“Ride of a Lifetime” by Pascal Farful (read by Huskyteer)

Speaker: 00:00:00

You’re listening to The Voice of Dog,

Speaker: 00:00:02

and Today’s story is

Speaker: 00:00:03

“Ride of a Lifetime”

Speaker: 00:00:05

by Pascal Farful,

Speaker: 00:00:06

who plies his trade as a writer,

Speaker: 00:00:08

musician and fursuiter

Speaker: 00:00:10

and you can find more of his stories on his FurAffinity page.

Speaker: 00:00:13

Today’s story will be read for you by Huskyteer,

Speaker: 00:00:17

one for all, and all for one.

Please enjoy: 00:00:19

“Ride of a Lifetime”

Please enjoy: 00:00:23

by Pascal Farful

Please enjoy: 00:00:27

Lukas slicked back his mullet with the water from the basin

Please enjoy: 00:00:31

and looked at himself in the mirror.

Please enjoy: 00:00:34

The possum gave himself a final check over,

Please enjoy: 00:00:36

noting his two rear teeth which poked out around the top of his muzzle,

Please enjoy: 00:00:41

the holes in his ear lobes where his earrings used to sit

Please enjoy: 00:00:44

and the faint scars in his fur.

Please enjoy: 00:00:46

First impressions were important,

Please enjoy: 00:00:49

though perhaps one should have groomed at home, and not in the toilets of London Euston

Please enjoy: 00:00:54

in the small hours of the morning.

Please enjoy: 00:00:57

As he looked at his reflection,

Please enjoy: 00:00:59

it was his outfit that he was most proud of.

Please enjoy: 00:01:02

Not the tatty, battered, worn leathers of the biker gangs he had spent much his life in.

Please enjoy: 00:01:08

No, his figure now bore the uniform of British Rail's InterCity catering staff.

Please enjoy: 00:01:14

It was smarter than he'd ever looked before.

Please enjoy: 00:01:18

He felt his lower lip curl a tad,

Please enjoy: 00:01:21

twitched to wipe a tear with his sleeve,

Please enjoy: 00:01:23

then remembered the outfit and grabbed a tissue.

Please enjoy: 00:01:27

In leather, he was a fairly big guy,

Please enjoy: 00:01:30

his size diminished somewhat in the smart shirt and apron he wore.

Please enjoy: 00:01:34

But he was clearly the kind of man who could take a few hits,

Please enjoy: 00:01:38

and his scars could cash those cheques on his behalf.

Please enjoy: 00:01:41

He walked out of the toilets and onto the newly remodelled station concourse.

Please enjoy: 00:01:47

Goodness it was pretty.

Please enjoy: 00:01:49

Lights in spires and towers

Please enjoy: 00:01:51

twinkling and sparkling over the tiled floor.

Please enjoy: 00:01:54

Gleaming kiosks selling tickets and offering information about where one could travel

Please enjoy: 00:01:59

and what things there were to see and do once you get there.

Please enjoy: 00:02:03

Truth be told, until he'd got the job, he'd never been in a train station before,

Please enjoy: 00:02:07

certainly not a leviathan like Euston itself.

Please enjoy: 00:02:12

He was aware he was meandering,

Please enjoy: 00:02:15

taking some time to pick up a few pamphlets, timetables and maps

Please enjoy: 00:02:18

so he could keep track of where he was on his travels.

Please enjoy: 00:02:22

Additionally, he had in his luggage case

Please enjoy: 00:02:24

a very cheap camera,

Please enjoy: 00:02:26

one he was given as a parting gift from his husband

Please enjoy: 00:02:29

to document his travels.

Please enjoy: 00:02:34

As he meandered, he was interrupted by a sternly voiced swan

Please enjoy: 00:02:38

in an immaculate black suit.

Please enjoy: 00:02:40

"Good heavens look at the state of you.

Please enjoy: 00:02:43

you." He squawked. Lukas's eyes focused on a small brass badge clipped to the top corner pocket of the suit jacket,

Please enjoy: 00:02:51

which read "Thomas L. Ditton -

Please enjoy: 00:02:54

InterCity Chief Operating Officer".

Please enjoy: 00:02:57

Lukas stared up at him,

Please enjoy: 00:02:59

his street breeding told him to swing for the neck

Please enjoy: 00:03:02

then embed the knee to the gut,

Please enjoy: 00:03:04

but that was then

Please enjoy: 00:03:06

and this was now.

Please enjoy: 00:03:08

"That mane of hair, those teeth,

Please enjoy: 00:03:11

good God... British Rail is supposed to look dignified and classy.

Please enjoy: 00:03:16

classy." The swan continued to grumble,

Please enjoy: 00:03:18

the fire of anger dying down into a general spluttering of disgust.

Please enjoy: 00:03:24

He turned his immaculate dress suit heels to the side

Please enjoy: 00:03:27

and started to walk off.

Please enjoy: 00:03:30

"First they turn Euston into a shed

Please enjoy: 00:03:32

and now they have street rats cooking the meals...

Please enjoy: 00:03:35

meals..." The possum shook himself,

Please enjoy: 00:03:37

grunting quietly under his breath.

Please enjoy: 00:03:39

He hadn’t come all this way,

Please enjoy: 00:03:41

worked so hard on his outfit and smartness

Please enjoy: 00:03:44

just to be knocked aside within the first few minutes.

Please enjoy: 00:03:48

He took a deep breath

Please enjoy: 00:03:50

and made his way down onto the platform.

Please enjoy: 00:03:54

From the large waiting area,

Please enjoy: 00:03:56

the route to the platforms led through a thin horizontal corridor which housed many shops and food outlets,

Please enjoy: 00:04:03

and from there were ramps down onto the cavernous platforms.

