Capitulum Primum (Chapter One)
Hand on the handlebar, Elijah listens to his favorite song – ‘Seasons’ by Wave to Earth. His other hand was shoved into his pants’ pocket, calm and comfortable despite the hustle around him inside the cramped space of the train filled with commuters.
Despite getting bumped into, losing balance whenever the train pull up abruptly, Elijah hums to himself as the comforting melody coming from his earbuds filled his ears.
The train pulled up into another station. The cramped space was reduced a bit as some commuters went out of the train as some entered.
A girl in her dark blue attire entered the train along with the other commuters. She seems in a hurry, counting down the seconds as she constantly looks at her silver wristwatch and look up at the railway map.
The train pulled up suddenly into another station, causing the people inside the train almost losing balance and stumble. She tried to catch the silver pole near the door, but she stumbled back. She had expected to land on the floor and embarrass herself early in the day, but she paused when she realized strong reflexes caught her.
After a few seconds of confusion, she composes herself and stand straight on her feet. She was just about to look up and thank whoever the God’s creation saved her ass from hitting the cold floor of the train when her knees weakened and heart almost skipped a beat as she heard those words uttered by a deep, warm voice.
“Are you alright, miss?’’
Elijah asked, looking at her side profile. She is clearly embarrassed as she couldn’t look at him after he helped her steady herself. She only nodded.
“You should be careful.”
He adds.
Elijah stood behind the girl, ready to help her if she loses her balance again. Despite the song that continued to fill his ears, he is still aware of his surroundings.
After another couple of station, Elijah reached his destination. The train pulled up, and some of the commuters exit and enter the train. He watched the hustle and bustle of the station even though the sun was only about to rise from the horizon.
He was about to proceed to beep his card and exit when he noticed an ID strangled with his bag’s strap. He took it and looked at it with confusion, wondering how that thing ended up there,
on him,
out of all people.
He looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of the person who was on the ID amid the crowd. He only has half an hour before his first class starts. He sighed, torn between finding the person and just ignore it and chase for his class.
After a moment of internal debate, he muttered,
“Screw it.”
