The Train

Inner Journey



The train is quiet a different experience than what I am used to. The seats have a pretty descent amount of room for stretching out, but it is very tight quarters when trying to move about the train. Once I got settled and got all of my things put in my designated seat, I was going to make my way down the skinny winding stairs to the skinny hall where the restrooms were. The first door I came too didn’t have a sign saying it was occupied so I opened the door expecting to see an empty bathroom. I was mortified to find a young man sitting on the commode. I gasped and slammed the door shut upon making an awkward two-second-long eye contact. I quickly made my way down the skinny corridor to another open door and hoped to god that it was actually empty. This time I was free to go pee and not have an embarrassing encounter with a stranger. The rest of the night I was avoiding looking at any young man that might walk by me in fear of having another awkward two-second-long, or heaven forbid longer, eye contact. After this little mishap, I could feel my unease of traveling too far from the safety of my seat build up. I was able to shake that feeling after a little while and head out to the observation car. The observation car is such a nice change of atmosphere that I wasn’t expecting. At night it’s quiet, dark, and intimate. During the day it is bright and active. There are people talking, working, and enjoying the view from the train.

Outer Journey




The departure from the train station went smoothly. Every student was prepared and on time. The weather was cool, clear, and crisp. There is excitement in the air about finally traveling to the Boot State. Once the train started to move the excitement settled and the exhaustion from the day set in. I decided to make my way to the observation cart and relax for a while. It’s 11:41, we just passed Effingham, IL. I’m sitting alone at a table in the observation car. The train is consistently swaying side to side with sharp jerks every so often. The lighting is dim, and the windows make small cracking sounds with the movement of the train. The muffled sound of the screaming siren is attention seeking as we roll through towns. There are nine other adults on the car but it sounds as if I’m the only one here. I have two solo cups on my coffee ringed table. One is almost empty, and the other has become my garbage cup. I have been too lazy to throw it out being that I can’t easily see a garbage anywhere. The seats are dark blue leather but appear black under the veil of night. It’s now mid-night and I feel my eye lids get heavy. I let out a huge yawn that makes my eyes tear up. It’s time to go to sleep and I hope that the jerks, cracks, sneezes, snores, cool air and my eye mask are enough to carry me to sleepy town.