The Elsewhere Express

Raya Sia is a medical student carrying two weights: the death of her older brother and the future her parents expect of her. One night on a subway ride home, her thoughts wander too far, and she wakes on a train she does not recognise.

This is the Elsewhere Express, a magical train for people who have slipped away from their own lives. Every passenger is offered purpose, peace and belonging, but only if they find their assigned compartment before time runs out.

Aboard, Raya meets Q Chen Philips Jr., an artist. They wander the train together and slowly put down the emotional burdens each has brought with them.

Then a stowaway arrives with a dark magic that endangers everyone on board, and the two are recruited to stop it. As they track it down, their fates prove to be tied together more closely than either expected.

The fantasy is dreamlike and whimsical in tone, and the story is told through multiple perspectives. Grief and family pressure run underneath it, and the question it keeps asking is whether Raya can find a reason to go on.