Two for One

        “Two please.” I handed the clerk my money, and with a confused stare, he retrieved my tickets.

              “You know the train is about to leave. Whoever you’re waiting for better get here soon.”

              “Let me worry about that.” Every day I’d gotten different responses, but my answer was always the same. Walking past the clerk, I handed my tickets to the attendant and boarded the train. Making my way to the back where seats would always be available, I found an empty pair two spots from the rear.

              “Train again?” I glanced up to see a frail man hobbling towards me. “No parents to pick you up?”

              “No.” I paid the old man no more mind. He would not help me, and I would not let anyone deter me from my schedule. 6:04 wake up, 6:08 shower, 6:25 breakfast, 6:50 leave the house, 7:00 board the train to school, 7:30 arrive at school, 2:50 leave school, 3:05 take the train to the nearby elementary school, 3:30 take the train back to home, 4:00 homework, 5:30 dinner, 6:30 take the train to soccer practice, 8:00 take the train home, 9:00 brush my teeth, shower, and go to bed. There were to be no interruptions to the schedule.

              Never again. I thought through barred teeth. Glancing out the window, I saw the elementary school where I used to go disappear behind walls of grey. Images flashed by me, but they were all the same. No matter, the day, this train will always be the same, always reliable. No traffic or people to slow it down, and I’ll be there when I need to be there.

              The train slowed to a stop, and I stepped from it. Three minutes and forty-three seconds later, I was in my family’s home. Walking up the stairs one at a time, I made my way to the room I shared with myself.

              Inside there was very little to see or, more precisely, little I was willing to see. Posters cluttering the wall, some overlapping, a desk along the right wall, and a bunk bed along the left. The bottom was mine, the blankets and sheets clean, and the top was covered in dust, unused since last year.

              I tried to keep my head high as I entered, but the sight caused my head to turn towards the ground. Making my way over to my desk, I unzipped my backpack and pulled out my homework. After finishing trigonometry, I moved onto language arts, and when the clock struck 5:25, I left to go downstairs. Setting the table, I sat down and waited, but Mother and Father were nowhere to be seen. After five minutes, the front door lurched open, and they hobbled inside.

              “Sorry we’re late. The traffic today was terrible.” Mother placed the food she’d purchased on the table, and I did my best to hide my anger. Did she learn nothing from that day? No, it wasn’t her who let him down.

              The cold food lingered in my mouth, its stiff, unpleasant taste causing my mouth to push it out my lips instead of down my throat. However, even my body could not steer me from my path, and I swallowed.

              Retreating from the dinner table, I slipped into a T-Shirt and shorts, and at 6:20, I left my house. Making my way to the train, I ordered my ticket and stepped inside. Once again, I made my way to the back where seats would be available. Sitting down, I gazed out the window, and as the train lurched forward, hundreds of sights flew by me. My eyes did not linger on them, but I could describe each as though they were in front of me. Whether it was the church with the crooked archway, the blue shop with two of its letters missing, or the elementary school where I’d abandoned him.

              My teeth clenched against each other. Why did it have to be that day. Of all the times I’d strayed from my path why did it have to be when he needed me most?

              I should have been there. If I’d been on time, he would be here. I could have saved him, but I wasn’t. No matter how many times I repeated the day, repeated what I should’ve done, I couldn’t change it. Still, what other path was there for me? What other path could I take that would have saved him?

              The sight of the elementary school was too much, and I turned away. My eyes ran through the train until a familiar figure came into view. The old man from before sat a few rows behind me, his body leaning lifelessly against the window.

              Lurching up, I dashed over to him to feel his pulse. Immediately, I felt a surge of fear course through me, and I pulled my phone from my pocket. Dialing the police, I screamed at them to meet us at our next stop. The commotion drew the attention of the other passengers, and together, we loaded the body off the train as an ambulance arrived.

              They loaded the old man onto a stretcher, and the next thing I knew, I was in front of the hospital’s front desk. My parents were with me and asking if the man had insurance. An hour later, the doctor emerged and told us he would make it. From what they gathered, the man fell asleep, missing his stop and had then suffered a heart attack a few minutes before I found him. If I’d been even a few minutes late in noticing him, he wouldn’t have made it, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

              The doctor told me that the man’s wife would be here soon and wanted to thank me, but not wanting to linger any longer, I left. My parents drove me home, but despite their words of praise, inside I felt nothing. That feeling continued, like I was in a daze, until a week later.

              The wind wrapped around my body. Light snow drifted down from above, and the smell of smoke hung in the air. My winter coat did little to keep my body warm, and I felt the blood inside me shivering back and forth. The distant ringing of the school bell echoed in my ears, but as I approached the train station, I spotted someone waiting for me.

              “I didn’t get the chance to thank you.” His trembling hand beckoned me forward. “And my wife was distraught she didn’t get a chance to meet the man who saved me.”

              “It was nothing.” I shook my head. “And I’m sorry to your wife. It was an emotional night, and I was worn out by the time we heard you were good.”

              “More than understandable.” He smiled. “Well, I am indebted to you, but if this old man may trouble you one more time, I would like to know why I always see you on the train.”

              “It’s a long story and not one I particularly care to tell.”

              “Of course. Well, I would like to apologize for causing you to miss wherever you were heading that night.”

              “Think nothing of it.” In fact, I hadn’t either. The entire event happened so fast, I barely realized what I had done. For the first time this year, I’d strayed from my path. For so long, I’d stuck to the same schedule, the one that would keep me on the track I’d set out for myself, but without thinking, I’d stepped from it. Why?

              I shook my head. I knew the reason. The place I needed to be a year ago was no longer my destination. In that moment with the old man, I saw a different purpose for me, one that led me to the hospital. If even for a second, I had let go of the path that anchored me in place, and I was still here. I’d saved a life, and as the different tracks along the station lit up, I smiled.

              “Well, at least, let me buy the next ticket,” he offered.

              “Lead the way.” I beckoned him forward.

              “Very well.” Approaching the clerk, he held out his money. “Two please.”