The word today is Obsession
Graham woke to the distant chug of the morning train. He stepped onto Main Street, tipping his hat to Mr. Sanders at the bakery. Life here was predictable. The train always arrived at 9:00.
Everything running exactly as it should was a town obsession.
One evening, a strange sound rumbled through the sky. The ground trembled. Buildings shook. Then, a booming voice:
“Time to get rid of the train setup. Tommy has gone to college.”
The sky split open, a giant hand reaching down.
Graham tried to run, but the world — the only world he’d ever known — began to disappear.
I hear that whistle blowin'--
It's comin' round the bend--
Oops. No, it isn't. I'm afraid the song ends here... 😬💦
Your story put me in mind of how, on camp-outs, my friends and I used to ponder the question of what if the world we knew were just part of some huge alien kid's science project or toy neighborhood, that the sun was the lamp in his room, and the stars pin pricks in the box top he covered us with at night. Thanks for bringing back that long-lost memory.