Home
—-
I’m on a train. I’m leaving this place. I’m escaping. I’m going home.
I’ll be back with my friends.
I’ll see her again.
We will be.
There.
Us.
And it’s morning, Early morning, and I find it hard to believe that I’m
up, let
alone two hours from home…
…north home…
… at this time of day. But a few short hours and it’ll be over. I’ll be
home…
…south home…
…with her, with my friends, my family. My old life.
I’ve escaped before. I abandoned that town for this one. I left my old
life for
one new, shiny, sparkling. Glistening with opportunities. I would never
- could
never - return. Not there. Not where I started. It would be admission of failure
to come back .
But come back I will.
There isn’t a noise. Just a feeling, a sensation. an involuntarily leap
out of
my seat. No muscles moved. The landscape, once scrolling picturesquely
by my
window has abruptly halted and appears to be coming closer. No. The
train is
falling. Off the tracks, to the verge. In quick succession the train
window hits
the grass, then I hit the remains of the window. Then a bag from the
aisle
opposite hits me.
And then, all is black.
And then, all is white.
And I’m standing at the station. I must have been here a thousand times,
waiting
for trains, returning home from day trips. And I look at the other side
of the
station and she is standing there. As I ever remember her, unchanged
since we
parted, and I am there beside her, no movement known, and I sweep
her into my
arms, and I look up.
The sky is grey and cloudy, as i always knew it would forever be, and I
walked
out of the gates into the car park. The world was empty. No trains,
buses, or
people despite the early evening. Still with my beloved in my arms I
felt an
idea form, and I jumped.
High above the houses, the trees, the track lines, the village spread
out before
us. We could see miles, we could be however we wanted, I could Fly.
and yet I could not, Gravity was pulling lightly downwards, and I knew
that
although i could not fly, I somehow was not here enough for the
world to fully
notice my presence. We landed on a house beside the railway lines,
avoiding the
television aerials, and I looked at the girl in my arms. She nodded, and
I
launched into the sky.
We could be whoever, and wherever we wanted to be, we just needed to
find that
place.
The sun broke the clouds.
And on a clear day, we could seek forever.
“And on this sad day, we mourn the passing of Jason Wild, who was in the\ terrible train catastrophe we hear on the news, and for Emma Bryan, who took her\ own life at the news of Jason’s parting. May God forgive and find them both.\ Amen”