Big Pink Balls

As the train pulled out of the station Juan noted to himself that although the train had been really very full and people had been getting on and off at all of the stops that the train had previously made he was the only passenger too get off at this station. Nobody had got on to the train to leave either. Juan put this down to nothing more than freaky coincidence. If one or two people had gotten off or on the train it wouldn't have raised anything too speculate on. Juan decided this meant that although it was indeed an unusual/unlikely thing that had happened it certainly couldn't be described as something that couldn't happen.
In fact the very fact that Juan had chosen to use the phrase freaky coincidence was in a way a coincidence in itself. Because the rest of his day turned out to be very freaky indeed and the incident with the train, which if we're honest isn't really an incident, it's more of a thing that happened and not an interesting one either, would be about the most normal thing that would happen to Juan for the rest of the day, although Juan didn't know this yet, but this was a small town and the freaky wasn't far away.
In fact the freaky started before he had even left the station. Juan put his small suitcase down and took a handkerchief out of his jacket pocket, using it to wipe the travel grime from his face. Juan looked into the handkerchief, a thin stream of black dirt had replaced the pleasant pressed cleanness that had once been the handkerchief.
He looked around the platform and there wasn't many signs of life. Obviously someone had built the thing and to the untrained eye it looked like a fully functioning train staion. Platfrom, waiting room, chocolate/over priced crisp vending machine, the usual station geography. But the fact that Juan had spent a couple of moments adjusting to his surroundings after getting off the train meant that he'd had those moments to take stock of his quiet environment. Juan knew this was a small town but even small towns had some signs of movement, of life. If the station was anything to go by the population had recently abandoned the place to go find something better. This couldn't be a good thing.
Juan pivotted around in a circle trying to spot signs of intelligent life, what he found was only half of what he needed. Juan needed directions as a new visitor to this little town Juan hadn't the first clue about where he should go next and he had a feeling that his best option may be just to wait for the next train and get on that and go somewhere else but he had things to do in the town and a little lifelessness wasn't about to put Juan off however unnerving it was.
Juan spotted a figure quite a way off down the platform sitting on a bench towards the end of the part of the platform where the first class carriage of a train might set down upon arrival, indeed where the train he'd just gotten off arrived although Juan hadn't come first class so Juan had gotten off further down the platform.
Juan decided too go and use this shadowy figure as a reference point. He plodded off down the platform and wasn't prepared for what would happen next.
The figure looked at him, stuck it's tongue out in a cheeky display of childish humour and faded away to nothing. This left Juan feeling quite disturbed, Juan stopped mid stride and and did a rare impression of a drowning fish, his lower lip had dropped so low that Juan could have fit an entire Cadbury's Cream Egg in his mouth. Unsettling would be the way he'd have described it if he'd needed to. There was no one to describe it to.
Juan turned back round with the intention of finding the exit and getting out of this decidedly weird station and was knocked on his backside by a thing that was a couple of steps behind him.
Juan instinctively went oooffff and positioned himself in as defensive a position as a startled, prone, lost, confused and slightly scared visitor to a small town can when he's just been knocked on his arse by a mysterious and hefty obstacle.
He looked up through winded eyes and saw that it was a station porter, but one dressed like the golden age of steam hadn't ever finished.
"Do you need a hand son?" said the figure.
"Erm, yeah thanks."
The figure held out a hand and after Juan had taken it dragged him to his feet ansd made a fuss about cleaning him down. The figure went to town knocking bits of station platform dust off of Juan's suit jacket and pants. Juan decided this act of sartorial tidying was becoming quite over familiar and without wanting to upset this figure set about getting it to stop.
"Thanks, I think I'm alright know. I don't suppose you could help me. I seem to be a bit lost."
"I don't know, let's see."
"For a start off, what was that?" said Juan pointng at the bench.
"What was what?"
"That, over there. On that bench. What was it?"
"I don't know sir, I can't see anything."
"Well, obviously it vanished but it was there. I saw it."
"Saw what sir, things don't vanish. You must have hit your head in your fall."
"I know things don't usually vanish, but that did. I din't hit my head I hit my arse."
"Maybe you jarred something. There's nothing there sir."
"There bloody was. I know I saw something."
"Maybe it was smoke, you know from the train. You know how people see things in clouds and such. Maybe you just saw a pattern in the smoke maybe it looked like something that wasn't really there."
"Yeah maybe. No, wait. Hold on. It was an electric train it didn't have any smoke. There was no smoke."
"Fair point. I'm sure you think you saw something but look sir. There's nothing there. Things don't just vanish."
"No they don't."
"Now is there anything else I can help you with, you know unicorns or pixies?"
"No, no unicorns." Juan was starting to think this guy was stringing him along and he didn't like it. He really wanted out of this station. "Could you tell me where there might be a decent guest or motel. I need a room for the night and I need to find The Four Bells pub. I'm meeting an old friend there in an hour." Juan checked it's watch and was disturbed to find a crack right through the middle of the face.
"Certainly sir, if you go out of the station and turn left and walk up the road and take the first right there's a smashing little guest house that I always recommend to weary travellers. It's very cosy and they do a marvellous breakfast. The Four Bells is just round the next right hand corner from there."
"Thanks."
"No problem sir. I hope you feel better soon."
"Hhhhhhmmmmmm, I know I saw something."
"I'm sure you did sir."
"Anyway, I'll be seeing you. I'm leaving tomorrow so I'll be back."
"Very good sir, I'll keep an eye out for things that dissappear in the mean time."
The porter pointed out the exit and a little to quickly to be polite Juan strode off towards the outside world.
Juan emerged into the daylight of the out of station world and stood stock still. Right in front of him, just over the road, hovering ominously about two feet off the ground, in a sort of solid cloud of transluscent strangeness, giving off the feeling that it was paying Juan some very special attention despite have no obvious sign of a visual means of doing so was a big pink ball.