So this is the result of extreme boredom on a 7hr train ride from Eugene, OR to Seattle, WA for Rainfurrest 2010 x3 Enjoy! :D

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As Ryan waited for the train to arrive, he left his belongings on the bench to go outside, bringing with him a cigarette he rolled the day prior. Afterwards, he went back inside and relaxed on the bench. Soon later, the train arrived, and he boarded, loaded down like a pack mule with an overstuffed backpack, a large purse filled with snacks, a guitar, and a gallon of tea.

After trying various ways to load his things between the overhead and the floor between his legs, he decided to stash the tea and his guitar in the overhead, and squeeze his purse at his side. He whipped out his netbook and plugged it in, then jumped on some nearby wifi signal to tell his friends when he'd arrive at his destination.

Seattle. In only seven hours, he'd arrive in the massive city, call a cab, and be safely in the overflow hotel for the convention. He was so excited, that he had barely slept that night, and even woke up a half-hour before his alarm went off.

Soon, the train began to move, and not long after, the conductor came by to take his ticket. He exchanged the ticket for a small slip of paper that would get him aboard the train from Portland to Seattle.

While he waited, he decided to play a game of Sodoku on his computer. He played a medium level game, and to his own surprise, beat it fairly quickly. Afterwards, he became hungry, so he pulled from his purse a small package of Ritz crackers and from his backpack, spray cheese. He munched away at the snack until he was halfway through the package. He became thirsty, pulled out a bottle of Kool-Aid, and chugged it down. Soon after, the train made a short stop in Albany to pick up more passengers.

While Ryan waited for the train to start moving again, he snacked away at more crackers and cheese. Slowly, the train began to drift away from the station, but soon picking up speed. Faster and faster, Albany began to pass by his window, as he stared out of it. Albany, like most places in Oregon, was shrouded by trees, but he didn't care. He had nothing better to do for his entire trip besides snacking and writing this stupid story on his computer.

He checked his phone. No service. It made sense, as he seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The televisions throughout the car occassionally turned on and off, but it annoyed him that they constantly made that high-pitched mosquito noise. He continued to ignore it, although it seemed to happen more frequently. Ryan stared out the window, and all he could see for miles was farms and hamburger, with the occasional truckstop.

Suddenly, that farmland turned into Salem, as the train halted to load on more passengers. However, this stop was much shorter, and the train was already moving before he could blink. He was glad to be able to see concrete again, and he watched the city roll on by his window. Soon, he found himself looking out at more ghetto neighborhoods, which eventually spawned more and more trees. Not long after, it devolved back to just farmland again.

Ryan longed just to be in Seattle already. His legs were beginning to cramp, and his back was starting to ache from hunching over his netbook to type out his thoughts and actions. He decided to take a break to stand, walk about the train, and possibly take a trip to the bathroom. He saved his story, closed the computer, and slid over to the seat next to him to stand up. He was grateful that nobody had claimed it yet. He walked back between cars and used the bathroom. When he did, he noticed a trash can, so when he was done, he went back to his seat, grabbed some trash he had collected, and threw it away before coming back to his seat to continue writing his story.

Ryan looked out the window. More farmland. He longed to see something vastly out of the ordinary. Something that would grab his attention and give him something new to write about. But so far, nothing truly worth mentioning.

The conductor came on the intercom and announced that they would be shortly arriving in Oregon City. Ryan already knew what to expect from a small place like that. More nothing. He was surprised when they made it into town. Although small, he had never really seen it. There was a lot of industrial buildings on the waterside, and countless private docks harboring various watercrafts, and one even had one of those water planes docked at it. Soon, the train stopped at the station, and he waited for them to start moving again, as the train had stopped in a spot where he had no view of the town at all. On one side, all he saw was a hill of dead grass leading up to a freeway overpass. On the other was a black painted fence, followed by a road with nothing on either side of it.

Ryan was glad when they began moving again. Same as always, it started slow and picked up fast. The train quickly was out of Oregon City and was soon surrounded by forestry. Not much of a change, to be honest, but there was occasionally a building or two through the trees. He was expecting to see farmland again, but noting how close they were to Portland, he thought it a bit more improbable. So with Portland so close at hand, he decided to pack away his netbook and other belongings before the train arrived.

