Train to the Future

The world flew by as I looked out of the window of the train, my suitcase hitting my shin lightly every time there was a slight change in elevation. There was snow covering the ground as far as I could see, It still fascinated me, before today I had never seen even a flake of snow. I remember being young and asking my mother what it was like, she had told me that it was much to cold and overall quiet unpleasant. I haven't been able to get anywhere near it yet, but just looking at it makes me unsure if my mother was telling me the truth, from my place on the train it kind of looks sort of like sugar, seeing it makes me hungry for sweets. The train let out a high pitch whistle and I jumped, tearing my gaze reluctantly away from the window. The other people in my compartment seemed unfazed by the noise, almost as if it didn't happen at all.

Blinking I met the gaze of a little girl who was sitting across from me fiddling with her fingers, her eyes widened in shock and she immediately looked away from me again. I wasn't really all that surprised, I would be the first to tell you that I'm not the kind of kid that a grandma would be pleased to meet in a store. I have my dyed black hair that's cut just below my ears in an uneven style, my eyes are rimmed with black eye shadow and my lips coated in many layers of black lipstick. This coupled with my nose piercing and steam punk black clothes often made grown men in the suburbs turn and walk in the other direction. I bet you can imagine how people reacted when my mother would drag me into church kicking and screaming as if I was a cat dangling over a lake full of water.

The little girl tugged on her mothers sleeve and pointed in my direction, I turned my attention back out of the window before I could see her reaction. I was used to the looks of disgust thrown in my direction by old elderly woman, and the downright repulsed glares of mothers covering the eyes of there children. Still I would try to avoid these stares as often as I could, they made me feel like some sort of animal in a zoo that people would come to ogle at. My mother told me this was my own fault, but I have always thought that I should be able to look and dress how I want to, without worrying about the judgment of others. Now that I'm a bit older I know that I was stupid to hope for such a thing, we live in a world of hateful rumors, peer pressure, and hostility. Things like peace and respect are raritys found in few places.

Sighing I leaned back in my seat closing my eyes, some people on the train had begun to notice my presence on the train now that the little girl had pointed me out, I heard some whispers of " What a shame" or " What's with that girls face mom" and some " Poor girl must have had no one to teach her" Leaning forward I reached into my suitcase pulling out my phone and some old wired ear buds, which I quickly crammed into my ears to block out the scornful murmuring of the people around me. Today was to be a day of change for me, a new beginning, I didn't want the hurtful words of others to get in the way of that.

This year had been a rough, one of the worst years I can remember ever having in my life. Me and my mother had lived in a small apartment in Everglades City, Florida, all by ourselves. I would wake up every morning and climb out of bed preparing myself for the look of disapproval my mother would give me when I walked out of my room and she saw that I was still wearing nothing but black. I would eat my breakfast while she glowered at me scrutinizing my every move. Then I would get up, grab my backpack and walk out the door, not having said a word the whole morning. I would walk out of the apartment and sit on the edge of the sidewalks ignoring the people that slowed down to gawk at me. We lived in an okay neighborhood and most kids in the area didn't have the nerve to dress the way that I did, or maybe they just didn't want to be soaked in sweat without even walking three steps, as it was almost always unbearably hot. The bus would arrive shortly after I sat down and I would climb aboard not meeting the gaze of the other students who despite seeing me everyday still looked at me as if I was a polar bear in Africa, and maybe in a way I was.

I would sit on the bus for about ten minutes pretending to be absorbed in something on my phone and not seeing the pretty girl in front of me lean over and whisper to her friend glancing at me out of the corner of her eye, both of them bursting in loud giggles. Then we would arrive at the high school and we would all stream off the bus, then I would walk into the school my head hung, ignoring the laughter of the kids around me as I walked. I would then arrive at my locker that had the word loser spray painted across the front and sticky notes full of bad words and insults stuck all around the lock. This was harder to ignore but I managed, and pulled my books and note books out and stuffed them into my bag. Then after closing my locker and checking three times to make sure the lock was securely closed I would head for my first class.

For the rest of the morning I would endure the looks of disappointment my teacher would have when they saw me, the balled up papers and spitballs hitting the back of my head, and the never ending piled of homework that weighed down my bag. Finally lunch would I arrive and I would walk out of the school and into the grassy football field before pulling out the packed lunch my mother had put into my bag before I had gotten up. I hadn't always eaten alone at lunch time, the year before I had eaten with my best friend Clara, but she had moved at the end of the school year and I hadn't been able to find any other friends, not that I would want to be friend with any of the other jerks from my school. After I finished my lunch I would sit for awhile debating weather or not I should skip the rest of the school day, or stick out the rest of my classes until it was time to go home. Sometimes I would end up walking behind the school and hiding in some bushes until the teachers and students were all inside, then I would spend the rest of the day listening to music and drawing. On other much less happy days I would go to class and continue to be bombarded with the dislike of my peers.

Either way after this was over I would finally be able to go home and stay in my room until dinner. Then feeling drained and exhausted I would finally say a tiny goodnight to my mother who would be to drunk to comprehend what I was saying and head into my room to dream about a different world. The next day I would wake up and do it all over again in almost the exact same order.

It was the same proses for months until I finally turned eighteen and graduated with okay grades. Luckily I had managed to gain enough money to move out of my mothers apartment. I had packed all of my belonging, which were so few that they fit into a single suit case, and bought myself a train ticket to a small town in Georgia, and that my friends leads us up to now, with me sitting on a train tapping my foot along to the music on my phone.

I felt a tug on my sleeve and looked up to see the girl from before clinging to her mothers arm as the older woman smiled kindly at me. I sighed and pulled out my ear buds, before I could say anything the woman handed me a large candy cane and said. " Since the day after tomorrow is new years I thought that you might appreciate this. Especially since your traveling alone" I slowly smiled back at the woman and reached out of the candy taking it gently from her hand. " Thank you" I whispered just as the train let out two whistles telling us that we had arrived at our destination.

" Happy New Years" The woman said grabbing the hand of her child and turning to leave.

I picked up my suit case and stepped out of the compartment, but she was already gone. " Happy New Years" I said anyways grinning. I stepped off the train and into the future, the day after tomorrow the new year would begin, and my new life with it.