A TRAIN TRIP TO REMEMBER

Polly had a smile on her face that couldn’t be wiped off. From her seat on the train, she looked through the window at the craziness of the freeway running alongside the track.  From the slow lane, where the timid and speed conscious were following each other in a dutiful line, to the fast lane where small cars, with Formula One aspirations were taking on muscle cars spraying horsepower in their wake, it was like watching warm up laps for a Grand Prix.

For Polly, in her reverie, it was surreal entertainment. Usually, she would travel, at the same time, on the same line, buried in the brief of her mobile phone, along with most of her fellow passengers.  Social media dictates had to be followed, messages dealt with, balances checked, but not today.

Today was something else and Polly couldn’t contain her elation. She wanted to share the moment with everyone around her. She offered a sympathetic and understanding smile to parents with a toddler who was desperate to escape their confines and she grinned at a group of schoolchildren relieved to have been released from what they considered to be their daily grind. When an aged pensioner, aided by a walking frame, joined the train, she rose to assist him. He laughed at her joke about the luxury seating and squeezed her hand in appreciation of her willingness to help him. She reached down to pick up and return a purse that had fallen from the handbag of an uncomfortably large lady, and in return she was treated to a rundown of the woman's medical history, with particular reference to her varicose veins and arthritis issues. Ordinarily, Polly would have eased out of the conversation at the first opportunity, but she nodded and empathised appropriately until the lady concluded her 5 minute monologue by thanking Polly for her deed of kindness.

Travelling on the train home, any review of her day would inevitably be overlaid by the commitment to phone business. Today however, her mobile remained at the bottom of her bag, and she had no interest in retrieving it.  

The train sped efficiently along the tracks, stopping to deliver and pick up its passengers at their designated stations, some of which Polly had never noticed before. Chapman’s Town, Robinson, Sandbank, and Palm Valley, she’d never so much as looked up to register any passenger movement on, or off, those platforms. Today though she discovered, to her additional delight, that people watching could be quite fascinating. 

Chapman’s Town station was skilfully incorporated into the bowels of a shopping centre, and Polly thought the idea over. Off the train, into the shops, coffee or lunch as a refreshment break, then back on the train.  Couldn’t be easier, she mused, she might just try it herself.

Robinson appeared to be an older suburb. The station was surrounded by established homes sitting in patches of manicured shrubbery, with mature trees that threaded together to constitute a leafy sought-after address. Expensive real estate Polly considered, and she wondered what it would be like to live there. Private schools, a golf course nearby no doubt, and green open space with some sort of water feature. Passengers for Robinson wore suits, seemed to be in a great hurry and kept their eyes averted from the mainstream which didn’t suggest a particularly thriving community spirit.

Sandbank turned out to be a little short, by a kilometre, of the exclusive oceanside paradise its name suggested. It was in fact a suburb artfully named to attract architect designed citadels for people who’d missed out on a beachfront location, but wanted to boast a coastal lifestyle. There wasn’t a rush of travellers for Sandbank mainly Polly concluded, because most of the homes had 3-4 car garages, which would most likely be filled with new model 4wds and sleek cars with tall price tags. Afterall, Polly reasoned, who would want to swap a drive in an all-electric, cutting edge, IONIQ 5N for a trip on public transport?

Next was Palm Valley, a brand-new suburb, lucky enough to have its own brand-new supporting railway station, and apparently it was an opportunity for ‘Bright New Beginnings’ according to the billboard clearly visible from the train window. The area around the station was filled with high density housing and apartments and the passengers using the station were mostly young people. They’d probably be on the first rung of the home ownership ladder and excited to have a place to call their own Polly figured, and while the thought of joining them any time soon had its appeal, there was also a depressing aspect to the idea. Taking on such a huge responsibility would be daunting and she pondered the possibility that it could end up being an unwanted, heavyweight obligation.

Shaking off the melancholy distraction, Polly resumed her upbeat mood, and as she processed the previous 12 hours, she was amazed at how such a relatively short time could make such a big difference. It felt as though divine intervention had ticked all the boxes to set up a once-in-a-blue moon, perfect script.

At the office, she’d managed to finish the quarterly report well before time, for which she’d been personally congratulated by her boss. Liam had brought in an array of decadent but delicious cakes in celebration of his birthday, and Louise the office critic, had complimented her on her new hairstyle. Polly thought she might have gone a snip too far, but Louise had said it was great, it suited her, and if she had a colour, it would be sensational.

When a courier had arrived at the reception desk of her workplace with a registered package for her, she’d signed on the dotted line, puzzled at its potential contents.

She didn’t owe anything to anyone, so it couldn’t be a ‘pay up or else’ demand and she hadn’t ordered anything of value or significance on-line, so when the package was opened and the contents revealed, Polly was lost for words. Inside was a small, stylish box with a note attached, written by her boyfriend of only six weeks Aaron who, despite their comparatively brief romance, firmly believed that they were made for each other. He’d composed an ode to matrimony to accompany a sparkling diamond, infinity knot, engagement ring, and Polly had taken just a few short minutes to make up her mind.

As the train slowed its approach to her station, Polly’s smile widened to a radiant beam. Aaron would be there to meet her and it meant the start of her very own Bright New Beginning.