The Train

Since my earliest recollection, I've been moved by the sound of a train whistle crying out to me in the middle of the night. I don't know why, but it's a nostalgic feeling that fills me with an unnamed longing ... a longing for something lost in time and space. The lonely woo-woo sound reaches into my soul and touches the part of me that's always alone ... an unknown quantity in my life.

I can't describe the feeling adequately, but it's a mix between the "stomach butterflies" I get when nervous and the painful lump in my throat when sad. Does that make sense? Well, anyway, that's the way Jeff Howe's short story makes me feel: moody and full of wonder.

I'm left with a new appreciation of trains after reading The Train. These were awesome lines: << ... It was a metallic shearing sound that happened well before the train was actually in the station ... >> I can hear that sound. ... And in speaking of the desert where Jason plans to move, Howe says: << ... rivercut and windblown into dreamish shapes. >> Isn't that poetic?

Jeff Howe is an expert at setting mood, so much so that this story gripped me from the start. With each descriptive twist and turn I learned a little more of the main character Jason, and at story's end I wanted to know even more.

Alas, like the mysterious feelings I get when hearing a train whistle, some mysteries need to remain unsaid, unsolved ... We can get a sense of continuation by feeling.

And feel this story, I did! At the end, my first reaction was "Huh?" I felt like a train had hit me, leaving me hurt, bewildered and incomplete. Then silence grasped me and I felt a quiet peace settling in. The end of this story feels intense, in a cathartic way.

This is a brilliant piece of mood-setting writing. Bravo, Jeff Howe!

Reviewed by: Betty Dravis, 2008
Author of Millennium Babe: The Prophecy

Jeff Howe, in his short "The Train" takes the reader on an adventure. It is from the beginning not an ordinary adventure, but one filled with surprises and intriging twists. We try to know the main character, Jason, but find out that he is hard to know. It is at first revealed that perhaps Jason is an uncaring individual content to live in his own world. Yet, soon we find out that Jason is very caring as evidenced by his immediate concern for the little boy riding the train.

Through the course of this story Jason's emotions are thrown about. He must navigate through a complex maze of feelings brought by several, one after the other and seemingly unrelated, dramatic events.

Jeff Howe, in the end, ties the pieces together effectively and for me at least, lets us know that the train ride is never really over.

This is a story that spellbinds the reader into reading the next page. Good work, Mr. Howe. Five stars.

Reviewed by Charlie Moore

Where author Jeff Howe really distinguishes himself is scene setting and mood. You start off thinking the protagonist is taking an ordinary train ride. Fifteen minutes later you're saying "get the number of that truck!" You literally don't know what hit you, You just know you've been hit...hard.

The ride and the fellow passengers seem to deteriorate by the minute, until with a chill down your spine you realize this is something quite different than what you first imagined. To pull off that illusion so superbly requires talent, lots of it.

Brilliant scene setting, beautifully orchestrated tension and fear. This train goes all the way after all. Bravo, Mr. Howe!

Jeff Howe's "The Train" gave this reader a journey, an anxious "All Aboard" feeling from start to finish. Subterfuge, suspense, and daring to believe are unveiled by Mr. Howe's pen. One may look at twilight in another vain than normal after reading this puzzle of the mind. Great read.
Robert A Meacham

Jeff Howe has a great way of pulling you right into his story. I loved the Outer Limits and the Twilight zone when I was a kid and when I began reading this story I felt I had boarded this train right with the main Character Jason. This train ride takes Jason on a journey he slowly realizes is different from all the rest he has taken. This next passage is from an old man he meets on the train.

"Do you know that if you take an action, you will never know the results of not taking that action?" the elderly man smiled. "Your actions put into motion things that may or may not have been better left still. Be careful, young man where you place your foot as you take your next step. Ahhh, looks like my station is upon us."

Jason doesn't realize it but he has crossed over into another realm...,or maybe he already was there and never knew it. You decide.

Reviewed by Vickie (Tory Lynn, Author of "My Charming Protector")