It was a beautiful Friday summer morning. I woke up bright and early as per my routine. I had a warm glass of water, cereal and an apple for breakfast. I took my usual relaxing 25 minute shower, wore my favourite navy blue pants suit and was ready for work. I walked out of my apartment, the sun was brilliantly golden with a cool breeze. I inhaled the fresh air and said to myself “it’s going to be a good day.” There was nothing outstandingly peculiar about this day, except that after work I would be on a train to visit my best friend Paullah who lived in a different city 3 hours away from me. The day went by and before I knew it I had a travel bag in one hand and a train ticket in the other waiting for a train that would take me from Northvier which is where I lived, to Boomberg, from Boomberg I was to get on another train that would take me Trinilin where my best friend lived.
At 7pm I was on my first train. The train ride was lavishly comfortable. Not to mention the impeccable service from the attendants. I had a book with me that was a compilation of soulful poetry by various talented poets. This particular ride took me out of myself and into a peaceful happy place. I did not quite understand why but I deduced that it was because I was about to see Paullah, who I hadn’t seen in almost a year due to our busy schedules. An hour had gone by and we arrived at the Boomberg train station where I was to be in transit for 30 minutes.
I hopped off the train holding my travel bag and walked towards the waiting area. I took out my phone to update Paullah as to where I was. As I put my phone away I noticed a strikingly beautiful woman walking towards me, she looked like she was probably my age. She was tall, wore natural kinky hair, styled beautifully in a bun bringing out her big beautiful brown eyes. She walked upright confidently and with purpose. She walked towards me and I towards her. I spotted an empty seat at the end of a bench in front of me and proceeded to sit there. She sat right next to me, very close, maybe too close for comfort but honestly I did not mind.
I looked at her and wanted to initiate conversation. The first thing I wanted to say to her was “Hi, you look like what the descriptions and compliments I’ve received would be in a human form ,” I was drawn back because I presumed she would find it strange and the people around me would think I’ve lost my mind. Instead I sat there and looked at her, she looked back at me but it was not awkward. I was in awe, she was a rare beauty. She resembled an imperfect being who owned her flaws. She was perfectly imperfect which in my eyes, made her close to perfect.
I could not stop looking at her. The more I looked at her the more I thought to myself “what if I was her? What if I took my life into my own hands and owned it like she seems to?” She seemed happy, the kind of happy where not everything in your life has been figured out but you are living and loving it. She looked like the happy I could have been if I was not living my life for other people. The kind of happy I could have been if I was in a profession I enjoyed, if I had studied what I was good at, the kind of happy I could have been if my life was actually mine. She looked like the “me” of my dreams who was living my dreams.
I found it so refreshing that all I thought about her and felt I already knew about her was not based on conversation, but on how she made me think about myself in comparison to her. It was the realizations I had concerning myself and my life by merely looking at her. She reminded me of all that I had forgotten about myself in the process of pleasing others. She had such passion and hope in her eyes, two qualities I had lost. She had a spirit of strength oozing off her. In front of me was a conqueror, a goddess of beauty, perseverance, passion and drive. She was everything I did not believe I was. Like an innocent child with hope I said to myself as I was still looking at her “when I grow up I want to be her.”
Before I was ready to leave the stunning woman sitting next to me, my next train had arrived and it was time to continue my journey. I stood up and she stood up with me. My heart leaped with joy as I thought that we were going to be on the same train. I took a few steps towards the train, looked to my side to see if she was walking with me, she was not. I looked behind me and to my disappointment she was not behind me either. With the slightest bit of sadness in my heart I continued towards the train. Before I got to the train, I realized I had forgotten my book on the bench I was sitting on. I rushed back to get it,it was easy to reach as the waiting area was now completely empty. As I was picking it up, I took a quick glance in the mirror that was beside the bench, and there she was again looking like a queen, I smiled softly and she smiled back.