The Elsewhere Express

by Samantha Sotto Yambao · 2026

When grief leaves her adrift, Raya drifts through life on autopilot, her songwriter dreams abandoned after her brother’s death. One night, a wandering thought on a subway whiskes her onto the Elsewhere Express—a luminous, ever‑moving train that appears only for those who have lost their way. Inside, meadow‑soft boarding cars, lily‑pad picnics, and clouds of pink‑swimming jellyfish promise a fleeting sense of purpose, peace, and belonging. There she meets Q, a charismatic artist equally untethered, and together they race through the train’s wondrous compartments, searching for the place they’re meant to occupy before the journey ends. Yet a shadowy stowaway brings a malignant magic that threatens to derail the entire voyage. As the train hurtles toward an uncertain horizon, Raya must confront her deepest sorrow, uncover the stranger’s secret, and decide whether the answer to her true purpose lies within herself—or in the mysterious connection she shares with Q.