Whitney rested her head against the window as the train began to pull away from the station. Where was she going, again? She honestly didn’t check when she bought the ticket; she just got something far away that she could afford. It’s not like it would matter. No one was waiting for her, just like no one would miss her.

As the train gently rocked on the rails and sped through the twilit world, Whitney fell asleep, dreaming of where she might end up. Oddly, she started to dream of toys.

She fluttered her eyes open come morning and felt like something was off. The sky was too perfectly blue, the clouds like actual cotton balls. Whitney saw something in her reflection and reached up to touch the red patches that now adorned each of her cheeks. The train, too, had changed overnight, now something bright and soft, almost as if made from plush.

More confused than anything, Whitney stood up and stepped off the train. As she crossed the threshold, her clothes metamorphosed, gaining that soft, bright appearance the rest of the world had. By the time her foot touched the green carpet ground, she was dressed like a train attendant, her blue suit matching the train.

Whitney had to figure out what was going on, and went to the train engine, where a plastic toy engineer toddled and worked, startling when he saw her.

“Oh, mornin’!” He pipped his hat to her.

“Is this a dream? Am I dreaming?”

“No dream, this is Toyland,” the engineer said. “It’s a place where lost, forgotten, and abandoned toys go between owners.” He said it as though he had explained this many times, to many toys. Except, for Whitney, there was one problem.

“But I’m not a toy,” she said.

“You must be, or you wouldn’t be here. And it looks like, based on that uniform, you’re with me and ol’ Bessy here.” He said, patting the plush train.

Whitney started to push further, ask for more, when a teddy bear walked out of the toy forest with its plastic and cotton ball trees, gently walking over to her. “Is this the train to the Real World?” He asked her, but it was the engineer who replied.

“Yes, sir, it is. We’ve got a few more stops, but we’ll have you dropped off in a toy store before lunch. Just hand your ticket to my attendant there, and we’ll be off!”

The bear nodded and handed Whitney a colorful ticket. The train tooted twice as the engineer yelled: “Last Call to Toy Town, the Toy Kingdom, and the Toy Mansion. Final Destination: the Real World! All Aboard!”

Whitney stayed where she was, still in awe and confusion. But slowly she turned and headed back onto the train. She had little idea where she was, what she was supposed to be doing, or why. But already she was beginning to feel like she belonged.