This is just a quick one-shot based off of the music video, The Lost Lake, by a band called The Number. Enjoy.
Edd opened his eyes groggily and waited for his vision to clear up. He picked himself up off of the wooden floor and stood up--stumbling a bit.
"W-where am I?" he asked himself.
He was standing on a wooden platform with a single wall supporting an overhang that shaded it from the sun. The platform was in the middle of a large field surrounded by mountains and forest. Edd felt a slight rumbling as the large metal blur whizzed along the tracks in front of him. It came to a quick but smooth stop and the door to the train's car glided open. Edd stood there, in front of the open door, wondering if he should board the train in the middle of nowhere or not. A man in a white conductor's uniform stood at the door. With a simple hand gesture, he ushered the boy to step onto the train. Edd was hesitant, but he stepped onto the train and looked at the bearded conductor as he slid the door closed. Edd noticed as the train started moving, and a worried expression appeared on his face.
"Wait, I haven't a ticket!" he told the man.
"Son, you have a ticket." the man replied nonchalantly.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken; I have no recollection of purchasing-"
"Try your pockets." the man interrupted. Edd obeyed and reached into his pants pockets. His eyes widened as he felt something rub against his right hand. He pulled it out and looked at the laminated, glossy-white ticket with a large One Way printed on it.
"Thank you." the bearded man said as he took the ticket from Edd. He grabbed a hole punch out of his pocket, clipped out a circle in the corner of the ticket and handed it back to Edd.
Edd, still confused, simply turned around and looked for a seat. The train wasn't very crowded; there was an old man embracing a woman of about the same age, a fair woman with shoulder-length hair and a pale red dress, a mustachioed man petting a sleeping dog next to him, a stern-looking man in a military uniform and a few other unfamiliar people.
Edd picked an empty seat in front of the old couple and sat by the window. All he could see was trees and grass; the horizon was blocked by snowy mountain peaks in front of it.
"Where am I going?" he wondered to himself. He couldn't remember anything after going to bed the previous night. The train suddenly started slowing down until it crept to a halt. Once again the door slid open and a boy stepped in. He looked about 15 with a fair body and bright red hair.
"Ah, back again, are you? Do you have a ticket now?" the conductor asked.
"Yep, I've had it for a while but now I can finally use it." the boy said as he handed his glossy white ticket to the conductor.
"Well, I'm glad you're finally able to come aboard!" the conductor replied. After getting it punched, the boy turned toward the seats but stopped when his gaze met Edd.
"Edd?" he asked, walking toward his seat. "Aw man, I'm sorry to see you here."
He sat next to the confused boy.
"Excuse me, have we met?" Edd asked. He had never seen the boy in his life, yet he seemed somehow familiar.
"Oh, we've met, but not in the way that you think. Let's just say that I've seen you around." the fair boy replied.
"Do you know where we are?" Edd asked.
"Yup. We're on a train."
"Going where?"
"Somewhere."
Edd gave up on that subject. The boy apparently didn't know.
"I know why you're here, but I'll save the explanation for when we get there." the boy said. Edd didn't like the secretiveness of the boy, but had no other choice than to listen to him.
"Why are you here then?" Edd asked.
"You could say that I've earned this train ride." he replied. "I tried to get on this train once before, but I didn't have a ticket. I played a lot of mean pranks to a lot of people over the years. But they didn't really hurt anyone or ruin someone's life, so I didn't get the other ticket. I went back home, but it took too long to get there so I didn't really come back the same."
Edd didn't really understand what the boy was saying. This was all so confusing to him.
"What's the other ticket?" Edd asked.
"Oh trust me, you don't want one. But you don't have to worry about that, you already have the good ticket." the boy replied. "I earned mine when I became best friends with someone. I think you know him."
Before Edd could ask yet more questions, the train started slowing to a stop again and more people started getting on. Edd noticed that not only were people going aboard the train, but various animals and insects as well. They all started heading to another cabin behind the one the people were in.
"This is all getting so confusing. I-" Before Edd could finish, a sharp pain struck his chest and he doubled over in his seat. The boy suddenly grabbed Edd and pulled him into the isle just as another sharp buzz struck his chest.
"Edd! You're getting a second chance!" the boy shouted excitedly as he quickly walked Edd to the door, which was still open. Edd grunted in pain as another painful buzz coursed through his body.
"Just get onto the station and you'll feel better." the boy said. Before Edd walked out of the door, however, the boy put a hand on his shoulder.
"Wait, one more thing."
Edd ignored the pain long enough to listen to what the boy whispered in his ear. He stepped onto the station and watched the door to the train close as it started gaining speed. The boy stuck his head out of a window before going out of earshot and said,
"Goodbye, Edd! I hope we don't have to see each other again for a long time!"
Edd, in a short moment that the pain died down, was able to comprehend what the boy whispered to him.
"Wait, you're--"
"CLEAR!!!"
Before Edd could finish, one last shock to his ribcage caused him to collapse onto the wooden station floor.
"Oh, my chest…."
Edd groggily opened up his eyes and sat up, much to the doctors' surprise.
"Lay back down, son, you need to rest." one doctor said. Edd laid back down in his hospital bed and listened to the steady beeping of his heart monitor.
"You're one lucky boy, you know that? I've never seen someone come back from such a long state of cardiac arrest!"
Edd watched one doctor put away the defibrillator paddles as a nurse let some people in.
"Double-D! I was so worried about you!" Nazz cried as she hugged Edd, much to his surprise. Eddy and Ed came in as well, the latter nearly crushing his spine by hugging him.
"What happened?" Edd asked. He was hopeful that someone was going to provide him with a straight answer for once.
"You don't remember? Sarah and me were playing with a remote airplane when it got tangled in some power lines. Ed tried to get it down but you ran into the pole. It tipped over and you got zapped by the wires." Jimmy explained.
Edd looked over at Johnny, who was sniffling and holding a few shards of broken wood in his hands.
"When the pole fell, it smashed Plank right out of poor Johnny's hands."
Johnny looked over when he heard his name mentioned, but went back to hugging the small pieces of broken wood.
"I'm sorry, Double-D. I'm glad that you're ok, but....Plank...." he started to quietly sob before he could finish his sentence.
"Ok kids, Edd needs his rest." the nurse said as she ushered them out of the room. Edd wondered if the whole thing was a dream. He stuck his hands in his pants pockets and felt the same surprise as before when he pulled out his ticket. The hole that the conductor punched was gone.
"Johnny, wait!" Edd shouted as Johnny went out the door. He suddenly remembered what the boy told him. Johnny turned around and went up to Edd.
"Yea Double-D, what is it?" he asked. Edd smiled as he quietly said,
"Plank says hi."
The fair boy looked out of the window of the train cabin. A smile appeared on his face as the train sped down the tracks. Next to them was a sign saying:
"Next Stop: Pearly Way"