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VIII
The
only reason I wanted to go to the bar was to be with him a
little longer, for after he had refused the offer, I excused
myself and lied that I didn’t feel very well, and had better go
back home to rest. We said our good-byes as we parted away
again, not knowing when we will meet again.
I
made my way to the train station, moving slowly among the
falling snow, buying a ticket, getting on the train, the murmurs
of too many peoples passed. I stared at the number ‘21A’ on my
ticket, as I walked slowly among the rows of seats, feeling the
presence of the town I had once called home. I had entered
through the back entrance of the train, so the numbers pasted on
the armrests diminished as I pushed past on, going past old men
and children, women with nothing more to do, men with nothing
else to tell.
“Excuse me, is anyone seated here?” I asked as I approached my
seat, even though I already knew the answer. I just asked for
the sake of courtesy, I guess.
That’s when he turned around, and he started to say “No, no one
is…”, and then stopped dead and looked at me, his eyes wide with
surprise, mouth still unclosed with shock. I didn’t know if he
was surprised to see me, or shocked at the surprised look I had
on my face.
We stayed like
that in a forever time, each staring into each other’s eyes, not
knowing what to say, not knowing what to do. But stare, see if
we could see past each other’s reflections, past that surface
life of ours, past the heart and soul that we carried inside. |