Please enjoy: 00:04:07

Lukas's train was the 05:27 service to Birmingham New Street, scheduled to arrive at around seven o'clock and was scheduled to depart from the fifteenth platform of the vast Euston station.

Please enjoy: 00:04:19

Once on the platform, that fire of excitement started to kindle itself again within Lukas.

Please enjoy: 00:04:25

There, the train sat,

Please enjoy: 00:04:27

gleaming in its black and white colour scheme,

Please enjoy: 00:04:30

little orange stripe down the side and the capital letter insignia of

Please enjoy: 00:04:34

"INTERCITY" emblazoned upon it in shiny lettering.

Please enjoy: 00:04:38

The possum moved up along the train,

Please enjoy: 00:04:41

first passing the driving luggage trailer at the back,

Please enjoy: 00:04:44

with its angular pointy snout and cubic form,

Please enjoy: 00:04:47

then passing two slightly curvy coaches,

Please enjoy: 00:04:50

older, but with a bright, thick yellow stripe across the roofline

Please enjoy: 00:04:54

indicating that they were for First Class passengers.

Please enjoy: 00:04:58

The fourth vehicle along matched the design of the cab coach at the rear;

Please enjoy: 00:05:02

Angular and square in stature,

Please enjoy: 00:05:05

sporting more of the first class seating and then

Please enjoy: 00:05:07

taking up the northern half of the carriage

Please enjoy: 00:05:09

was the large kitchen,

Please enjoy: 00:05:11

evidenced by the red stripe which replaced the yellow one as it moved along the top of the coach.

Please enjoy: 00:05:17

Lukas paused and looked up the length of the train,

Please enjoy: 00:05:20

the rest of the Standard Class coaches more like the two first class ones in design

Please enjoy: 00:05:25

and a large, loud and boxy locomotive at the far end.

Please enjoy: 00:05:29

He hoped that in his travels

Please enjoy: 00:05:31

he might be able to get better acquainted with it

Please enjoy: 00:05:34

and some of the other locomotives on the route.

Please enjoy: 00:05:37

The possum opened the door to the buffet car and climbed aboard. He noted the manual-opening doors with sliding windows

Please enjoy: 00:05:44

and the public address system in the vestibule,

Please enjoy: 00:05:46

before making his way into the kitchen.

Please enjoy: 00:05:49

He stored his bag

Please enjoy: 00:05:51

and started to get acquainted with the equipment.

Please enjoy: 00:05:55

There was a small fridge, containing cheeses, meats and assorted perishables.

Please enjoy: 00:06:00

The kitchen also contained two grills,

Please enjoy: 00:06:03

assorted plates to put things on

Please enjoy: 00:06:05

and a copy of the same menu the passengers had

Please enjoy: 00:06:08

so Lukas knew what might be tasked of him.

Please enjoy: 00:06:12

His workspace was rather dimly lit

Please enjoy: 00:06:15

and only really big enough for one person to work comfortably.

Please enjoy: 00:06:19

It was microscopic compared to the kitchens of a normal street restaurant or diner,

Please enjoy: 00:06:24

but the possum was keen to make it work.

Please enjoy: 00:06:27

Judging by the few people on the station

Please enjoy: 00:06:30

and how few people seemed to already be aboard,

Please enjoy: 00:06:33

he didn’t anticipate an intensive first shift.

Please enjoy: 00:06:37

In accordance with his limited and slap-dash training,

Please enjoy: 00:06:40

Lukas began to set up the kitchen.

Please enjoy: 00:06:43

He noted that one grill was for dairy products, the other for meat and bread,

Please enjoy: 00:06:48

that the grills were to be left on while the train was in motion

Please enjoy: 00:06:51

and that the draws and cupboards had labels on them to identify where all the ingredients and utensils were stored.

Please enjoy: 00:06:59

During the training, the possum had disagreed fundamentally about the grill remaining on,

Please enjoy: 00:07:04

though it had been stressed to him that,

Please enjoy: 00:07:06

providing he remained in the kitchen,

Please enjoy: 00:07:09

it wouldn’t be an issue.

Please enjoy: 00:07:11

The desk next to the kitchen was soon taken up by another member of train staff

Please enjoy: 00:07:16

and at half past 5, the 05:27

Please enjoy: 00:07:18

service left Euston.

Please enjoy: 00:07:21

With a bronze sky overhead,

Please enjoy: 00:07:23

the train trundled its way out of the core of the capital

Please enjoy: 00:07:26

and headed for the Midlands.

Please enjoy: 00:07:29

The kitchen's lack of windows was at first a modest doldrum,

Please enjoy: 00:07:33

a view of this bronze sky being denied to the possum,

Please enjoy: 00:07:37

but before long it became a little more irritating,

Please enjoy: 00:07:40

the coach's soft swaying had started to set in a bit of nausea.

Please enjoy: 00:07:46

"Alright, that's two bacon and egg fried sandwiches.

Please enjoy: 00:07:49

sandwiches." was a call from outside the kitchen.

Please enjoy: 00:07:52

Lucas looked across.

Please enjoy: 00:07:54

A paw was reaching across the doorway to the kitchen and over the buffet counter,

Please enjoy: 00:07:59

holding a small piece of blue paper with the order written upon it.

Please enjoy: 00:08:03

Lukas nodded and took the piece of paper from the outstretched paw.

Please enjoy: 00:08:08

Like all things British Rail,

Please enjoy: 00:08:10

a sandwich had to be prepared a specific way.

Please enjoy: 00:08:14

The limited training Lukas had been given included extensive rules about the aesthetic presentation of food

Please enjoy: 00:08:21

and provided him with a guidebook for these standards.

Please enjoy: 00:08:25

In a spot of forward planning,

Please enjoy: 00:08:26

Lukas had brought the guide with him.

