Share
MidReal Story
Moonbound: Railway of Dreams
Scenario:Steam railway on the moon
Create my version of this story
Elara Thorne
lead engineer, collaborates with crew, short with curly brown hair, determined and innovative
Marcus Flynn
chief navigator, Elara's close friend, tall with sharp blue eyes, resourceful and calm under pressure
Sariel Chen
lunar geologist, works with Elara and Marcus, petite with dark skin, intelligent and curious
The first time I proposed the idea of a lunar steam railway, my superiors laughed in my face.
The second time, they told me it was impossible.
The third time, they told me to go ahead and try it if I wanted to waste my time.
I took that as approval.
It took me a year to get the project off the ground, and another two to get the tracks laid.
But today, we’re finally ready for our first test run.
I stand at the edge of the platform, watching as the steam engine pulls into the station.
It’s a squat little thing, with six wheels and a chimney that puffs out clouds of steam.
A line of carriages trail behind it, each one painted in bright colours and covered in solar panels.
The engine slows to a stop in front of me, and I climb aboard with the rest of my crew.
Marcus Flynn is already there, waiting for me at the front of the engine with his hands on his hips.
He’s tall and broad-shouldered, with sharp blue eyes and a shock of blond hair that falls over his forehead.
“I thought you’d be here already,” he says, frowning at his watch.
“We’re running behind schedule.”
“Don’t be such a grump,” I tell him, ducking under his arm and climbing up into the cab.
“Everyone else is still boarding.”
I turn back and wave to the crowd of people on the platform below, my heart swelling with pride.
They’re all here to see us off, a mix of engineers and scientists and curious tourists.
And why wouldn’t they be?
This is going to change everything, the first step towards making the moon a truly habitable place to live.
I can’t help but smile as the last few stragglers board the train, and I glance back over my shoulder at Marcus.
He’s still frowning, but I can see the excitement in his eyes.
“We ready to go?”
I ask him, and he nods.
“Engine’s all fired up and ready to go,” he says, flicking a few switches on the control panel.
“All we need now is for Sariel to give us the okay.”
I glance down at the platform, where Sariel Chen is standing with a group of other lunar geologists.
She’s small and petite, with dark skin and bright eyes that always seem to be looking for something new to discover.
She’s only been with us for the past few months, but I can already tell that she’s going to be a valuable member of our team.
She’s also bouncing up and down on the spot, her excitement barely contained.
I can’t help but laugh as I wave her over.
She tries to hide it behind a mask of professionalism, but I know her too well.
This moment means as much to her as it does to me, and she can barely wait for the chance to see her work in action.
She’s the one who discovered the mineral deposit that made this whole thing possible, after all.
“The train’s ready to go,” I tell her as she climbs up into the cab, “Are we good to go?”
She nods eagerly, and I turn back to Marcus.
We’ve been working towards this moment for so long, I can hardly believe it’s finally here.
I feel a surge of excitement as the steam engine pulls into the station.
It’s a squat little thing, with six wheels and a chimney that puffs out clouds of steam as it chugs along.
Old Bessie, we’ve taken to calling her, after an old Earth legend.
The tracks stretch out behind her, gleaming in the sunlight.
A few of my crew are already waiting on the platform for me, and I can see them waving as they catch sight of me.
I can’t help but grin as I hurry down to join them, my heart pounding with anticipation.
We’ve been working towards this moment for so long, and it feels like it’s been a lifetime since we first started on this crazy adventure.
Marcus is the first one to greet me, pulling me into a quick hug before stepping back to admire my work.
I can see him trying not to smile, but the corners of his mouth keep twitching up anyway.
“Not bad,” he says finally, nudging me in the side with his elbow.
“You did good.”
“I did great,” I correct him, puffing out my chest.
“Just wait until we get this thing into space.”
He chuckles and shakes his head, turning back to look at the steam engine as it slows down in front of us.
I can feel the excitement building in the air around us, and I can hardly wait any longer.
We’ve been working on this project for so long, putting in endless hours of blood and sweat and tears, and now we’re finally ready for our test run.
It’s almost too much for me to handle, and I can feel my hands shaking as I climb up into the cab and take my place at the control panel.
Marcus is already there, flicking a few switches and turning dials as he checks that everything is in working order.
I can hear the steam hissing beneath us, and I can hardly wait for him to give us the signal so that we can finally get moving.
The platform is crowded with people now, all of them waiting with bated breath for our departure.
I can see Sariel standing at the front of the crowd, her eyes wide with wonder as she looks up at the engine.
I can’t help but smile at her, feeling like a proud parent showing off their child for the first time.
Today isn’t just an end, after all.
It’s the beginning of something new, something that’s never been done before, and I’m filled with hope for the future.
The platform is crowded now, and the air is thick with anticipation as we prepare to begin our test run.
I can see Sariel standing at the front of the crowd, her eyes wide as she watches us go through our final checks.
