The Day
It started early in the morning. Her sisters were yelling at each other again, waking her up in the process. Her dad was long gone to work and her mom was still sleeping. How she managed not to hear the noise coming from the yelling sisters was beyond the young woman. She was beyond tired and wished she could go back to her dreams.
She knew she had to go to college today, but she really didn’t want to. Standing at the station, waiting for her train actually made her dread it more and more. So much, that she decided to do something that she never did before. She was bold enough to step in the first train that would go away from her hometown. She was tired of her life turning in circles day in, day out. She was leaving, if only for a day. She wanted to feel alive again and missing one day of college wouldn’t hurt that much.
While she sat in her seat, sketching quietly, a young man rushed through a station. He had a rough start of the morning and he definitely didn’t want to wait for the next train to leave. He wanted to leave right now. Leave everything behind for a day and just go with the flow of life for once. So once in the overfilled train, he saw one seat left next to a young and beautiful woman.
‘Can I sit here, please?’ The young man asked the woman. The woman simply smiled, nodded and went back to sketching in her leather bound book. The man sensed she was different than the rest of the passengers in some way. She didn’t have earphones, laptops and tablets like those obnoxious students in the corner and she also wasn’t as loud like the family sitting two rows away. She was just quietly sketching.
The whole train ride was spent in a quiet, relaxing way. The man was lost in the fantasy of his favorite book, and the woman spend her time sketching the beautiful landscapes they passed on the way. Passing different stations, people would get out of the train and others would rush in. It wasn’t until the ending destination of the train, that both the man and the woman walked out of those doors.
“Hey, wait”. Shouted someone behind her. Not knowing it was called out to her, the woman kept looking around for an exit of the station until someone slightly touched her shoulder. “Hey… uhm… You left this book in the train” A young man stood in front of her with her sketchbook in his hands. It was the man that sat next to her the whole ride.
’Uhm.. thanks” the woman said awkwardly. She knew she wasn’t good at making conversations, but she could mentally slap herself for sounding so shy. So trying to do better she asked the man “Do you maybe know if there’s a nice cafe nearby?”. The man smiled at her but shook his head, “This is my first time here so I have no idea where anything is located. I was planning on finding a good coffee myself, would you like to join me on the quest for a nice cafe?”.
The man knew it was probably a weird question to ask a total stranger, but he couldn’t help himself. While they sat next to each-other in that train, he wanted to get to know her better, but he also didn’t know how to start a conversation with the beautiful woman. “Sure” The woman answered him with a shrug and the man couldn’t be happier.
So they went on together, walking side by side. Not even knowing each-others names. An easy conversation flowed between them, but neither of them talked about their homes, about their reason of taking that train. They forgot about the cafe. Forgot that they were in a strange city. They just continued walking and enjoying each-others company.
The day was slowly continuing. The two strangers walked on, only stopping every now and then to watch street artists preform their magic. Reaching the end of main street, the woman pointed to a small, cute restaurant on the next street. “How about we do go for that coffee? And maybe grab something to eat?” She asked the man. He smiled back at her and nodded, “sounds like a plan”
“hello, welcome to Murphy’s. Did you guys decide what you want to order?” The waitress said when she reached the small both with the two strangers. She was a nice older lady with a red apron on. She looked right at home in the old-fashioned themed building. “Yea, I would like the Mac & Cheese with a medium black coffee please.” The man said politely. The waitress wrote the order on her small notepad before looking at the woman. “Do you have a recommended dish?” she asked the waitress. “Well, I personally like the Schnitzel Menu My husband is the chef here and he makes a killer Chicken Schnitzel”. The woman nodded and hesitated for a while before answering, “I would like that. And a small cappuccino please” The waitress wrote this down too before departing to the back of the restaurant.
“So you are feeling bold, don’t you?” The man joked with the woman. He did not know that she actually did. She never did bold things like that back home due to the fact she always felt judged. Somehow, the stranger that sat besides her, made her feel comfortable. “I do” she simply answered him before the fell into a comfortable silence.
