Bedtime · Wonder · Letting go
Night Train to Nowhere in Particular
A train that only stops at places you have already been.
- Age range
- Ages 5-9
- Reading time
- 8 minutes
- Category
- Bedtime stories
What happens
A boy climbs aboard a train with no destination board. It stops at his old kitchen, at a beach from two summers ago, and at a park bench where somebody is waiting. A quiet story about memory, made for children who need their heads emptied before sleep.
Read the opening
Listen to this story
The train pulled up at the end of the garden at ten past nine, which is not a time trains usually do anything.
There was no destination board. Where the board should have been, someone had chalked: NOWHERE IN PARTICULAR, STOPPING EVERYWHERE YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN.
He got on. The seats were warm, the way a car seat is warm when you've been sitting in it, and the first stop was his old kitchen — the one with the yellow floor, from before they moved.
The rest of the story is written around your child — their name, their age, and the hero they describe.
What if your child were the hero?
Make This Story About My ChildFree, about 20 seconds, no card needed — this same adventure, starring them.
Imagine your child in this story
Type a first name. Imagiverse writes, illustrates and narrates the whole story in about a minute — free, no card needed.
Why this one is worth your time
- Designed for the child who lies awake replaying the day; it gives that replay somewhere to go.
- Longer format suits fluent readers who want a chapter rather than a picture book.
- Gentle handling of change and moving house, without making it the stated topic.
Talk about it afterward
- If your train stopped at one place from this year, which would you pick?
- What is a good memory you'd like to visit again?
What if your child were the hero?