Several more train tracks began to appear, lining up alongside the train. Ryan was close to Portland. He began to see skyscrapers, and massive freeways. He hated big cities, but only visited them for friends and conventions. They stopped at the station and transferred to the other train. The conductor came on the intercom and told everyone that the train wouldn't be leaving for a while, so he called up a few friends, checking in on some back home, as well as those he'd be meeting when he made it to Seattle.

As he waited, it began to rain. He got off the train to stretch his legs, and soon later got back in his seat, and after waiting a bit longer, the train began to move again.

The conductor came on and announced that they would be stopping in Vancouver. As they crossed the river, Ryan saw what he thought could quite possibly be the most massive factory he had ever seen. When they pulled into the station, the smell was horrific. It was like a gas station in a truckstop bathroom. Thankfully, the train didn't stay long, and they were soon moving again.

Since they had left Portland, the same three tracks had been lined up with the train outside Ryan's window. He was unsure as to how many were lined up on the other side, but he could see that there were far more than just three. Soon, there became less and less. Merging into each other, there were soon only one track beside him.

Later, while trying to send a text message, Ryan found himself back in the middle of nowhere. Unlike before, however, he was not surrounded by farmland. Now, it was just wilderness. The train hugged the bank of a large river, and everywhere he looked, there was just trees and open grassland. Out of nowhere, a train sped past his window on the track beside them, blocking his view entirely. Soon it was gone, along with anything special to write about.

Suddenly, Ryan noticed two new tracks beside the train, which began to slow down. He thought they may be getting close to another station, but then the tracks merged back into one again right before another train whizzed by his window with a booming wind. His train was moving pretty slow, but quickly picked up pace once the train beside his was past.

Ryan yearned for the next station to come. His phone was going in and out of service range, and never gaining a single bar. He looked up and saw a movie beginning to play on the televisions. “Nottingham” read the title during the intro. He forgot headphones for the trip, and he didn't feel like paying an absurd amount for headphones, nor did he feel like watching a silent movie. So with his stomach yelling at him once more, he decided to dig into some more snacks.

Ryan occasionally glanced at the movie as he snacked on more Ritz and cheese whiz. Another train sped by his window; It's gotten old. His back ached more and more, as he began to wish he was in Seattle already more and more. Another train went by his window. After it passed, he noticed that there were three more tracks beside the train, which once again merged back into one.

Are we there yet?

Two more tracks beside the train. Then three more. Those should merge, right? The train made a tilted turn, and there was only one track beside it again. Ryan grew tired of using the same perspective on his story, but decided to stick with it anyways.

The conductor announced that they were arriving in Kelso. Finally, another station! They came to a stop, and Ryan pulled out his phone to see if he had service, now that they were in town. He saw a few bars, so he tried texting a friend to see if they respond. As he finished the text, the train began to move again, and he got a text message back. Thank god! Phone service!

Another train flew by Ryan's window as he read the text. He didn't want to continue the conversation, in case he lost service again. He grabbed his cheese whiz and crackers and started pigging out again as the train entered a tunnel. Once it exited the tunnel, they were once again in the middle of nowhere, and still hugging the bank of a large river.

Ryan chugged down another bottle of Kool-Aid. He looked out the window and saw more farmland, while the same track followed alongside. Another train zipped passed his window, taller than most. Soon it was gone, and he was back to looking at boring farmland, rather than the interesting graffiti on the sides of the trains.

Are we there yet?

When Ryan was finished with yet another package of Ritz, and before the train made it to the next station, he got up and went to the bathroom to throw away his trash. He checked his phone, and was surprised to see that he had some bars. He went to the bathroom, tossed his trash, and did some business. While he was going, someone tried to open the door, and like an idiot, continued to try to open the door, jabbing his back. He repeatedly told him to wait, and when finished, Ryan went back to his seat. He whipped out his laptop again and started to write some more into his story, but soon found it hard as the sun glared into the screen.

The sun? It stopped raining! Ryan was glad to see this, as he didn't want to traverse Seattle with all his things, including his guitar, while being soaked down by mother nature. The train passed by more farmland, the familiar train track staying beside Ryan's window. His phone started to beep again as another train whizzed by his window. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and set it on the seat beside him, hoping it would stop beeping from lack of service. It seemed to work, His neck began to hurt, so he saved his story and put away the computer.

