My dad is in Army, so moving around from one place to another is a ritual that repeats after every two years. It at times makes me feel like a gypsy. We can as well call ourselves "The Traveling Family”.
Before the start of our journey, we would always get a lecture on how we shouldn’t trust strangers on the train. Never talk to them for too long or take anything to eat from them and most of all NEVER to share our personal information. As a result, majority of my time was spent sleeping/reading a book/looking out of the window/staring at my sister. I would never look forward to our train journeys. They were always dull and monotonous.
During one such painful expedition in the month of June, 2007; my Father, and Asfiya (my friend) and I were traveling by train to appear for TOEFL exam. I had mentally decided to spend the one day and one night journey, sleeping on the top most bed. And that's what I didn't really do. I was on the top bed, staring at the ceiling and listening to the conversation going on below me. My Dad prefers to do the same.Guess, it flows in the genes!
Asfiya is the typical perky girl, with whom you can't help but fall in love. She loves to make new friends. So as a matter of fact she was talking to a family that was in the berth opposite to us. Father and son duo. It was a fun conversation; I could make that out from their cheerful voices.
And after that, this realization dawned on me.” What am I doing?" Asfiya was traveling for the first time in a train and she was making most of it .I wasted an entire day staring at the ceiling. I climbed down and joined the group of three. They were so fun loving and very friendly. The son's name was Aaron. .They were going to attend a wedding. He was traveling without his mother for the first time. And his mother, apprehensive regarding the quality of food on the train, had packed them with so many goodies. Which they shared with us generously.
We all talked long after we had finished our dinner. My dad was asleep by that time. Aron shared his sumptuous toasts, rum cake and cherries. Which I gobbled down like a hungry gorrilla.It happens after being subjected to the torturous train food!
After some time, even Aron's dad was fast asleep. But we continued talking. I had a great time with fim.He had loads of funny tales to share. I didn’t realize how the time flew by. Later he made me do something that I had always wanted to do, but my parents would never hear of it. I hung outside the train door and let the wind blow in my face. It had always given me the feel of flying and I had always wanted to do it!
That night, the sky was full of zillion stars.We also saw three shooting stars. And the train also stopped in the mid-way, due to some technical difficulty. But to my surprise, I wasn’t agitated. I was enjoying myself. And yes, I did love each moment of my journey.
That train journey taught me a valuable lesson. Firstly, it doesn’t have to be painful.Secondly, if we keep our differences aside and not judge people according to our own set of standards rather get to know them, Life would be much simpler....
“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.”-Don Williams, Jr.
How interesting!!!! i love traveling by train because i love studying the people riding it.
I hope you did well on the TOEFL exam.
your writing looks good enough!!!
Thanks Keanan,it menas a lot!
Rachel:)