The Traveler on the Train

“Wait up, Molly!” Stuart called after her as they ran through the train station. Though the two of them were close in height, Molly had the longer legs of the pair, and she loved to run fast.

“Keep up, Stuart!” Molly called as she looked back at him. Before she could return her gaze forward, Molly collided with a solid form in front of her, tumbling to the ground. When she looked up, she saw a man with a perplexed expression on the ground in front of her.

“You should watch where you are going, small child. Wouldn’t want you to get hurt now, would we?” the man said as he got up then offered Molly a hand.

“Sorry,” Molly responded quickly as she stood up and adjusted herself. At that moment Stuart caught up to them. Molly and Stuart both looked over the man in front of them who had on a blue velvet trench coat, matching rainbow suit pants and vest, a button up, tie, and wingtip oxfords. It was a strange outfit and the man himself gave off an odd aura. “Your outfit is quite strange, sir,” Molly told him.

“Molly!” Stuart reprimanded. “You can’t just say things like that.”

The stranger laughed and knelt to be at Molly’s eye level. “I could say the same of you, you know. Dressed in all black, with no color? Where’s the fun in that?” She crossed her arms and frowned at him. Before she could say anything in response, the three were interrupted by the speaker overhead loudly calling out, “Train to Warrington arriving”.

“Come on Molly, we gotta go!” Stuart said hurriedly, rushing to grab her hand and pull her in the direction of their train. When she looked back to where the man had been, she saw that he had vanished into the crowd without a trace.

Molly opened the door to their cabin of the train and found a familiar face sitting just inside. “It’s you! How did you vanish into thin air back there?” Molly inquired.

“A magician never reveals their secrets,” the man responded.

“You’re a magician?” Stuart questioned.

The man laughed and said, “No, I am just a simple traveler.”

“Do you have a name Mr. Traveler?” Stuart asked.

“Most people call me The Traveler. What are your names?”

“You are odd,” Molly stated. “My name is Molly.”

“My name’s Stuart.”

With a warm smile The Traveler said, “It is nice to meet you both. Would you like to see another magic trick?”

“I thought you said you weren’t a magician!” The traveler simply winked at the children. They looked at each other for a moment, deciding if they should trust this man that they have only just met. Stuart looked back at the man and nodded excitedly.

The Traveler made a show of bringing out his leather travel bag from under his seat and set it on the floor between him and the children. He opened the bag, held up one arm, then dug into his bag. His arm sunk deeper and deeper into the bag, from his wrist to his shoulder, searching for something. He then stuck his head into the bag, followed by a muffled “Ah-ha!”, and he slowly pulled out a large umbrella. He displayed it for the children with a wide grin. “Ta-da!”

“An umbrella?” Stuart questioned. Neither him nor Molly seemed impressed.

The Traveler held up his pointer finger, “There’s more where that came from.” He plunged his head back into the bag and began pulling out an odd assortment of items—a coat exactly matching the one he was wearing, a pair of roller skates, a watering can, a large rabbit, a camera, an entire series of encyclopedias, a table lamp, and an electric guitar.

“How do you fit all of this stuff inside that old leather bag? Surely it isn’t big enough for all of this,” Molly said.

“Ah, see, that’s the trick. This isn’t any old travel bag, this is a portal to another world. One much like this, only a little… sillier,” The Traveler explained. The children went wide-eyed, each trying to imagine their own version of this supposed “other world”. “You know, I could show you if you like,” he offered.

Stuart turned to Molly with a glowing smile on his face, “A whole other world, that is crazy, we have to go, Molly!”

Molly, however, was skeptical. “I don’t know, Stuart, we hardly know the man. What if he’s lying?” She peered at The Traveler out of the corner of her eye, then returned her gaze to Stuart.

“Come on Molly, have a little fun for once,” Stuart persuaded. Molly rolled her eyes but grumbled in agreement. “We’re ready to go!” Stuart announced to The Traveler.

