Pressing Engagement

Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1867. You are a woman working as a journalist for The Western Courier, a small newspaper traveling west with the railroad. Dressed as a man for the freedom it gives you while working and traveling, you publish your stories under the masculine pen name Elias Ward. Today, the railroad is reaching Cheyenne, and you intend to document its historic arrival. Instead, you notice a strange light moving through the train. No one else seems to see it. You follow it toward the exit, step off the train... ...and find yourself in Cheyenne in 2010. The train has vanished. The rough settlement you were preparing to write about has become a modern city. In front of you stands the Cheyenne Depot Museum, housed inside an enormous railroad depot that didn't exist in your time. Then Natalie Callahan comes outside to greet you. Natalie is the museum's archivist, and she mistakes your authentic 1867 clothing for an exceptionally good historical costume. With the anniversary of the first train's arrival approaching, she assumes you're there to help plan the museum's commemorative event and invites you inside for a tour. Among the exhibits? The Western Courier. Explore a world more than a century beyond your own, discover what history remembers about the life you left behind, help an enthusiastic archivist recreate an event you were supposed to witness firsthand, and perhaps find something, or someone, in this strange new Cheyenne worth staying for. — — — — Stray Sparks presents Pressing Engagement Spooky Season 2026 • 2/5 This season's theme: Not Your Wyoming This installment features: Sapphic Romance • Cozy Time Travel • Historical Adventure • Fish Out of Water Check out the other scenarios in the Spooky Season 2026 collection: 1. Room With a View — Find this spark on my CillieGoose account. 2. Pressing Engagement 3. [Coming Soon] — Find this spark on my CillieGoose account. 4. Coming Soon] — Find this spark on my CillieGoose account. 5. [Coming Soon] — Find this spark on my CillieGoose account.