Please enjoy: 00:08:29

Keen to knock it out of the park on his first test,

Please enjoy: 00:08:32

he placed the order down on the counter and pulled the guide out of his pocket.

Please enjoy: 00:08:37

His eyes tried to focus on the text,

Please enjoy: 00:08:40

but as the carriage swayed from side to side, he couldn't make sense of it.

Please enjoy: 00:08:44

He grumbled and put the guide back in his pocket,

Please enjoy: 00:08:47

aware of the ticking clock.

Please enjoy: 00:08:50

By the time the train had made it to Watford,

Please enjoy: 00:08:53

Lukas had finished cooking all the ingredients and had the sandwich assembled.

Please enjoy: 00:08:57

To assess his work quickly, he pulled out the guide once again.

Please enjoy: 00:09:02

As he looked between his creations and the picture,

Please enjoy: 00:09:06

he could notice a lack of neatness and form.

Please enjoy: 00:09:09

He’d plied his cookery trade in street food

Please enjoy: 00:09:12

where perfect aesthetic form was hardly a consideration compared to making something with some zest.

Please enjoy: 00:09:19

It seemed he’d have to learn it.

Please enjoy: 00:09:23

Once done, Lukas stepped out from the kitchen and placed them atop the counter.

Please enjoy: 00:09:28

His voice crackled like an old radio as he started to speak.

Please enjoy: 00:09:32

"Got the sandwiches here.

Please enjoy: 00:09:33

here." He called, his voice a mixture of rough south London bruiser

Please enjoy: 00:09:37

and the gleeful excitement at the fancy world he now found himself in.

Please enjoy: 00:09:42

The bar itself was currently unstaffed,

Please enjoy: 00:09:45

giving Lukas an eye-watering view out of the windows at the hills of Hertfordshire near Kings Langley.

Please enjoy: 00:09:51

"Fuck me, look at that...

Please enjoy: 00:09:53

that..." he muttered, jaw sagging a tad.

Please enjoy: 00:09:57

He'd never seen such greenery before.

Please enjoy: 00:10:00

Fields and trees and hills for as far as the eye could see,

Please enjoy: 00:10:03

spreading off into the distance,

Please enjoy: 00:10:06

rolling like blankets of nature draped over the land.

Please enjoy: 00:10:10

"Thanks." came a voice,

Please enjoy: 00:10:12

causing Lukas to snap out of his trance.

Please enjoy: 00:10:15

The voice belonged to a dobermann,

Please enjoy: 00:10:18

clad a white shirt with red cravat and black trousers.

Please enjoy: 00:10:22

The shirt also had a small badge with the name “Francesca” written on it. "Oh uhhh,

Please enjoy: 00:10:27

no problem." He chuckled,

Please enjoy: 00:10:30

rubbing the back of his head a tad,

Please enjoy: 00:10:32

having replied a few seconds after she had left earshot.

Please enjoy: 00:10:36

Sheepishly, Lukas disappeared back inside of the kitchen,

Please enjoy: 00:10:40

washed his hands and prepared for the next orders.

Please enjoy: 00:10:44

By the time the train had made its way through Bletchley, towards its first stop in Milton Keynes,

Please enjoy: 00:10:49

he’d already made breakfast for the few first-class passengers on board.

Please enjoy: 00:10:55

As the train came to a stop in what,

Please enjoy: 00:10:57

to Lukas alone,

Please enjoy: 00:10:59

was a new, exciting and scenic spot,

Please enjoy: 00:11:02

the possum grabbed his camera and moved out of the kitchen,

Please enjoy: 00:11:05

past the bar counter

Please enjoy: 00:11:07

and around to the passenger door.

Please enjoy: 00:11:10

He pulled down the window and

Please enjoy: 00:11:11

peered out at the station itself.

Please enjoy: 00:11:15

Lukas’s eyes fell upon a temple of vast, magnificent grey concrete rectangles,

Please enjoy: 00:11:20

bound together by matching concrete corridors and pillars,

Please enjoy: 00:11:24

proud and bold in their unrelenting cubism

Please enjoy: 00:11:27

and exquisite grey and mild red paintwork.

Please enjoy: 00:11:31

They stood as monolithic landmarks,

Please enjoy: 00:11:34

conquering the flat landscape.

Please enjoy: 00:11:36

Enchanted, Lukas lifted his camera,

Please enjoy: 00:11:39

snapped a picture.

Please enjoy: 00:11:41

He looked around, noting that many people had gotten off and on.

Please enjoy: 00:11:45

"Cor... no wonder people come here a lot.

Please enjoy: 00:11:48

Beautiful," He quipped,

Please enjoy: 00:11:50

a grin smeared across his muzzle.

Please enjoy: 00:11:53

Aware of his employment,

Please enjoy: 00:11:55

he pulled the window back up and turned to go back to the kitchen,

Please enjoy: 00:11:59

though was halted for a moment by the puzzled look on the face of the dobermann behind the counter.

Please enjoy: 00:12:05

"You're in Milton Keynes, y'know,”

Please enjoy: 00:12:07

Francesca grumbled.

Please enjoy: 00:12:09

“It's barely better than Slough."

Please enjoy: 00:12:11

"Slough?” Lukas asked,

Please enjoy: 00:12:14

moving around to the front of the counter.

Please enjoy: 00:12:17

“What d’ya suppose that's like?"

Please enjoy: 00:12:19

The dobermann paused,

Please enjoy: 00:12:21

paw moving towards her head as the train began to move again.

Please enjoy: 00:12:26

"You haven't got out much, have you?"

Please enjoy: 00:12:29

Lukas shook his head, putting his camera away.

Please enjoy: 00:12:33

"Not really, born and raised in Brixton, furthest I've ever been is Enfield.

