Daniel and the Magic Ticket

Daniel was not in the mood for work that day.

He was a cashier at a local gas-station and it was everything the internet said it would be. The hours were long, his boss demanded more than his contract promised and he had to subsidize his rent with money sent by his parents because the pay was exactly minimum wage. Just the other day his coworker was fired for saying the word "union" during his lunch (half-)hour and now he had to work double-shift to make-up for it.

He ran up to the transit station, his scheduled rail-train due any minute as he dug into his bag, looking for his pre-paid transit I.D. Instead, he found something peculiar.

In his bag he finds a scrap of paper. It was shiny and glossy, like it had been laminated, the surface giving off a glittery sheen. The paper -- or it might have been plastic -- was the length and width of a dollar bill and was colored in varying shades of pink. The letters were inked in gold and Daniel had trouble reading it.

While his surroundings darkened, he thought it was just a cloud blocking the sun overhead before he realized that he was suddenly alone at the train-station. The skies darkened to near black before a pair of massive headlights appeared from a fog. In-pulled a train, but it was not his usual train.

The train was painted black, but the coating was a shade that absorbed all light it touched, the only exception being what might have been starts in a galaxy. Through the windows he saw the inside looked like a train far classier and ritzier than the public transportation he was used to.

The door to the train opened and out walked a man. He was clearly not human, his features nothing but a starry night cut out in the shape of a man similar to the train. He wore a clean white suit with a purple undershirt, an orange neck-tie and a matching top-hat. The... man... reached into his pocket and pulled out a card and began to read it aloud.

"'Greetings sir or madame. We at Dreams and Reality Incorporated would like to welcome you to your very own Chosen One Adventure. You have been selected for the once in a lifetime opportunity to experience the magic and mystery of a world beyond your own. Make friends, defeat evil, find treasure and more.'" He looked up. Or at least Daniel thought he looked up. It was hard to tell when he didn't have a face. "You Daniel Halliday?"

"Uh, yeah?" Said Daniel. He hadn't moved since the train pulled in, completely at a loss.

"Ticket please," said the Starry-Man.

"Ticket?"

The Starry-Man motioned his shoulders in huff.

"Yeah. You don't have your ticket, you can't get on. Those're the rules."

Daniel looked at the strange piece of paper, still holding onto it even after this unbelievable thing started happening.

"Uh, this thing?"

He reached out a took it. He paused, presumably reading whatever was on it.

"Yup. Dat's the one. 'Daniel Halliday. Two-way trip.' Hang-on a sec. This thing's marked for 1998! You were supposed to use this thing 23 years ago."

"I would have been three at the time."

"Usually only kids board the train, something about 'impressionable youths growing into better adults' or somethin', but there's a first time for everything. These things don't expire, so whatta yah gonna do?"

He pulled out a hole-puncher and punched a hole into the ticket before giving it back to him.

"Alright, come on. We haven't got all day. I've got rounds to make."

"So, where does this train go?"

"It goes where it needs to go, now shuddup and get on."