You all alone here son?'
II guess. I came out here just by myself, you see..'
My, you look barely past your teenage years lad, what's a young thing like you doing in a place like this?'
I kind of, well, it just felt right, to come here. To get away from where I was, you know?'
I'm not so sure I do son! I mean, this here is a town without your gadgets and gizmos and what have you. There's no real internet around these parts as far as we know, it's sure a place to walk and explore, but don't expect to find any of those lively clubs you have back home. Heh, oh no we don't have too much of that over here. Give us a rusty guitar and pick out a simple melody, we'll roam the forests till sunrise and that's us done!'
(Draped in darkness the alps sneak past the carriage window glistening over tree tops and sprawling valleys. Breathing deep, I watch from my adjacent seat as the eyes of this weary stranger turn to gaze into the passing imagery, resting deeply in a kind of slumber, as though it's all he's ever known.)
If I took you to visit where I'm from, I reckon you'd find it hard over there sir, you know? It's not like out here. You can be close to death and still crave the comfort of a P.C's warmth, or work out one more way to spend one more day reaching some distant goal society seeps into you.'
I don't much like the sound of that young man!' Oh dear, no no, just the peace of this chugging train can keep me happy. Look, look, you see the lights rising over that mountain way? That there is our destination. Watch the way the river bends in time with this here train, isn't it something?'
(It's more than something. It's the kind of moment you keep with you and want to replay over and over when it's passed, knowing it will never feel quite the same as when it took place.)
So. What will you be doing with yourself around here then? To keep you busy and what not?'
Um. That's not that easy to answer. I, kind of have to just wait and see when I hit the station where things lead, really..I didn't plan anything on this one..'
(I'll remove everything I thought I knew about myself and push forward to dip my toes in that one move I know to be completely me, without caring what could happen next and more importantly what might just not. I'll live for every moment away from the places and positions that drag me down deeper, learning from the beauty in surroundings and questions not yet asked. I'll give out everything I could ever be and not step back towards anything I wished' to become. I'll breathe in and out for the days not yet lived and cherish every past downfall that brought me to this moment of release. I'll move on with the freedom of never regretting the steps as I keep on taking and taking and giving and going with smiles and tears blending music and memory to something completely and entirely my own.)
You've got some sure bravery in you there young chap, I say that much to ya! Oh, well, this is me then. Sigh' It's been quite the journey this one, I'm used to just the rattling of these tea cups and cheeky winks to the nice looking ticket lady whenever she shuffles by. But you know, you've shaken things up a little, I say! Heh, I wonder if my dear old heart can take all this excitement, eh? Well then. Take good care son, I'll keep you in my thoughts and maybe we'll see each other again one day, eh, on another of these winding railway adventures?'
(Patting my shoulder, his dusty coat hangs heavy around the stumbling figure, as he potters onto a shadowy station lit solely by lamplight and scattered with rare snowflakes. As the train shifts away as silently as it slowed, I sink back into my seat and give a wave to the rapidly clouding window as the station creeps carefully away into the distance..we never meet again, but a part of him rests forever in this one memory..)