Please enjoy: 00:12:37

Enfield." He said. "It's why I got a job as a railway cook.

Please enjoy: 00:12:41

Want to go see the sights.

Please enjoy: 00:12:43

sights." The possum smiled. "...

Please enjoy: 00:12:45

"...of Watford, Milton Keynes and Birmingham?"

Please enjoy: 00:12:50

He nodded vigorously.

Please enjoy: 00:12:52

"Yeah! If I don't go looking at things,

Please enjoy: 00:12:55

how will I know what they're like?"

Please enjoy: 00:12:58

Francesca continued to look bemused at him,

Please enjoy: 00:13:01

then shrugged and turned back to the desk.

Please enjoy: 00:13:04

“God I’d kill for your enthusiasm.”

Please enjoy: 00:13:06

She grumbled. “I’ve been stuck running this counter for a couple years.

Please enjoy: 00:13:11

Dealing with arrogant, drunk office schmucks day in, day out, tends to make you jaded.”

Please enjoy: 00:13:17

Lukas nodded and made his way back into the kitchen.

Please enjoy: 00:13:21

The possum’s journey continued from Milton Keynes through the valleys of Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire,

Please enjoy: 00:13:27

to Warwickshire and the town of Rugby,

Please enjoy: 00:13:30

making more meals all the way.

Please enjoy: 00:13:33

Rugby featured a vast ironwork bridge constructed perpendicular across the station itself.

Please enjoy: 00:13:39

The purpose for the bridge was long gone,

Please enjoy: 00:13:42

destroyed on the path to progress,

Please enjoy: 00:13:44

progress like the kind Lukas was now riding.

Please enjoy: 00:13:49

But the vast ironwork, now more of a birdcage,

Please enjoy: 00:13:52

still stood with chipping paint,

Please enjoy: 00:13:54

spanning across the central island platform which made up the station,

Please enjoy: 00:13:58

trapping it like a possum in a snare.

Please enjoy: 00:14:02

Once again, Lukas made his way to the door and

Please enjoy: 00:14:05

peered his head out of the window.

Please enjoy: 00:14:08

The train slid into the platform and the steel frame cast its shadow over everything.

Please enjoy: 00:14:14

He took out his camera, ready to start photographing from the doorway,

Please enjoy: 00:14:18

but was stopped by an announcement over the station’s public address system:

Please enjoy: 00:14:23

"Passengers be advised, this train will be at a stand for 5 minutes while another train passes.

Please enjoy: 00:14:30

passes." He took a glance back to make sure he wasn't needed in the kitchen,

Please enjoy: 00:14:35

earning another sigh from the dobermann,

Please enjoy: 00:14:37

before he reached down to the door handle,

Please enjoy: 00:14:40

swung open the door and stepped onto the platform.

Please enjoy: 00:14:43

He was aware that he had limited pictures on the camera

Please enjoy: 00:14:47

and that there was a solid chance someone was going to take exception to his antics.

Please enjoy: 00:14:51

With this in mind,

Please enjoy: 00:14:53

he took one shot up the length of the train facing towards the front,

Please enjoy: 00:14:57

getting in the long curve of the platform with the ironwork casting shade on it

Please enjoy: 00:15:02

and then turned to get a picture down towards where the train had come,

Please enjoy: 00:15:06

able to see from here the mass of junctions

Please enjoy: 00:15:08

which lead to London and Northampton.

Please enjoy: 00:15:11

Lukas looked back to the door to see if he was being watched,

Please enjoy: 00:15:15

noticing Francesca stood in the carriage doorway,

Please enjoy: 00:15:18

arms folded, though otherwise nobody was in sight.

Please enjoy: 00:15:23

Not wanting to try his luck too much,

Please enjoy: 00:15:25

he turned on his heels and clambered back into the buffet car.

Please enjoy: 00:15:29

However, Lukas's adventure

Please enjoy: 00:15:31

had not gone unnoticed.

Please enjoy: 00:15:34

Once back aboard,

Please enjoy: 00:15:36

the possum put the camera back in his baggage and moved back to the kitchen once again.

Please enjoy: 00:15:42

"Ahem.” Heart shuddering,

Please enjoy: 00:15:45

Lukas poked his head back out of the kitchen,

Please enjoy: 00:15:48

to see a rather tall elk looking at him through a pair of expensive-looking spectacles.

Please enjoy: 00:15:55

"I see you've got excess time on your hands.

Please enjoy: 00:15:57

hands." He said. “Enough time to leave the kitchen unattended

Please enjoy: 00:16:03

and swan off on adventures.”

Please enjoy: 00:16:06

The possum remained silent,

Please enjoy: 00:16:08

just looking right back at the suited figure,

Please enjoy: 00:16:11

noting that, like the swan in Euston,

Please enjoy: 00:16:14

he had a little InterCity name badge clipped to his suit blazer pocket

Please enjoy: 00:16:18

which read "Clifford St. James".

Please enjoy: 00:16:22

Lukas’s blood started to heat up again.

Please enjoy: 00:16:25

"In which case," The elk began,

Please enjoy: 00:16:28

turning his head towards a small, rather rickety trolly.

Please enjoy: 00:16:32

"Take that trolly through second class and see if your curiosity can't flog a few sandwiches, eh?"

Please enjoy: 00:16:39

The modernisation to calling it

Please enjoy: 00:16:41

"standard class" not "second class"

Please enjoy: 00:16:44

was not within the elk's lexicon.

Please enjoy: 00:16:47

The possum moved to secure the kitchen

Please enjoy: 00:16:50

but was stopped by the elk.

Please enjoy: 00:16:53

"Now." Clifford ordered.

Please enjoy: 00:16:57

Lukas took a deep breath, aware he was losing his nerve.

