Train From The Atlantic (eBook)

The train ran at such a fantastic speed that Alin was barely able to observe the objects along the railway track as they flew past. Not far from the tracks stood a large stretch of water, beyond which were the Canadian lands on which the beautiful city of Windsor stood haughtily. Hundreds of boats kept company with these muddy waters. Many of the vessels were fishing boats. The lake was a popular fishing spot.

As a matter of fact, the five Great Lakes in the northern US brought so much joy to recreational users and businesses that the area was growing all the time. More and more companies were establishing food companies, and recreationists were making use of the lakes for watersports.

Alin was on his way to South Bend. The day was grim and rainy. This affected his mood. The vast waters of the lake swelled as the stiff wind blew hard across its surface. He faced the ruthless bombardment of water divided into billions of tiny droplets, as if someone, unseen, unheard and unfelt, stood up there in the sky, between the clouds, crashing them together like cymbals, and making them cry.

Alin looked up to the sky. Its ominous color made him quiver. Then he looked down. He turned his gaze to the other side of the landscape seen through the window on the opposite side of the train car. Vast green fields of corn flew past, calming him.

It was the first holiday week. He had escaped from the worries and daily stress of school. To his delight and surprise, the last week of the recently completed term had been much easier, lighter than the previous weeks. However, after purchasing a car, he had to return home quickly. He had plenty to do.

Just a week ago, most of his classmates had gone to their respective towns. One day later, Camelia had gone, too. However, she did not go before telling Alin what Elena already told him. “A little late, if you ask me. Especially considering how persistent I’d been. Anyway, she did it in the end,” he concluded.

A bit of regret lingered. Yet, once Camelia confessed, he could no longer go to the dorm, nor to her classroom to speak with her. Besides the fact that flirting was over, there was the problem of her classmates who certainly knew about everything. If they saw him hanging around Camelia, hoping for her attention and favor, they would not hesitate to poke fun at him. And so he was determined to stay away.

A strong thunderclap drew his attention. Damn it with this rain. If it rains even in South Bend... He realized he had forgotten to ask his friend if the car park was covered or open air. In general, the new car dealers displayed their vehicles in covered locations, but as Tzock’s exhibition displayed secondhand cars, he wasn’t sure what to expect.

The train ran ahead at a stunning speed. Alin spied a small stream linking the waters of Detroit to Lake Erie. Across the United States border, a strip of Canadian cropland was visible. Looking at the verdant fields, images wandered through Alin’s mind. These images were of the equally rich Romanian crop fields on the edge of his grandparents’ village. He used to run into those fields and grasp small bundles of golden ears with his hands, gently caressing his face with their delicate silk. Those were moments from his childhood when he was with his parents on leave in their native country. He remembered how he always regretted having to leave there, that oasis of peace and love.

His mind flooded with the faces of all the friends he had made over there, in his grandparents’ village. Every time he left there, he had promised his friends he would return. “This year,” he vowed to himself, “I think I will go for New Year’s Eve, or even in the summer. I haven’t been there for far too long. Anyway, if not for New Year’s Eve, then next summer because, once admitted to a university, I will not have as much free time as in the upcoming summer holidays. I’ll see then. If I go to the University of Chicago, I will meet many of my high school classmates and we might all go home at the same time.”

Alin took in the green crop fields so reminiscent of his ancestral home. “I might reserve a couple of days to visit Alexandria with my next home visit to Romania. I haven’t been there for a long time. If things had worked out different, maybe I would have gone with Camy.”

Alin’s face contorted, as if a physical pain had flashed through him. Reality is hard to accept in many situations. And slowly, slowly he started to descend the string of memories, like climbing down a string of pearls. How many times he had felt a deep joy when observing Camelia’s sweet smiling face. How many times he used to come from the end of the corridor, from the window of which he looked longingly at the girls’ dorm, especially towards the windows of room 101. How many times he had wished that she was next to him. How many times he had imagined taking her for a drive. How many times...

The dreams, however, had shattered once he found out the truth. Better to know the truth than to twist in the wind of wonder. Still, what a pity.

On the last Wednesday of school, when Camelia had finished her classes, he looked again from his window to her dorm windows. He stood very still for a long time, waiting for her to appear. Of course, he knew she might already be at the train station heading for home. Knowing the truth of the situation did not make it any easier to accept.

Alin gazed emptily out the window at the passing scenery. Life was passing him by or so it felt at times. “She’s gone,” he sighed. His breath left a small cloud of moisture on the window that faded then vanished completely along with his hopes for a future with Camelia.

He wished he possessed magical forces capable of giving him the power to control space and time, to catch up in some supernatural form with the train that Camelia might have just boarded. He would accompany her on the journey to her parent’s house. Stay close to her and enjoy her company as the train rumbled along on its journey.

A feeling of emptiness and unfulfillment swept over his soul. “She’s gone,” he whispered once more. He pressed his fingers to the window. The glass was cool to the touch.

Between the past and the present, there had been countless days of training, in which he had made every effort to unleash the negative tensions, the bewildered feelings that filled his heart and soul. Almost every time, he left the gym feeling different. Feeling changed for the better, both physically and mentally. Practicing his karate helped him a lot, but it could not relieve him of his panic completely. Alin sometimes considered giving up his training on the eve of exams so that he could focus on his baccalaureate. He could always resume after that. But, in the end, he decided that it would be wrong to quit. He needed to work harder, get stronger. Besides, he still had a lot of time before his exams.

The train slowed, passing images became clearer. Finally, the train stopped at one of the waystations. “Toledo,” he said to himself. He stood up and walked along the corridor. He jumped down from the car. “Since we’re here for few minutes, I may as well stretch and get something to cool off.”

Alin crossed through a bright passage filled with travelers and reached the station platform. He stopped at a line of coin-operated vending machines. He inserted some change in a beverage machine and punched a button. His bottle dropped from the bowels of the machine before his eyes. He read the label, felt its coldness through his fingers. “Yeah. Just what I needed. And it is cool enough.”

He opened the cap with the bottle opener attached to the vending machine. He lifted the bottle to his lips and drank its icy contents down in a single gulp. I can’t believe how far it is from Detroit to Toledo. No wonder I felt so thirsty.

A cloud-covered sky hung over the station. Puddles along the tracks gave evidence of earlier rains. He tossed his empty bottle and purchased some popcorn from a second machine. The train’s horn tooted and he climbed back aboard. He stood at the end of the car, near his compartment, looking out at the world while he munched his salty snack.

I still have a long way to go until reaching South Bend. Alin checked his watch. Yes, it was still early. He had chosen a morning departure train so that he would arrive as early as possible in the day. The day before leaving, Alin had telephoned Tzock to let him know that he was coming. With a voice trembling with joy, he communicated to him the train number and his arrival time. Although he knew it would rain the day of his trip, Alin tried to remain upbeat. He was anxious to buy a car of his own and wasn’t going to let a little rain stop him.

Because Alin’s parents needed the family car, he could not use theirs whenever he wanted. He would have liked a luxury car, but he wanted to buy a new one, when possible, and he had so far failed to raise the necessary money. He did not want to get involved with the banks. He didn’t like the idea of a loan.

A pickup truck would be useful to him, too. He could earn some money with it and save up for the future. My parents helped me as much as they could. Where could I get more money? he wondered. Not long ago, his parents had finally paid off a series...