safe passage
The train is the only safe passage through the forest.
The conductors are armed and trained in combat should there be any… incidents.
(It is a rare journey that passes without incident.)
Looking out the window is inadvisable. Not because of what you might see, but what might see you.
There are things that lurk on the ground and in the trees. There are the trees themselves, which will not let go if they catch hold.
The river, should you make it that far, is cold as ice and deep as death.
During the day, the train is the only comparatively safe passage through the forest.
After dark there are fewer options.
About flax-golden tales. Photo by Carey Farrell. Text by Erin Morgenstern.