Please enjoy: 00:17:01

He nodded and left the kitchen to take up the trolly,

Please enjoy: 00:17:04

but the elk put out an arm to stop him.

Please enjoy: 00:17:07

"Oh, and before you go,

Please enjoy: 00:17:10

you won't be using that apron anymore.

Please enjoy: 00:17:12

anymore." The elk informed him.

Please enjoy: 00:17:16

The possum snapped.

Please enjoy: 00:17:18

Brow furrowed, glaring straight up at Clifford.

Please enjoy: 00:17:22

“You’ve got to be kidding, right?”

Please enjoy: 00:17:24

He growled. “You’re firing me,

Please enjoy: 00:17:26

right now, for that?”

Please enjoy: 00:17:29

Clifford simply glared back.

Please enjoy: 00:17:32

“Are you going to do what I tell you,

Please enjoy: 00:17:34

or am I going to have to kick you off of this train?”

Please enjoy: 00:17:39

Lukas looked between Clifford and Francesca,

Please enjoy: 00:17:42

and then at the door,

Please enjoy: 00:17:44

before sighing and tugging the apron over his head and holding it out to the elk,

Please enjoy: 00:17:49

clutched vice-tight in his hand.

Please enjoy: 00:17:52

"Good, now don't disappoint me again.

Please enjoy: 00:17:55

again." Clifford grunted,

Please enjoy: 00:17:57

taking the apron and placing it on the bar top,

Please enjoy: 00:18:00

then turning and walking back into first class.

Please enjoy: 00:18:03

"You, follow me." The elk instructed Francesca,

Please enjoy: 00:18:08

leading her into the first class coaches,

Please enjoy: 00:18:11

leaving the possum alone with his punishment.

Please enjoy: 00:18:14

The trolly was light and on caster wheels,

Please enjoy: 00:18:17

none of which were equal in their manner of moving,

Please enjoy: 00:18:20

making the thing hard to steer.

Please enjoy: 00:18:22

Lukas’s efforts to guide the trolly through the train only caused his temper to compound.

Please enjoy: 00:18:28

The first of the five coaches the possum had to serve was the busiest,

Please enjoy: 00:18:32

though still reasonably quiet.

Please enjoy: 00:18:35

With no training in selling from a trolly and no job to lose,

Please enjoy: 00:18:39

Lukas let his experience in the markets take over.

Please enjoy: 00:18:43

“Good morning everybody and welcome to the snack trolly!"

Please enjoy: 00:18:46

Lukas announced loudly,

Please enjoy: 00:18:48

the passengers all turning sharply to face him.

Please enjoy: 00:18:51

“We’ve got sandwiches, juice boxes, biscuits, I don’t even know what that is,

Please enjoy: 00:18:56

bottles of cola and…”

Please enjoy: 00:18:58

Lukas stalled, realising his performance enthusiasm was not shared by the rest of the carriage.

Please enjoy: 00:19:04

“…and that’s about it,”

Please enjoy: 00:19:06

he muttered at last.

Please enjoy: 00:19:08

The resulting silence was deafening.

Please enjoy: 00:19:11

Eventually, a meerkat seemed to pity him and buy one of the sandwiches,

Please enjoy: 00:19:15

though the rest returned to looking out of the window or talking among themselves

Please enjoy: 00:19:20

as the train gained motion again.

Please enjoy: 00:19:22

Lukas looked at the coins spinning around the jar as he moved for the next coach along.

Please enjoy: 00:19:27

He didn't know how much he was supposed to be earning to satisfy the elk,

Please enjoy: 00:19:31

but a couple of pounds was unlikely to be enough.

Please enjoy: 00:19:34

He was dismayed to find his options for selling things in the next coach were reduced significantly

Please enjoy: 00:19:39

as the passenger numbers seemed to dwindle.

Please enjoy: 00:19:42

As he moved closer to the front,

Please enjoy: 00:19:44

the sound of the locomotive grew louder, making it harder to hear himself think.

Please enjoy: 00:19:49

While Lukas desired to get better acquainted with the locomotive,

Please enjoy: 00:19:53

this wasn’t what he intended.

Please enjoy: 00:19:57

Lukas' onward progress was stopped at last by a voice from one of the seats.

Please enjoy: 00:20:02

"Oh, hello there, I do believe you were the inquisitive chap on the platform.

Please enjoy: 00:20:07

platform." The possum turned around to see a red fox in a white shirt and a waistcoat sitting in one of the forward-facing aisle seats.

Please enjoy: 00:20:14

Seemingly cut from the same upper-middle class cloth

Please enjoy: 00:20:17

as Clifford. The possum nodded.

Please enjoy: 00:20:21

“Yeah, that was me.”

Please enjoy: 00:20:23

"Public relations, I take it?

Please enjoy: 00:20:25

Though, you seemed a lot more chipper on the platform, I must confess.

Please enjoy: 00:20:29

confess." The fox chuckled nervously.

Please enjoy: 00:20:32

Lukas toiled with whether he was allowed to sit down,

Please enjoy: 00:20:36

but realised that he was likely to be punished regardless of his choices,

Please enjoy: 00:20:40

so took a seat in the chair facing the fox,

Please enjoy: 00:20:43

the table between them.

Please enjoy: 00:20:45

"Well, if pawning off sandwiches and non-descript boxes of nuts counts as public relations, then yeah, I guess that's what I am now"

Please enjoy: 00:20:52

The possum grumbled.

Please enjoy: 00:20:53

"I was hired as the chef but that...

Please enjoy: 00:20:56

hasn't planned out the way I hoped.

Please enjoy: 00:20:59

hoped." Lukas explained the elk confiscating his apron and the fox began to ponder.

Please enjoy: 00:21:05

"Well, if you're not the chef, then who is?"