A few passerby trains and a dozen merging rails later, the conductor announced that they were arriving in Centralia. Ryan pulled out his netbook and wrote a few more things in his story. The friendly train track outside his window was gone, replaced with only the quaint little town. He looked up at the movie again. Renaissance movies should not be silent. The train slowly began to be on it's way again, pickin up speed. As it was leaving the town, Ryan noticed how much it reminded him of Old Sacramento. Before he knew it, though, the town was gone, once again replaced by trees and fields.

With his view once again shrouded by trees, and nothing worth typing into his story, Ryan put his computer away again and rested his back more. But soon later, he had to pull it back out. His friend had returned to him. That same train track came right alongside his window just as a train sped past. It was just like old times.

Soon later, the conductor came on the intercom. Olympia was coming up. Only a few more stops before Seattle! The train slowly came to a halt before picking up more passengers. There was nothing special about the town, but it seemed like a fairly rich neighborhood. Soon later, the train began to move again, and they were off to the next station, abruptly into the wilderness once more.

Yet another train whirs past Ryan's window, atop his adventurous companion, the train track. It was only an hour left until the train was expected to arrive in Seattle. Time flies when you're writing down everything that's happening, it seems. The movie looked like it may have been to the main conflict, but was hard to tell, being without headphones to hear it.

Ryan must have been close to Seattle, now. The train hadn't made it to Tacoma just yet, but he was sure that it was the next stop. Beside the friendly train track, the rails were hugging the bank of a huge lake. A fellow passenger a few seats back mentioned that it connected to the ocean, so that was surely a clue. He then overheard the same passenger mentioning that they were alongside Tillamook Bay.

Ryan got a call and quickly answered. His friend who booked the hotel was calling. Just after pleasantries, the call was lost, so he quickly texted her letting her know that he was going in and out of phone service range.

Ryan looked up at the television again. There was another fight scene going on. He decided to get up and go to the bathroom to check on a pimple that was bugging him on his upper lip. While he was in there, he fixed his hair and went back to his seat. The friendly rail alongside the train merged in with them, then they entered a few tunnels. All the while, his phone was beeping, letting him know he was going in and out of service again.

The train began to slow down a little while after entering another bayside town, and another train went by on Ryan's travel buddy, the train track. Six more rails appeared alongside the train outside his window. He suspected that the conductor would come on the intercom to let everyone know that they were arriving in Tacoma, and sure enough, he did. The train came to a halt and once again exchanged passengers. While he waited, he noticed the movie was still playing. Would it ever end? He got up to stretch for a moment, sat back down, and the train soon began to move again. Next stop, Seattle!

All the rails outside Ryan's window slowly began to merge. Soon, it was only him and his faithful companion again, just in time for a train to go by. They passed under a bridge with some beautiful graffiti, but he didn't have time to really get a good look. Back into the usual shroud of trees, he quickly found himself back in the middle of nowhere. It's amazing how there can be so much nothing between such big towns and cities, even when those towns and cities are connected!

Back into some sort of town-like towniness, Ryan looked up and found that the movie was finally over as the credits climbed up the screen. Having ridden the train before, this was a sure sign that Seattle was close at hand, as was the additional train tracks appearing and merging. Still, however, he didn't see any skyscrapers yet, and the roads didn't look too idiotic, so he figured he still had a while longer, especially since the town-like towniness had reverted back to farmland. That farmland quickly evolved back into a small town again, which started to get bigger. He was sure they were entering Seattle now, even if he did see a “Fuel Farm” gas station.

The town was getting smaller, bigger, smaller, and bigger. Ryan wasn't quite sure if they were in Seattle yet, but he knew for sure they were damn close. Later, the conductor announced that they were entering Tukwila. The station was unbelievably puny, so he was sure that they wouldn't take long, and sure enough, they were already off again before he could finish a sentence on his story. He remembered from his last train ride to Seattle that this was indeed the last stop before his destination.

On their way out of Tukwila, Ryan noticed a familiar character on the side of a building, which held a gated little theme park to the side. It appeared, to his humor, to be a Rocky and Bullwinkle miniature theme park. He smiled to himself as the train pulled out of sight from it.

With Seattle so close at hand, Ryan decided it best to put away his netbook and organize his things before the train reached it's final stop, giving him a chance to rest his back.