The Empty Seat
James took the same train to work every morning.
One Monday, an elderly man sat opposite him.
The man wore an old grey coat and kept staring at James.
James smiled awkwardly.
The man didn't react.
The next morning, he was sitting in exactly the same seat.
On Wednesday, James finally asked another passenger about him.
“What do you know about that man?”
The passenger looked confused.
“What man?”
James turned around.
The seat was empty.
That evening, James searched online for the train route.
He found an old newspaper article about an accident that had happened twenty years earlier.
The photograph showed the same elderly man.
He had died on that exact train.
James stared at the photograph for several minutes.
Then he noticed something that made his blood run cold.
The newspaper photograph showed the man's seat.
And sitting opposite him was James.
The next morning, James boarded the train.
The elderly man was waiting for him.
This time, he smiled.
“You weren't supposed to see that photograph.”
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