Daily commute

Droplets gather heavily on my window successfully building enough condensation to obstruct my view. Not that it matters, the contents of outside being nothing more than a blur as the train navigates the expanding hills with elegance and speed. My eyes close and I lean my weary head back into the seat. I’m tired, body, heart and soul, tired. This bland life is exhausting , wearing me down till I’m nothing but a bag of bones routinely shuffling through the day. Wake early, sip overly priced coffee, make the five o’clock train, read the drivel they call news on my tablet the duration of my journey onward to the pitiful waged job awaiting me. There are moments when I’m tempted to scream my bloody lungs out. Yet, in those overwhelming moments I close my eyes, recline my head against the beige cracked vinyl, defeated. 

A commotion stirring nearby has me opening one eye to investigate. A laugh breaks out of a young man lecherously leering over an attractive young lady. She shakes her head while simultaneously cringing away. At this point, I have both eyes drinking in the sight of this train wreck of an interaction. He laughs again and attempts once more to make conversation only to be rebuffed. A scowl marks his face in response and what I thought to be impossible, leans in closer. The young lady forgoes a response to this behavior, diving her nose deeper in her book. 

 I asses the young man, flushed cheeks with glazed eyes give him away easily. He’s sloshed. Chances are he hopped the train after a night of binging with his mates. Been there a few times myself at his age, however crowding young ladies was never my style. 

I clear my throat in hopes of diverting his attention. Maybe, my disapproval glare will send a clear message. Back off ya drunk bastard and sit down. 

Unsurprisingly, he ignores my subtle interference. Instead his eyes fix on me while whispering unknowns to the young lady. Her eyes flick meeting mine momentarily before darting back to her book. It was quick but I could still read the fear in them. 

Having enough of this, I stand ready to confront the unmannered swine when all at once the train lurches sideways. I thrust my hand out desperately for stability but only catch air. The train tilts and I with it. I’ve lost sight of the young lady and the nitwit who was beside her. Shatters of glass can be heard cascading the floor. I’m floating in air. With a thud I land on my side, wetness accosting my face, rain pelts inside the train. I cover my ears in agony when the sound of metal colliding with metal fill the small confines of the train. Still moving, the train slides down hill. I pull myself up off the floor with a white knuckled grip on the seat. Trees crack against the train, dirt and rocks spray to the heavens. Landing heavily on its side, the train is subdued. Feverishly I glance about searching for survivors. I find myself alone. The young lady and inebriated young man have vanished. I cry out in despair, though my cries are only met with the echos of the crash bouncing off the hills.  

I wake hours later in darkness, a prayer on my lips, be it a nightmare, please God. The stars that shine above me in the brisk air of night and the dampness settled into my bones all tell me it not be a nightmare but my new reality. I solitarily survived a train wreck. I’m whole. Others are gone but I am here.Treacherous tears leak from the corner of my eyes down into my ears. Why me? Why save me? An old man of an insignificant life. My dull life, flashing before my eyes. One name reoccurring over and over. I whisper into the abyss, Margret. 

Her smile dances in my minds eye. The mere thought of Margret warms me. I suppose even the most ordinary life can have a few special moments. If anyone can believe it, a drab man such as myself did indeed have a one who got away. Margret was mine. I met her at dance hall back when people danced, not what they call dancing now, flailing about with their bums in the air. I’m speaking of dance cards, corsages, suits for men and dresses for ladies. 

I spotted Margret by the stage with stars in her eyes admiring the band. The brass instruments gleamed under the lights, notes blaring. It was pure luck The cosmo delights, a jive band from the city, were traveling and stopped in our little village. I can hear it faintly now , drums thumping, trombone blasting amongst the clamor of people. I approached the beauty just as a solo saxophone wailed in the distance. I never expected to be hit with such a plethora of emotion. She was by far the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on. After an introduction filled with nervous laughter, we danced. We danced all night. By the last dance amid a few stragglers who stayed , we swayed softly in each other’s arms with her starry-eyed gaze fixed on mine. We courted each other all through the summer. Summer love is what they called it, but for me it was a love to last me forever. She was the one. 

When summer came to a close and the tourists all fled to urban cities, I stayed behind to work for my father. Margret attended a university three cities away. We never promised each other anything. Fate would bring us together just as it had in the beginning. We were young, foolish and ever so naive. Years passed, I worked for my father until he died then moved to the city. I settled in quickly and got a job no-one wanted. I made a life no-one wanted. A lonely existence I’ve made for myself. I never found love again nor accomplished anything. Yet, here I lay under the stars a sole survivor. God chose me, but why? I fear I may never find the answer.