“How do we get there?” Molly asked. The Traveler demonstrated himself stepping first one foot and then the other into the travel bag. He then slowly descended what seemed to be a spiral staircase, one which was invisible from the outside. Stuart followed first, then Molly behind him.

The children stared in awe at the scene that came into view. It was a meadow, but one unlike those they had ever seen. There were bioluminescent trees of various hues, fish floating in rain drops above a river, and supersized flora all around.  Stuart started off first, running into the clearing and taking in the new world. Below his feet lie a patch of bubblegum pink clover and he bent down to peer closer. He carefully plucked a single stalk and held it up for Molly and The Traveler to see. “Look guys! I found a five-leaf clover! That must be even luckier than a four-leaf clover!”

“Indeed it is! Protect it and it will bring you ten years of good fortune,” The Traveler told him.

Molly walked cautiously as she slowly looked over all there was to see. Between trees a blur of motion caught her eye. A small, pearly white horse with feathered wings poked its head into the clearing. It munched on a tall, blue, coral-shaped mushroom before spotting Molly staring at it. “Um, Traveler, is that… a young pegasus?” she asked, looking over to The Traveler.

“Oh boy, these are quite rare. Get closer, they don’t bite!” The Traveler told her gently. “Well… most of the time,” he muttered to himself.

Molly looked back at the pegasus and inched just a step towards it. She slowly extended her hand with her palm facing down. The pegasus seemed wary at first, but eventually it reached out its snout to sniff Molly’s hand. For a moment nothing happened, then the pegasus bowed its head and upper body. “It wants you to get on its back!” The Traveler stage whispered.

“What?! I can’t do that!” Molly stage whispered back.

“Have a little fun, Molly!” The Traveler told her.

“Go on, Molly!” Stuart encouraged. She looked back at the pegasus and walked to its side. She asked if it was really okay, and the pegasus neighed in response. Molly hopped up on its back with surprising ease and the pegasus raised its head. It neighed loudly and Molly grasped onto its shiny mane. Before she had prepared herself mentally, the pegasus trotted, then began galloping around the clearing. From there it bounded into the air and its wings flapped loudly, blowing gusts of wind into the faces of both Stuart and The Traveler.

Another young pegasus revealed itself behind Stuart. He swiftly turned to face it and, though initially startled, he followed what Molly had done. Him and his pegasus sprung up into the air. The two pegasuses chased each other with giggling children in tow. The Traveler watched them with glee while they played to their hearts content.

Just as the pegasuses touched down, The Traveler called out, “Kids, I think I hear the announcer’s voice!” He stuck his head into his travel bag and yelled, “We’re nearly to Warrington! We gotta go!” The children hopped off their pegasuses and Stuart ran to The Traveler’s bag. Molly, however, stayed behind. She ran her hands through the pegasus’s soft mane and pet the top of its head.

“I’m going to miss you, pegasus. Have a good life, okay?” Molly said to it. It neighed and nudged her gently. “Bye,” she said. With one last look at her pegasus and the wonderful meadow they had found themselves in, Molly met up with Stuart and they went through the portal back to the train.

“There you are!  I was beginning to think you’d gotten lost on your way back!” The Traveler exclaimed. The announcer’s voice warbled to life over crackling speakers to say that they had arrived in Warrington. “Now, children, what you must learn from today is to find the whimsy in life, no matter where you are or what is happening. There is always something silly to giggle about even when times are hard. Right, Molly?”

“Mhm, like how Stuart’s tie has gone all crooked from flying on a pegasus!” The three of them laughed and Stuart straightened out his tie. They gathered their belongings, and all stood to get off the train.

“Will we ever see you again?” Stuart asked as they stepped towards the door to their cabin.

“Why I hope so! It was a pleasure to meet you Molly and Stuart. Don’t forget to have fun, yeah?” The Traveler walked out of the cabin and, though they followed close behind, the children found that he was nowhere to be seen. The Traveler had disappeared just as quickly as he had appeared. Whether or not he met the children again, they would always remember the man in the funny outfit with a whole other world in his suitcase. And they would remember the whimsy he brought at a time when they needed it most.