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Angel on the Train

Short Story

By Jenna BurchPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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It was a day like every other day, James had boarded the train home, the same train he rode every day, at the same time, from the same place. He didn’t pay much attention to others on the train, just sat on his phone, playing games, scrolling through social media, counting the stops to his own.

He had been working his new job seven months now and was happy enough, but felt the need for something new in his life. It was just another day. He got home, had dinner, watched TV, went to bed. It was just another day.

Friday afternoon, he left work a little early as he’d finished what he needed to do, he boarded the train, and started his usual routine, scrolling through his phone and staring out the window. Battery 5%. This wasn’t his usual train and stopped at a few more stations. It was cold this time of year so it was easy to tell where people would board, gusts of wind coming from opening doors. James would look up every now and then just out of curiosity, and then she walked on.

Her hair was golden, creeping out from her woolly hat. Her skin like porcelain but her cheeks rosy from the weather. She had caught his eye and he became only more curious. Next stop was home. She had walked and sat not too far from him, unaware of the attention the had attracted. He returned to his phone, the battery died. He stared out the window but caught her reflection faintly in it. He felt like he was in the presence of an angel, but would not have the courage to say a word.

The train stopped, and James got off, and as if it were any other day, that was the end of it. It was just another day. The weekend flew past, and he had pictured this angel a few times, but shaken the thought of her as he felt they’d never really meet. Monday rolls around, and it’s the same old routine, the week goes on like this and Friday comes and once again he finishes a little earlier. He boards the train, like last week, stopping at a few extra stops, this time he’s not really paying attention to his phone and keeps looking up when he feels that gust of wind.

It was just another day. He got off at his station, and walked along the train to the exit. There she was, 3 carriages down, sat by the window, reading. He couldn’t believe it, she was there the whole time and he’d been looking out for her, hoping, and she was there. James started finishing work slightly earlier on a more regular basis. And occasionally seeing the angel on the train, still not saying a word. He begins to give up and things go back to normal, same train, same time, every day. Months went by without thinking of her, and he was back to himself, happy enough, but still feeling something was missing, his life could be more exciting perhaps.

One Friday afternoon, James had been working late, doing as much as he could to make Monday morning a breeze. He boarded the later train, sat scrolling through his phone, the sun painting the sky a picture of oranges and pinks, and then about half way home, the train stops. Over the intercom “we are sorry to inform you, we may be stuck here a while.” James feels an urge to find out what’s going on, he didn’t necessarily have plans, so it wasn’t much bother, but he felt the need to know. He got up and turn around to walk and there, sat right behind him, was an angel. She looked up at him, and he continued to look at her, as if he were about to say something “...sorry” and James walked to find out what was happening.

What had he done, that was his moment, his chance to say hello, and he blew it. The train conductor on board explained there was a cow on the tracks up ahead and they’d been told to stop until others had managed to move it. A cow, of all things, was peculiar he thought.

James returned down the train back to where he’d been sat, knowing he’d pass her on the way, he thought he must say something this time. He passed through the doors between carriages and there she sat, reading her book. He was trying so hard to think of a conversation starter, "what are you reading?" or "come here often" just didn’t seem like they’d cut it.

He panicked and as he was about to pass, “excuse me,” said the angel. “You wouldn’t happen to know what’s going on, would you?”

He froze. “Umm, er, well, you see what the thing is, is that there’s a umm, an animal, a err cow, on the tracks further up and...” James felt the sweat begin to bead around his collar. “What are you reading?” he says.

“Fairytales, stories of angels.”

He smiled, she smiled back. He puts out his hand, she meets it with hers.

“I’m James.”

“Jess.”

And that was that.

They dated a while, but turns out Jess is a bit stuck up, high maintenance and just a little mean. It took James a while to eventually gain the courage to end it and returned to his happy life. He didn’t question the need for anything more. He just let things happen and tried to go with the flow more. He learnt that beautiful is only the beginning of attraction, but ugly comes from within. And Jess, she turned out to be very ugly inside.

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