The Train To Many Places - Chapter 3

The Train To Many Places

A novel

By Paul McCann

Chapter 3

Dream On A Sky Train  

He stepped on board the train not knowing where he was going again, but he didn’t seem to mind , he had a free ticket to go wherever it was taking him .
The big wheels of the old steam train started turning and churning as the train rolled away down the track to the next stop .
It went click clacking away in the morning light mile after mile down the line out sight .
There was another man on the train near him sitting nearby with a computer tablet in his hand , He looked as if he was in some kind of pain as he looked.
at Dave . Somehow his unshaven face seemed out of place on that train .
Dave smiled and the stranger and asked ,
“Are you ok?”
He never spoke and seemed to disappear in thought somewhere for a while .
A little further down the track
he seemed to come back again .
“ I lost my wife a little while ago “
he said .
Dave replied .
“I’m sorry you lost your wife “
“I’ve been on this train since then going around and around , can’t get off , can say how many days I’ve been on this train “
Dave smiled and said ,
“It might be time to say , goodbye now . The journey might be over and it’s time to return again. “
The stranger said ,
“The journey began with a plane on the runway to a ship in the harbour . Then I took a taxi to a railway station and got on this train on a track and I’m still looking at an empty space I can’t fill and I don’t know what to do or where to go if I get off this train “

Dave gave him a hug and said ,
“ I’m on a journey that just started with a train and a horse and carriage and I don’t know where it will end “

Dave told the stranger about the day he lost his wife and children .
Outside the window of the train , trees and hills went shuttering past like snapshots from a distant time when everything slotted into place like a jigsaw picture without missing pieces.
Both men felt ok about sharing their stories and there was a healing in sharing their grief to one another .
The strange thing about being on a train is you never get to choose who is in the carriage with you and you never know how long they will be staying on that train .
So as the was coming into stop at the next station Dave said goodbye to the stranger who had decided to stay until the end of the line . They both shook hands and Dave got off the train . He stood and watched the train depart .
Up the track a train rolled on and it tooted now and then as it made its way to the bend where Dave saw an arm wave . He assumed it was the stranger who he had met and he waved back before the train disappeared .
Some other people had got off the train and they were making their way to the exit . Some young children hopped , other young ones laughed and chatted about this and that . One or two of the young ones began to sing and it reminded him of the times his own children would do just the same thing .
Dave made his way out from the platform to the exit gate and showed his travel pass to the ticket collector .
It was about midday and the traffic on the road was busy .
Car horns were going beep beep and beep and young ladies on the sidewalks were walking with high heels on their feet as Davy made his way to a park where the grass was green and the air was clean and he took a seat on a bench and watched the children at play . He remembered the way his children used to be when they were young and they went to the park .
His children loved the swings and slides and he remembered their funny little ways . The joy of running around , kicking a ball and flying a kite in the wind and how quickly those years disappeared into adolescence years when they were fully grown with minds of their own .
Suddenly he heard the sound of cymbals clashing and drums bashing , trombones and trumpets blaring . So, he went to see what all the noise was and then a short distance away he saw the circus in the centre of the park .
He went down to the gate and saw a sign that said anyone with a free travel pass is allowed in free of charge so he went to that entrance and presented his free travel pass and they allowed him in for free .
He took a seat and watched the clowns running around and fall down as the acrobats on their trapeze bars went swinging and tumbling in the air .
There were walkers on a high wire and fire dancers eating fire with the jugglers who were tossing balls . Then there were dogs dressed up like dolls and ponies who danced . The whole audience were in a trance watching the circus acts . Davy remembered the times he went with his wife and children to the circus and how they loved the attraction of the big top brought an instant reaction with the non-stop action until the end of the show.
The Ringmaster approached Dave and as the only person there who had a free travel pass, he was given free accommodation in a caravan for one night and free food as well . After the show he was taken to his caravan where his food was already waiting . He went to sleep that night with the sounds of lions roaring and elephants trumpeting and felt lucky to be there in the company of them all . He had a shave and got into bed and drifted off to sleep .
In a dream he was with his wife and children and everything was just right and nothing had changed . They were all together travelling on a train through the sky through tunnels and over the bridge between the day and night to a place in time where they had lots of things to see and do before dream came to an end and morning found him in the place where his body lay alone .
In the sky train they explored the brightest star that ever shone and they stopped on a cloud where they walked together where footsteps had never trod .

Then on the edge of a cloud where only dreamers were allowed to be they all sat in silence to capture the colours that were floating in space before it was time to return on the sky train to a place whete the morning would find him again .

As soon as he awoke, he had forgotten the dream he had during the night and after breakfast he made his way back to the railway station to catch the next train to another place somewhere .

End Chapter 3

link to chapter 4

https://www.abctales.com/story/mcscraic/train-many-places-chapter-4

The Train To Many Places

A novel

By Paul McCann

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