The couple sat in the booth for a few hours before they decided to part with the comfortable cute restaurant. “Alright let’s play a game, okay? Lets trow a coin for each time we reach a turn and see where we end up.” The woman suggested when they reached yet another ending of a street. She didn’t want to return to the train station just yet. “Yea, That’s the spirit girl!” the man answered with a grin. He saw the woman coming out of her shell more and more and he couldn’t help but admire her more and more because of that. He too felt himself becoming more comfortable with every minute he spent with her in this unknown city.
So they played the game, turning left and right until they didn’t remember the way back. “I can’t believe we are lost. How is it that there are no street signs pointing to the station?” The man chuckled. “I don’t know, but there is a sign saying beach and I really love the beach.” The woman said, pointing to the sign she saw. “Only if you jump in the water with me.” The man dared her. The woman hesitated. She had never been comfortable with her body, and swimming meant she had to go in her underwear. Besides that, it wasn’t the warmest day of the year so she was certain it would be cold. “Please” The man begged, “I really want to swim. I’ll even buy you a towel”. If she was hesitating before, she couldn’t possibly say no now that he was staring at her with those brown puppy eyes begging her for a swim. “Alright, but I do want that towel!” The man threw her a big smile before grabbing her hand and pulling her to the nearest store that would possibly sell towels.
“I really don’t know if I can do this. It is way too cold out here” The woman said when they finally felt the sand of the beach beneath their feet. “You can! I know you can! And I will be there next to you the entire way!” The man encouraged her. He didn’t like the cold either, but he didn’t want her backing out. He wanted her to push her own limits. So setting down their bags on the sand, they both stripped down to their underwear and walked up to the water. Smiling at each-other they took a step forward into the water, only for the woman to jump back. “fuck! I can’t do this. It’s way to cold” she said while eyeing the water. “Oh come on! I know you can do this!” The man said while he too toke a step back, only to grab the left hand of the woman. he smiled at her to encourage her and she couldn’t help but smile back. She took a deep breath before she put her foot forward. Not loosing eye contact they put in one step at the time. Breathing in and out slowly. They both started shivering on they way but the continued till the water reached her shoulders.
She suddenly let go of his hand only to splash cold water in his face. Seeing the look of shock on his face, she couldn’t help but burst out laughing. He watched her in aw for a while. She looked beautiful laughing like that, he thought, even though she was shivering of the cold. He was staring at her and he couldn’t believe he was spending the day with this beautiful woman. Another cold splash took him out of his mind, and he splashed back this time.
When the water started to get too cold they came back to the shore. They sat down under their warm towels just in time to see the sun disappear beneath the mountains on the other side of the lake. The comfort of the silence around them, made the woman realize how much she needed a day like this. Knowing the day was almost over and she had to return home eventually left a bitter taste.
The man didn’t want to leave this day behind. Seeing that sun disappear made him realize how bad he wanted to stay. But he knew he couldn’t. The train home would soon come to take them away. “We probably should head back to the train station” The man hesitantly broke the silence. The woman simply nodded, stood up and gathered her stuff. She didn’t know how to tell him she didn’t want to leave.
The walk back to the station was quiet. They followed the signs but each step felt heavier. Suddenly they didn’t know what they should talk about. Suddenly the silence didn’t feel as comfortably anymore. As they entered the station their hands found each-other unknowingly. The train already waiting to leave. They didn’t let go of each-other when they found a seat. It wasn’t until the train met the darkness away from the station that the strangers both looked at each-other and let a small sad smile slip. the woman looked back out of the window and let her head lean on the man’s shoulder.
“Welcome aboard the Intercity train. The next stop will be Guenisavalia Station. We will reach this stop within a few minutes” the intercom spoke up. The woman sat up straight. “This is your stop, isn’t it?” she asked. The man grimaced and nodded. “I…” The man started to speak but he didn’t get to finish. The woman softly put her lips to his. The kiss was slow and soft, like they both put all their emotions in that one kiss. Pulling back, the man slowly stood up and let go of her. He smiled once. a sad short smile. The train had stopped and he had to leave.
She saw him from that window. He made it outside and now stood there numbly. He saw her too. Watched her until that train moved out of the station. He kept standing, not moving an inch, until the train left over the horizon. Then he realized his mistake. He didn’t even ask for her name.
