Traversing in Reverse.

I haven’t done this in awhile. I listen to a soundtrack and let the words fly. There is no reason why, just to try. Enjoy.

Rasping roaring wind rushed passed through open window of the train window.

“Are you crazy shut that thing it is freezing outside!” Matilda yelled from the train bunk.

Azmara slipped as she quickly shut the window.

Bam!

She hit the floor bracing her arms out to break her fall. It was her first time being on a train. It would be the last time she saw the house she grew up in. No matter how she shielded herself her life would never be the same.

“I am sorry. I. I .I . I just got bored and wanted to see what it would be like.” She explained while she rubbed her elbows from the floor.

“Curiosity should never be stifled, my dear. Maybe next time you could ask, though?” Her gruffy father grumbled those words as he hunched over in the seat next to the door.

“Yeah, sure.” she replied.

Reese got up from his seat and took a seat next to his daughter along the window.

Long shadows with haunting black voids spread where the moonlight dare not show. The night was doing what it does best, hiding humanities greatest follies. In the darkness the plight of the land could not be seen. Destruction lurched along the war torn country.

They are the lucky ones. They got out. The village where they came from many could not. Military aged people were pressed into service, the children and the elderly pushed into bunkers with limited rations.

“Sleeping is pointless.” Matilda groaned as she propped herself up.

“I got to get out of this room!” Matilda swung down from the bed and put on her sandals.

“Don’t go far. There are more stops ahead and more people will board.” Reese cautioned.

“Ok, I’ll just be in the hall way I promise.” Matilda spoke over her shoulder when she ran out the door.

“Why? Do we have to leave?” Azmara asked.

“Bad people were trying to make our lives dangerous.” Reese responded.

“Why? Were they trying to do that?” Her line of questioning continued.

“Oh, If I had the answer for that I would be a wise man. But….. If I had to explain it. We hate what we don’t know. It is easier to be destructive to someone we share no similarities too than your neighbor. Or they could just be pushing someone else’s agenda because they themselves have no other options. I’ll get off my soap box now.” Reese tried to add levity to the gloomy reality of troop advancement on the place where you once lived.

“This is not the end. The dust will settle. Fire eventually burns out. I just wish it happened at a different time. You have the whole world ahead of you. When I was 14 my biggest worry was getting to school on time. For you my daughter, my angel, I failed as father to provide for you all.” Reese struggled to say.

“Dad no. You provided for us just fine. You got us out. As long as we can be together everything will be ok.” Azmara stretched her arms over her father for a hug.

Matilda grew tired of her pacing back and forth. She only allowed herself twenty steps in each direction. It was almost the length of the train car she was on. Her laps to and fro stretched one step longer the more she did it. As she passed the different passenger cabins the thin lathes of wood did nothing to damper the sounds of the conversations held within.

Matilda did not want to eavesdrop but her wandering mind couldn’t help herself. Her ears perked up as she walked by. She heard plenty of snoring for the train hadn’t stopped moving since the evening and now it was the dead of night. Between the unconscious infrequently the faint sound of someone sobbing pierced the eerie stillness. Other times she heard rumbles of laughter of men who smuggled some booze aboard. Celebrating the fact the escaped the draft.

Despite the atrocities, there was solace in the movement of the train. Moving farther away from the thunderous drops of artillery pinging closer each day, everyone sighed when the train finally left the station what seemed like an eternity ago.

The lights got brighter and the intercom captured the attention of everyone who knew it was making an announcement.

“First stop, please consolidate your luggage and take your seat. The train is not at capacity. We need to take more passengers. Thank you.” the conductor commanded.

Matilda realized she was farther than just the hallway away from her father.

The crackle of the wheels upon the track began to slow.

“Oh sh*t” she cursed silently.