Day 2,154

Judging by the waves breaking against the sides of the carriage and the full moon illuminating a dilapidated town in the midst of the seemingly endless ocean, he'd definitely slept past his stop. The only other passenger he could see was in the next carriage, face pressed against the glass and breathing so heavily they sounded like they'd just finished their fourth marathon in a row.

The train began to dive, the waves slowly rose and rose until he could only see the faintest moonlight shining through the water. Before long all he could see was his own panicked reflection and hints of bioluminescent fish darting in and out of view while the passenger in the next carriage peeled themselves away from the glass and turned to face the doors.

A voice garbled something over the tannoy that he couldn't understand and a dimly lit station rolled into view. The train pulled to a stop and the door signs lit up, waiting to be pressed. He heard the other passenger cheer as they slammed the open button and flooded the carriage as they stepped out into the sea. As they passed by his carriage they looked confused, gesturing to the door as if to ask if he needed any help.

He found enough of his voice to yell that he was a few stops down the line to which the passenger shrugged, waved and walked away into murky waters, little neon fish winding themselves around him like dogs greeting their owner when he's back from a long day at the office.

It felt like an eternity before someone else stepped into the other carriage and the doors closed behind them. The garbled tannoy voice came back with another unintelligible announcement and the train descended further into the sea. He wondered how much longer the air inside his carriage would last before they reached land again - if the train was even heading back that way.

After three morestops, three more passengers gesturing to see if he needed help opening the door and his frantic gestures back to say he was fine and his stop was a few more away, the train began to ascend. sharply. It was like the rise before the fall of every rollercoaster he'd ever been on and loathed and he tried not to hyperventilate in the stale, somewhat breathable air as he prayed they'd resurface.