but a feeble child. 

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