Please enjoy: 00:21:10

The possum paused.

Please enjoy: 00:21:13

"I don't think anybody is.

Please enjoy: 00:21:14

is." He muttered. The fox scoffed,

Please enjoy: 00:21:18

turning to look out of the window.

Please enjoy: 00:21:21

“Well, it’s a good thing I just got my breakfast then.

Please enjoy: 00:21:24

Wonder if the stove’s warm enough to sling another egg on, hmm?”

Please enjoy: 00:21:28

For the second time in 15 minutes,

Please enjoy: 00:21:31

Lukas's soul seemed to drop out of his feet.

Please enjoy: 00:21:34

If nobody had been in the kitchen,

Please enjoy: 00:21:36

the cookers were probably still turned on.

Please enjoy: 00:21:40

"Oh fuck!" The possum cried,

Please enjoy: 00:21:42

scrambling to his feet and bolting up the train towards the buffet car.

Please enjoy: 00:21:47

Each carriage the possum moved between felt like canal locks.

Please enjoy: 00:21:52

The doors between them did not share Lukas’ hurry.

Please enjoy: 00:21:55

They parted slowly and with a pathetic squeak.

Please enjoy: 00:21:59

Worse, the pressure plates that operated them matched the speed of the trolly movement,

Please enjoy: 00:22:03

but not of him. He'd sprint down the aisle,

Please enjoy: 00:22:07

stop on the pressure plate for the doors to slowly part,

Please enjoy: 00:22:10

run through the gangway and down the next coach to another set of doors.

Please enjoy: 00:22:14

As he got closer, he could smell burning. "C'mon, c'mon!" He growled as the fifth and final set of doors between him and the kitchen stood before him.

Please enjoy: 00:22:25

Finally, he saw it.

Please enjoy: 00:22:27

Thick smoke pouring from the kitchen.

Please enjoy: 00:22:30

Nobody around to stop it.

Please enjoy: 00:22:33

Finally, the last set of doors parted

Please enjoy: 00:22:35

and the possum vaulted over the counter,

Please enjoy: 00:22:38

grabbing a fire extinguisher.

Please enjoy: 00:22:40

The kitchen by now was well alight,

Please enjoy: 00:22:42

a few boxes lying on the cookers,

Please enjoy: 00:22:44

ablaze from the meat fats that had built up on top.

Please enjoy: 00:22:48

Lukas was not aware of the exact fire procedures for putting out a blaze,

Please enjoy: 00:22:53

but he wasn’t going to stand by while they all burned.

Please enjoy: 00:22:56

He unleashed the extinguisher onto the cookers.

Please enjoy: 00:22:59

Once the fire was pushed back enough,

Please enjoy: 00:23:02

he stepped forth and turned off the heat.

Please enjoy: 00:23:05

Lukas yelped and stumbled back as the controls scolded his hands.

Please enjoy: 00:23:09

By now people had rushed from the surrounding carriages to find out what the problem was.

Please enjoy: 00:23:14

The extinguisher did a fairly solid job getting the flames down to the point where Lukas could re-enter the kitchen again.

Please enjoy: 00:23:22

The fire still raged on the hob

Please enjoy: 00:23:24

and it seemed the extinguisher wasn't going to hold it down.

Please enjoy: 00:23:28

He needed something to smother it.

Please enjoy: 00:23:31

Lukas turned around,

Please enjoy: 00:23:32

seeing his apron still sat on the bar top.

Please enjoy: 00:23:35

Without hesitating, he grabbed it and threw it over the flames,

Please enjoy: 00:23:39

using his paws to smother them out.

Please enjoy: 00:23:42

He winced again from the heat

Please enjoy: 00:23:44

and then tugged the apron clear to stop it igniting too,

Please enjoy: 00:23:48

falling back to the floor, breathless.

Please enjoy: 00:23:50

Lukas became aware that he had all eyes on him.

Please enjoy: 00:23:54

His hands burned.

Please enjoy: 00:23:56

He whimpered as he tried to use them to get to his feet,

Please enjoy: 00:24:00

only to see Clifford and Francesca stood in the doorway of the kitchen looking back at him.

Please enjoy: 00:24:05

The elk's eyes darted around the room,

Please enjoy: 00:24:07

a thick red flush on his face,

Please enjoy: 00:24:09

with the dobermann looking over at him.

Please enjoy: 00:24:11

"You didn't let him turn off the hob, did you?"

Please enjoy: 00:24:14

She said. "Shush!" He grumbled,

Please enjoy: 00:24:18

losing track of his words as he seemed to scramble for a magical undo button which he never found.

Please enjoy: 00:24:24

"God, if my manager hears about this, I'll,

Please enjoy: 00:24:26

I’ll..." “I’ll have a fucking field day…”

Please enjoy: 00:24:30

Francesca smirked,

Please enjoy: 00:24:31

earning a glare from the elk,

Please enjoy: 00:24:33

one she didn’t seem to register.

Please enjoy: 00:24:36

"Is the kitchen damaged?"

Please enjoy: 00:24:38

Clifford barked at Lukas.

Please enjoy: 00:24:40

"Ask the chef." Lukas replied.

Please enjoy: 00:24:44

Clifford's rage dripped from his lips.

Please enjoy: 00:24:47

"You are the chef!"

Please enjoy: 00:24:49

He barked. The possum looked back up with a grin.

Please enjoy: 00:24:54

"I was hoping you'd say that.

Please enjoy: 00:24:56

that." At last, someone helped Lukas towards his feet,

Please enjoy: 00:25:00

though it was neither of the staff members before him.

Please enjoy: 00:25:03

"Blimey, look at your hands.