I glance back at Marcus, and he nods to me, his hand hovering on the throttle.
“Let’s do this,” he says, and I grin back at him.
I reach out to grip the ends of the throttle, my heart pounding in my chest as I prepare to give it one last pull before we depart.
But then a voice interrupts us from behind, and I spin around to see Sariel hurrying towards us.
She’s out of breath, like she’s been running, and her face is flushed from excitement.
“What’s going on?”
“Sorry,” she says, “I just wanted to say good luck.” She glances at the engine, then back at me, and I can see the worry in her eyes.“We’ll be fine,” I say, reaching out to squeeze her hand before turning back to the throttle.I hear Sariel step back from the platform, but my attention is already focused on the task at hand.
With one final deep breath, I yank the throttle towards me and feel the engine lurch beneath me as it comes to life.
The platform starts to move away from us, and I watch out of the corner of my eye as several crew members scramble to detach the cables that have been keeping us anchored in place for so many long months.
It feels strange to be moving after so much time spent stationary, but there’s no time to dwell on that now—if we don’t do this just right, we could end up derailing before we’ve even really begun.
The engine is already picking up speed, and I can feel the wind whipping my hair around my face as I focus on the tracks ahead.
The first part of our journey is a long downward slope that leads towards the research station in the bottom of the crater.
We won’t be going all the way there today—our test run is just a short trip up and back—but I can hardly wait to see what it’s like when we do finally make the full journey.
The sunlight glints off the tracks ahead, making it hard for me to see clearly, but I imagine that it’s an amazing view.
To be able to look up and see the Earth hanging in the sky above you would be an incredible sight.
The engine is already picking up speed, and I can hear the rhythmic chugging growing louder and louder as the wheels pick up speed.
The sound echoes off the crater walls all around us, making it hard for me to think straight.
It feels like it’s reverberating inside my head.
Old Bessie is alive.
We’re already out of sight of the platform, and I can see the tracks stretching ahead of us, disappearing into the distance as they wind their way across the lunar surface.
The sun is bright overhead, casting everything into sharp relief, but ahead of us the tracks are gleaming, almost as though they’re lit up by some unseen force.
We built them to last, to stand up to all of the challenges that space could throw at them, and I know they won’t let us down now.
The landscape around us is desolate, but there’s a beauty to it that I find hard to describe.
The craters are deep and jagged, like wounds carved into the surface of the moon, but there’s a stillness to them that’s almost serene.
It’s hard to believe that so much chaos was once necessary to create them—though I suppose that’s true of most things in space.
And now we’re about to make history here, too.
As Old Bessie picks up speed, I turn to look back at Sariel, who’s standing on the platform watching us go with a mixture of excitement and determination in her eyes.
We pick up speed as we pass aetherial crater
It’s hard to believe that the day is finally here.
When Marcus first told me about his big idea, about the steam railway he wanted to build on the moon, I thought he was insane.
I mean, who comes up with something like that?
Even now, as I watch the engine pulling up to the platform, it feels like a dream.
A dream that we’ve all worked so hard to make a reality.
“Old Faithful,” Marcus says, nudging me with his elbow.
“That’s what we’re calling her.”
I can’t help but smile.
He hasn’t stopped talking about this engine since the day he first came up with the idea, and I know how much it means to him.
I’m proud to be a part of it, too.
We’ve put so much time and effort into this project, and seeing it finally come together is an amazing feeling.
Old Faithful is a thing of beauty, a true testament to what we can accomplish when we work together.
She might not be the biggest or fastest engine out there, but she’s got heart—and that’s all that really matters.
As the engine comes to a stop in front of us, Marcus turns to me with a grin.
“Shall we?”
he asks, and I can see the excitement dancing in his eyes.
I nod, feeling a thrill shoot down my spine as I take my first real look at the engine.
She’s a gorgeous piece of machinery, that’s for sure.
There’s something almost magical about her, something that’s hard to put your finger on.
Maybe it’s the way she towers over us, her black steel frame gleaming in the sunlight.
Or maybe it’s the way she seems to be staring straight back at us, daring us to come closer.
I can see why Marcus fell in love with her.
He wasn’t wrong about that.
The other cars are lined up behind her, each one painted a different color and covered in solar panels.
We’ll be riding in those once we get moving.
I’m already looking forward to it.
I want to be there so badly I can taste it.
“Come on,” Marcus says, grabbing my hand and leading me towards the open door of the engine.
“There’s no time to waste.”
I follow him eagerly, willing to do whatever it takes to make this happen—whatever it takes to make his dream a reality.
We’ve been through so much together already.
What’s one more adventure?
The sun is high overhead by the time we pull into Tycho Station, and I can see our crew members waiting for us on the platform.
They’ve been working hard over these past few months, and I know they’re just as excited as we are to finally be here.
As we step down from the engine and make our way towards them, I take a moment to look around and appreciate just how far we’ve come.
