Barry's last ride. (standard:other, 1626 words)
Author: Arthur Randall	Added: Apr 07 2003	Views/Reads: 3321/2148	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A young man who always loved trains gets a job with the public transit system and gets a job driving the subway trains. Then one day he had an experience that put him in the psychiatric hospital. Learn what happened on Barry's last ride.

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hours and he would have the next two days off from work.  As an added 
bonus for him, his favorite football team would be on television that 
night and he planned to watch the game and have a few beers. 

Just as he was about to arrive at the next station, it happened.  Just
as the train emerged from the tunnel, the man leaped out on the tracks 
without any kind of warning at all.  Barry slammed on the brakes as he 
was trained to do in case of such an emergency.  He knew that no matter 
what he did, it would be too late and the train would strike the 
jumper. 

As the strange man flew in front of him, Barry saw his face.  The two
men stared directly at each other for the few seconds.  Barry couldn't 
believe what he had just seen.  Not only because the of the way the man 
suddenly leaped in front of the train, but there was something else.  
Barry knew the man who had jumped and that made matters much worse for 
him. 

As the train came to a complete halt, a young man ran to the emergency
button.  A woman screamed and another man turned away and lost his 
lunch after the horrible sight he had just seen. 

It didn't take long for the police, fire department and the paramedics
to arrive at the scene.  The transit inspector was one of the first to 
arrive.  He went straight to the front of the train to the driver's 
compartment.  What he saw would haunt his dreams that night.  The 
driver of the train just sat in the chair and stared out the front 
window blankly.  He didn't blink or move a muscle.  It was as if he 
were a life like statue.  The inspector knew the man and tried to get 
his attention. 

“Barry! Barry!” he called.  “Barry can you hear me? Barry!” 

The paramedics showed up and looked at the driver very carefully.  All
of their attempts to get Barry's attention failed.  He just sat in the 
driver's seat, with the image of what he had just witnessed forever 
engraved in his mind. 

______________________________ 

Dr. Cole walked into the staff lounge where Dr. Lexington sat and had a
coffee.  Cole was an older doctor who had over thirty years experience 
the field of psychiatry.  He was the one who assigned Lexington to 
Barry's case.  He believed that it would give the younger doctor some 
needed experience in the field.  He held a folder in front of him as he 
went and at the same table as Lexington was. 

“Good morning Jeff.” Cole greeted. 

“Oh hello Peter.” Lexington replied. “How are you?” 

“Fine thanks you.  I understand that you have seen you newest patient.” 

“Yes I did. I saw him only a half an hour ago.  He was just as you said.
No sort of response when I looked at him.” 

“If he should ever come out of it that poor devil will have quite a
burden to bear.  More than any man should have to.” 

“That's an understatement.  It must have been a terrible thing to see
someone commit suicide like that.” 

“I'm afraid that it will be more of a burden to him that it would
normally be.” 

Jeff looked at the other doctor strange.  “I don't understand what you
mean.” 

Cole gave him the folder he had and said, “Take a look at this.  This is
the file of the poor man who jumped in front of the train that Williams 
drove.” 

Lexington opened the folder and looked at the contents inside.  On the
front was a photograph of the man who killed himself.  He looked at the 
photo and the name a couple of times to be sure that what he had seen 
was correct.  He looked up at Cole and said, 

“This has got to be a mistake. It has to be.” 

“I'm afraid not.” Cole replied.  “I had it checked as soon as I got it. 
There is are mistakes about it at all.” 

As Lexington looked again Cole added, 

“Hard to believe that something like that could happen isn't it?' 

He agreed with Cole and looked at the open folder again.  He still
couldn't believe what he seen. 

The name of the jumper was Otto Burton.  He had just lost his job of ten
years as an accountant and his girlfriend had just left him for another 
man.  It was the photo of him that shocked the two doctors. 

They say that somewhere out in the world that everyone has a twin or a
double out somewhere.  What happened on the early after noon might have 
been a billion to one shot?  Who can really say what the odds would 
have been.  But it happened to Barry and it was such a great shock to 
him that something in his mind had simply snapped.  It couldn't handle 
what it had just witnessed and he would be trapped in his own little 
world for the rest of his natural life.  He believed he knew whom he 
had struck and the doctors didn't know if he would be able to handle it 
if he ever returned to the real world.  For you see, the picture of the 
man who jumped, they would have sworn on a stack of bibles was not Otto 
Burton, but was in fact a photo of Barry Williams. 

The end. By Arthur Randall. 


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