This Story Wins For Mental Imagery Of The Day

Some years ago, I was on a local train in a rural area in southern Germany. Halfway between two towns, the train suddenly stopped. We all waited patiently because there are frequent accidents at railway crossings, which means all trains have to wait until it is safe to go on.

After ten minutes there was an announcement.

Conductor: “Ladies and gentlemen, we want to inform you that there are people on the tracks. The police have been called to remove them. We apologize for the delay.”

Okay, no problem. Ten minutes later, there came the next announcement. This time, the conductor sounded rather bemused.

Conductor: “Ladies and gentlemen. I want to correct my previous statement. There are no people on the tracks. Apparently, it is… an emu. The police are trying to catch it, but it is really bloody fast. We apologize for the delay.”

It took them another fifteen minutes to clear the tracks. Apparently, an emu had escaped from a local emu farm and decided the rail tracks were perfect for running up and down.