A train ride on a stormy night, a sheltered young woman on her own, a gorgeous but disconcerting dark stranger….

Rain thrummed against the old wooden platform of the train station. The water
standing on the shiny black surface of the wood quivered. Lila felt shock waves through
her soft white boots as Amtrak’s silver engine shot out of the blackness across the trestle
and into the feeble yellow light of the station, then stopped, purring.

She grabbed the handles of her valise, stepped through the unpainted, unvarnished 
wooden door of the time-forgotten train station, opened her umbrella and tiptoed
across the loose pebbles to the conductor, who stood by the two steps up into the train, 
waiting to give her a hand. He stomped from foot to foot, making it clear he had no
affection for standing in the rain a moment longer than necessary for the sake of one
passenger.

Lila handed him her ticket, closed her umbrella and stepped onto the train.

“What a night!” the conductor said, stepping on behind her….

 LILA from: 13 Lovely Frights for Lonely Nights