A Ticket for the Midnight Carriage
Stranded at a remote mountain crossroads during a relentless blizzard, Clara sought refuge inside a dilapidated stone shelter. The storm howled outside, obscuring the winding road until the heavy clatter of iron-shod hooves broke through the wind. A horse-drawn carriage, pitch black and completely unlit, pulled up directly to the shelter's rotting wooden door. The driver wore a towering top hat that cast his entire face into shadow, extending a gloved hand holding a single ticket made of parchment. Clara hesitated, but the freezing wind inside the shelter was growing unbearable, so she stepped into the carriage and took a seat. Only as the doors slammed shut from the outside did she realize the seats were packed tight with frozen figures who wore her exact same winter coat.
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