The train conductor announcing that they would be
arriving soon woke her from her semi slumber. She realized she was slouched
over in her seat, clothes askew, she probably looked a mess. She sat up and
straightened her clothes, ran her hands through her hair and pulled out her
compact to check her make up.
The sun was peeking up through the horizon to the
east and she looked at her watch. Just before seven, they were right on time.
She still couldn’t believe that she actually slept on the train, she must have
been more tired than she thought. If she was honest with herself- she had been
exhausted, both physically and mentally. It was probably a blessing she got
some rest, she was going to need all of her strength to get through the next
few days.
The train finally came to a stop and she got all of
her bags together and got ready to get off.
Her eyes glanced out the windows and she took in the quaint, but
desolate station. She breathed in the cool air as she got off of the train. It
was so quiet here. No cabs, no traffic, no one there except for the man behind
the ticket counter reading a paper while he enjoyed his morning coffee.
She tightened her scarf, the air was brisk, and it
felt like snow. She looked up at the clouds which were thickening. Great, just
what I need she thought. She started walking towards town and decided to stop
at a small diner, she only had that coffee last night, she had been too nervous
to eat and her stomach growled now.
She went inside, the diners’ warmth welcoming as she
found a booth in the back. Country music played from a radio behind the counter
and the motherly waitress walked over with a coffee pot.
“Good morning dear, coffee”?
“Please” she said with a smile.
“My names Gert, let me know when you’re ready to
order” said the waitress with a smile.
She opened the menu and zeroed in on the
“special”. Even with all the thoughts
going through her head she felt like she could eat a horse. She caught Gert’s
eye and after she came back to the booth she ordered. She looked at the paper place mat covered with local advertisements. Some construction workers came in
and sat at the counter, glancing at her with interest. She looked out the
window seeing the first few flurries beginning to fall. She began to compulsively pick at a loose thread in
her sweater, not realizing it was unraveling the edges.
She needed to find a
job and somewhere to stay.
She needed to focus and
figure out her options.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As he drove through the night he drank coffee,
knowing he needed it to stay awake. He stopped at a rest area and filled up his
gas tank, used the rest room and grabbed a sandwich, chips and switched to Red
Bull. After he paid the cashier he glanced at the map trying to figure out
which of the stops she might’ve gotten off at.
He looked at the notes he’d jotted down. He’d
accessed the train schedule from his cell phone and had written down all the
stops her train made. Seven stops in total, he was about ten miles from the
first stop. The second, fourth and fifth stops were simply that, stops. They
were in the middle of nowhere so he could cross them off of his list. That left
four stations she could’ve gotten off at. He knew the longer it took him to get
to each stop the worse his chances of finding her.
He got back into his car and headed west, opening
the chips and compulsively eating
them without thinking. Flurries began hitting his windshield lightly at first then they became heavier.
If this was any indication, this wasn’t boding well.