Please enjoy: 00:25:05

hands." The fox mumbled. The vulpine grabbed some kitchen paper,

Please enjoy: 00:25:10

wet it and then wrapped it like bandages around Lukas's burned hands,

Please enjoy: 00:25:14

the latter whimpering a tad as they were applied.

Please enjoy: 00:25:17

"Where are we?" The possum asked,

Please enjoy: 00:25:19

noting Clifford’s absence.

Please enjoy: 00:25:21

"Coventry, just pulled in now.

Please enjoy: 00:25:23

now." Francesca replied.

Please enjoy: 00:25:25

Lukas grumbled in frustration.

Please enjoy: 00:25:28

He still had the twitch of excitement to go looking around a new location but

Please enjoy: 00:25:32

the pain in his hands and that sting of mistreatment kept his head sharp and enthusiasm subdued.

Please enjoy: 00:25:38

“Fucking Christ, I just wanted to flip some burgers and this is what I get.”

Please enjoy: 00:25:43

There was a loud crackling sound coming from the centre of the carriage.

Please enjoy: 00:25:47

"Customers be advised.

Please enjoy: 00:25:49

advised." Was the voice, Clifford's,

Please enjoy: 00:25:51

over the PA system in the vestibule.

Please enjoy: 00:25:54

"A small fire has taken place in the buffet car.

Please enjoy: 00:25:59

It has been extinguished

Please enjoy: 00:26:01

but we will be pausing for a few moments in Coventry

Please enjoy: 00:26:04

to ensure that nothing has been damaged.

Please enjoy: 00:26:07

damaged." The crackling then stopped.

Please enjoy: 00:26:10

Clifford burst into the kitchen again.

Please enjoy: 00:26:13

"Can you still cook?"

Please enjoy: 00:26:14

He asked. The vulpine had a double-take.

Please enjoy: 00:26:18

"It's only 20 minutes to New Street,

Please enjoy: 00:26:21

is someone liable to order a roast duck with honey and plumbs for that trip?"

Please enjoy: 00:26:25

The fox asked. The elk stared sharply at the fox and took a breath.

Please enjoy: 00:26:31

"He will need to cook on this train when it returns to Euston or runs north to Glasgow.

Please enjoy: 00:26:37

I need to know if I'll need a replacement chef, esquire.

Please enjoy: 00:26:40

esquire." He snarled sarcastically to the fox.

Please enjoy: 00:26:44

The two smartest dressed men of the room glared at one another

Please enjoy: 00:26:48

as Lukas composed himself.

Please enjoy: 00:26:50

"Darlings, darlings.

Please enjoy: 00:26:52

While I'd love to referee a street fight, now's not really a good time.”

Please enjoy: 00:26:55

Lukas mumbled. “If I'm still the chef, then I'll

Please enjoy: 00:26:59

cook in this train or any other one.

Please enjoy: 00:27:01

one." The possum affirmed.

Please enjoy: 00:27:03

Clifford nodded. "Depends if they take this thing out of service." he said.

Please enjoy: 00:27:09

"Clean this up and I'll report back to you by Birmingham International at the latest.

Please enjoy: 00:27:14

latest." The door closed behind the elk,

Please enjoy: 00:27:17

leaving the fox and the possum together.

Please enjoy: 00:27:20

The two fell to silence as the train started to move again

Please enjoy: 00:27:23

and they started to clean up the kitchen,

Please enjoy: 00:27:26

putting burned things to one side,

Please enjoy: 00:27:28

stocking what was damaged, lost or destroyed

Please enjoy: 00:27:30

and giving things a wipe clean.

Please enjoy: 00:27:33

The smoke that hung in the air continued to make Lukas’ nausea worse.

Please enjoy: 00:27:37

"I never did catch your name.

Please enjoy: 00:27:39

name." The fox said. "I'm Elliott,

Please enjoy: 00:27:42

pleased to meet you."

Please enjoy: 00:27:44

"Lukas." The possum said.

Please enjoy: 00:27:47

"I would shake your mitt but, y’know…"

Please enjoy: 00:27:49

the possum raised his bandaged hands.

Please enjoy: 00:27:53

Before long, the kitchen had been cleaned,

Please enjoy: 00:27:55

with all the burned boxes and ruined food placed in a pile

Please enjoy: 00:27:58

and the burn marks had been mostly cleaned off.

Please enjoy: 00:28:02

From here it was down to electrical worthiness,

Please enjoy: 00:28:04

a field neither Lukas nor Elliott were qualified in.

Please enjoy: 00:28:08

Hence, they moved to the bar counter,

Please enjoy: 00:28:10

leaning on it and watching the world go by past the window.

Please enjoy: 00:28:15

As he did so, Lukas began to reminisce on the adventure of all of this.

Please enjoy: 00:28:20

He was miles away from anywhere he'd ever been.

Please enjoy: 00:28:23

The large open fields had become small nested towns

Please enjoy: 00:28:27

which grew more and more built up as they went.

Please enjoy: 00:28:30

As the burning of his hands began to ease,

Please enjoy: 00:28:33

the fire of adventure began to rekindle again.

Please enjoy: 00:28:37

"Have you been to Birmingham before?"

Please enjoy: 00:28:39

Lukas asked. "Yes, this is my commute.

Please enjoy: 00:28:43

From Rugby, you see.

Please enjoy: 00:28:44

see." The fox replied. "I'd love to travel like this every day, seeing the hills and the trees and the fields go by.”

Please enjoy: 00:28:52

The possum sighed. “It’s why I took the job really.

Please enjoy: 00:28:55

Sick of sitting around the same scraps of London all my life.”

Please enjoy: 00:28:59

“You never stretched your legs before?”

Please enjoy: 00:29:03

Lukas shook his head

Please enjoy: 00:29:05

“No, not really. I never had the chance, the money,

Please enjoy: 00:29:08

the ability to go adventuring before now.”

