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Piedmont Porchlight Stories — Mrs. Delphine’s Dixie Boarding House

The rails in the cellar glowed bright as noon.
The air shimmered with coal-scented memory.
And Samuel T. Norwood,
once a living, breathing conductor-in-training,
now stood tall beside the child he’d tried to save,
lantern raised in a final call.

Mrs. Delphine clutched Percy DuBar’s arm as the room’s temperature dropped,
not cold,
but solemn.

Holy.

Like the air before a baptism.

Percy whispered,
“Delphine… the train’s comin’ through.”

And Lord, it was.

Part I: The Entire House Knows

Upstairs, the Dixie Boarding House trembled with a purpose older than its floorboards:

• Pictures rattled.
• Doilies fluttered.
• The parlor rug curled at the corner.
• Room No. 3 glowed like a lantern set on Heaven’s windowsill.

Sadie Mae, across the street, dropped her spoon in her cornbread batter and screamed:

“IT’S BOARDIN’ PASSENGERS AGAIN!”

She wasn’t wrong.

Clyde ran out of the hardware store, waving a hammer.
Owen yelled, “PUT THAT DOWN!”
Addison hid behind a mailbox.
Preacher Boone pulled out scripture for emergencies only.

Even the wind changed direction
as if it, too, made room.

Part II: Down in the Cellar—The Train Emerges

The shimmering doorway widened.
Rails extended, piece by impossible piece,
like a bridge laying itself across time.

The locomotive’s brass trim gleamed first.

Then the great headlamp;
Casting no fire,
only a warm, guiding glow.

Then the wheels;
rolling over nothing,
yet clanging faintly,
echoes from the night Samuel ran himself breathless.

Then the engineer’s cab;
empty.
Waiting.

The child’s outline brightened.
He stepped closer to Samuel,
bare feet making soft pats on the cellar floor.

Samuel knelt.
An elegant, ghostly motion,
and lifted the lantern slightly,
inviting the child to follow.

Mrs. Delphine’s breath hitched.

“That’s his last duty,” she whispered.
“He’s takin’ the boy to safety.”

Percy DuBar nodded, face wet with tears.

“That boy died that night,” he said quietly.
“Samuel tried to warn the train…
tried to save ’im…
but neither one of ’em made it.”

Mrs. Delphine grasped Percy’s arm.

“Then this child ain’t just a ghost,
he’s an unfinished cry.”

The boy reached for Samuel’s lantern.

It glowed white-gold;
the color of forgiveness.

Part III: The Town Feels the Crossing

Above the cellar, every board in the house settled with a mighty thoom.

Furniture scooted an inch.
The wallpaper rippled.
Sugar bowls danced across the kitchen counter.

Clyde screamed, “EARTHQUAKE!”
Sadie Mae hollered, “NO! GHOSTQUAKE!”
Potts raised a broom like a battle flag.
Hank fainted in a hydrangea bush.

Addison swore he saw a glowing caboose pass through the side of the house.

He probably did.

Preacher Boone climbed onto a car hood and shouted,
“BE NOT AFRAID!”

No one listened.

The ghost train whistled.
Soft, low, mournful,
the sound of a promise kept.

Part IV: The Child Crosses Over

In the cellar, the little boy’s form grew clearer:

• tousled hair
• a smudged cheek
• a patch on his overalls
• wide, trusting eyes
• and a small hand reaching for Samuel’s

The train stopped.

Perfectly aligned.

Waiting.

Samuel turned to Mrs. Delphine and Percy.

He nodded.
A gesture of deep gratitude,
etched into one solemn tilt.

Percy whispered,
“You finish your run, boy.”

Delphine wiped her eyes.

“You go on now,” she said.
“You do what you meant to do all those years ago.”

Samuel lifted the lantern
one final time
and tapped:

Tap. Tap.
“All aboard.”

The child stepped onto the track.

Then onto the train’s step.
His outline flickered,
then sharpened.

He looked back at Samuel.

“You came,” he whispered.

“I promised,” Samuel answered,
not in sound,
but in something deeper.
Something the living felt in their bones.

Samuel stepped up behind the child.

The lantern blazed.

Part V: The Departure

The train’s wheels rolled.

Slow.
Majestic.
Weightless.
Right through the cellar wall,
which shimmered like water and parted with a sigh.

The lantern glowed brighter
and brighter
and brighter

Then…

In a rush of warm wind,
old coal scent,
and deepest peace,

the train vanished.

The rails dimmed.
The cellar cooled.
The lantern on the floor guttered once,
twice,
and went out.

Silence fell.

Mrs. Delphine pressed her hands to her heart.

Percy bowed his head.

And above them,
in the house,
the boards relaxed with a long, gentle exhale.

Like a soul had finally been set right.

*****

New Yesterdays can be found at: Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon, as well as your favorite bookshops. The Audiobook is available from Libro.fm, as well as Amazon.