Please enjoy: 00:29:11

Elliott laughed. "I suppose you'll be traveling a lot with your work now.

Please enjoy: 00:29:17

Think Birmingham sounds exciting,

Please enjoy: 00:29:19

wait until you see Glasgow or Carlisle.

Please enjoy: 00:29:21

Carlisle." He smirked. At this point, the kitchen door was opened again by Clifford.

Please enjoy: 00:29:28

"Alright, they're going to take this train out of service at New Street.

Please enjoy: 00:29:33

Get your belongings together,

Please enjoy: 00:29:34

we should be through in about 10 minutes.

Please enjoy: 00:29:36

minutes." The elk said, the train rushing through the rather new Birmingham International station,

Please enjoy: 00:29:42

signalling their impending arrival to their terminus.

Please enjoy: 00:29:46

"There'll be a half hour break before the next train you can work on will come in,

Please enjoy: 00:29:50

if you report to the station office at seven-thirty, they should point you in the right direction.

Please enjoy: 00:29:55

direction." Lukas nodded. "Alright,

Please enjoy: 00:29:58

will do." The possum said,

Please enjoy: 00:30:00

starting to gather his things.

Please enjoy: 00:30:04

There was a pause, the elk still stood in the door.

Please enjoy: 00:30:09

"Lukas." Clifford said,

Please enjoy: 00:30:12

the possum raising his head.

Please enjoy: 00:30:15

"I'm sorry." Lukas stopped dead, speechless,

Please enjoy: 00:30:20

Clifford looking right back at him.

Please enjoy: 00:30:23

Before the possum could say anything,

Please enjoy: 00:30:25

Clifford slammed the door closed and moved back to the public address,

Please enjoy: 00:30:29

informing the passengers of their impending arrival into Birmingham New Street.

Please enjoy: 00:30:33

With his belongings packed up,

Please enjoy: 00:30:35

Lukas moved towards the carriage door, pulling down

Please enjoy: 00:30:38

the window and feeling the air rush against his face.

Please enjoy: 00:30:42

He watched tracks mingle and merge,

Please enjoy: 00:30:44

the city of Birmingham expanding all around the train as it entered its heart.

Please enjoy: 00:30:49

Different little trains would worm around,

Please enjoy: 00:30:52

appear and disappear,

Please enjoy: 00:30:54

passing by the other way or being overtaken,

Please enjoy: 00:30:57

arteries and veins feeding the city.

Please enjoy: 00:31:00

The train slowed to a crawl and began to ease down a gradient as it slid underground,

Please enjoy: 00:31:05

through a long dark tunnel,

Please enjoy: 00:31:07

and popping out again into the bright crystal blue light of a brave morning.

Please enjoy: 00:31:12

This proud sunlight soaked the protruding platform tips of Birmingham New Street station;

Please enjoy: 00:31:18

the rest hidden under a large box-like structure on the top.

Please enjoy: 00:31:22

As the train came to a stop,

Please enjoy: 00:31:24

Lukas, with his camera around his neck and bag in hand,

Please enjoy: 00:31:28

stepped out of the train and onto the platform of a place far, far from home.

Please enjoy: 00:31:34

His eyes darted from the dark cavernous station centre

Please enjoy: 00:31:37

which people made their way towards,

Please enjoy: 00:31:39

to the uncompromising pillars holding up the massive and featureless concrete slab of a roof,

Please enjoy: 00:31:45

to the hundreds of little wires

Please enjoy: 00:31:47

which carried the electrical cable powering some of the trains,

Please enjoy: 00:31:50

which to his eyes

Please enjoy: 00:31:52

was just a knotted web of magic.

Please enjoy: 00:31:54

His trance was interrupted by a hug from the fox.

Please enjoy: 00:31:58

"Be safe. I hope I'll see you again someday.

Please enjoy: 00:32:01

someday." Elliott said. The possum gulped. "I...

Please enjoy: 00:32:05

I hadn't clocked that this was goodbye."

Please enjoy: 00:32:09

"Well, for now. That's the thing about the world,

Please enjoy: 00:32:13

you always end up bumping into people again.

Please enjoy: 00:32:15

again." The fox said, unwrapping his arms from around the possum and then stepping back,

Please enjoy: 00:32:20

moving further down the platform towards the exits.

Please enjoy: 00:32:24

The two waved farewell to one another,

Please enjoy: 00:32:26

Lukas doing so a tad limply,

Please enjoy: 00:32:28

watching as the fox disappeared into the throng of people.

Please enjoy: 00:32:32

The possum took up his camera again

Please enjoy: 00:32:35

and started to document his new surroundings,

Please enjoy: 00:32:38

the gleaming new trains, the rickety old ones,

Please enjoy: 00:32:41

the wires, the concrete slab architecture, the view of the city above,

Please enjoy: 00:32:46

and then he'd make his way up the platform,

Please enjoy: 00:32:48

seeing Francesca stood waiting for him.

Please enjoy: 00:32:52

And as he did so,

Please enjoy: 00:32:54

it brought a tear to Lukas's eye to realise that,

Please enjoy: 00:32:57

what had felt like the ride of a lifetime

Please enjoy: 00:33:01

was really, only the start of something much,

Please enjoy: 00:33:04

much bigger. This was

Please enjoy: 00:33:09

“Ride of a Lifetime”

Please enjoy: 00:33:10

by Pascal Farful, read for you by Huskyteer, all for one and

Please enjoy: 00:33:14

one for all. You can find

Please enjoy: 00:33:17

more stories on the web

Please enjoy: 00:33:25

at thevoice.dog,

Please enjoy: 00:33:27

or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.

Please enjoy: 00:33:29

Thank you for listening to The Voice of Dog.