Fish In The Sea (GxG) HIATUS

Chapter 6

My parents dropped me off by the train station, the loud chatter of tourists ringing in my ears. I hugged them both goodbye, and then walked into one of the empty compartments. I tucked my small bag into one of the overhead compartments, and slid into the seats.

I sat waiting for a few minutes until the speaker crackled on, and a woman spoke. "Hello passengers. I hope you are having a satisfactory experience so far! The train will be departing in ten minutes, so please make sure all luggage is securely stored away. Thank you!"

As I waited, a few other people started trickling into my compartment. One of the women sitting across from me smiled and waved. "Hello there honey! What's your business in West Virginia?"

I smiled back. "I'm visiting my grandfather. He lives on a farm in the countryside there."

She clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Oh how fun! I'm going there for a wedding. I'm Marie by the way, it's lovely to meet you!"

She offered her hand to me across the table, and I shook it. "It's great to meet you as well, Marie. I'm Hazel."

She got a small mint out of her bag and offered it to me. I politely declined, and then started drawing on my sketch pad. The train had started moving by then, and occasionally it would go over a bump and my hand would shake, messing up the drawing.

I was halfway done with the drawing before I even realized what it was. I had drawn a beautiful sunset overlooking a hill, and two girls were sitting there, hand in hand.

A few tears fell onto the paper, smearing the pencil lines. Marie reached over and squeezed my shoulder. "Are you alright honey?"

I nodded and tried smiling. It came out like a grimace instead. Marie stood up and gracefully walked over to my seat.

Only then could I appreciate how pretty she was, in a very old fashioned way. Her stark white hair was curled in a halo around her head, and she wore a long, dark blue dress underneath a large fur coat. She was also very tall, almost 6 feet, although it might have just been the high-heeled boots she wore.

She sat down beside me, and gasped. I looked over at her in alarm, wondering what had surprised her.

"Your drawing is gorgeous! Takes me back to when I was a child. Absolutely amazing!" She crowed.

I smiled at her, wiping away tears. "Thank you. It also takes me back."

She smiled as well, then handed me a tissue. "Now then, why don't you tell me what's wrong."

I blew my nose, and then wiped away the remaining tears. "It's really stupid. I liked this one person a lot. And I thought they were someone they weren't. Then they left me, and now I'm trying to find my happiness."

While I talked to Marie, she ran her fingers through my hair. It felt very soothing and as I kept talking I unconsciously gave her my absolute trust. I felt more familiar with her then I ever had with my parents, which was a little scary to think about.

Once I finished talking, Marie gave me a massive hug. Her fur coat enveloped me and tickled my nose. "Oh honey! Don't worry about that! The countryside will take all your sadness away. It really is quite beautiful here!"

On that, she was right.

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I stepped off the crowded platform, into the train station. I stood there, like a rock in a river as other tourists flowed and ebbed around me. I scanned the crowd, searching for my grandfather, but he was nowhere to be found.

Someone squeezed my arm, and I quickly turned, inhaling sharply. It was just Marie though, and I relaxed. "Bye honey! I hope you have a lovely time here! Here's my phone number if anything else happens and you need someone to talk to."

She pushed a small piece of paper into my hand, hugged me, and then glided away. I gazed after her, feeling weirdly comforted. I put the paper she gave me into my pocket, and looked around.

I started walking, pushing through other people. I suddenly caught a glimpse of my grandfather's face, about four paces away from me. I moved toward him, and he caught my hand.

"Hazel. It is wonderful to see you again." He said, giving me a small smile.

I gave him a hug, and then we walked out of the bustling station. Outside, his small red Jeep was parked, and he offered his hand to help me up into it.

He got into the driver's seat, and the car rumbled to life. As we backed out of the parking lot, I gazed around in wonder. West Virginia was very, very different from New York. We were driving through a very small and quaint town, much smaller than New York City.

My grandfather took a turn off the highway, and the landscape changed even more dramatically. All buildings disappeared, and a long, grassy plain waved to and fro in the gentle breeze. The road dipped and rose with the hills. Small little wildflowers peeked through the ground, and the breeze made my hair fly into my face

The plain morphed into a sparse forest, and although there were very few trees, their reaching branches casted the road in shade. It felt like we were driving through a tunnel of flora, the green leaves enveloping the car and drifting down from the trees to meet the ground.

"It is very beautiful here." I remarked to my grandfather.

He smiled at me through his thick beard. "It is, isn't it? I drive through it every day. When your grandmother was alive, she would call it 'Tunnel of Dancing Trees'."

I gazed in wonder as the beautiful trees zipped past us. Eventually the tunnel came to an end, and my grandfather's farm appeared on the horizon.

My grandfather's farm sat on the greenest grassy slopes I had ever seen. The blue sky looked pristine and the picturesque clouds just added to it. His farm was a large red building, with two large doors at the front. Inside I could hear the sounds of agitated animals, and someone speaking comfortingly to them.

Next to the farm was the prettiest and coziest house I had ever seen. It was a pale peach with a few reds mixed in, and substantially larger than our apartment in New York. I immediately switched my train of thought. Thinking of New York was never good for me. Way behind both the house and the farm were long stretching crop fields. I saw wheat, and what looked to be vegetables. Perhaps tomatoes? It was too far away to see. I inhaled and the smell of animals and clean air filled my nose.

I allowed myself a small smile, this was everything I had ever dreamed of. It was all so unreal. It was like a place I would see in the movies, or perhaps a children's picture book.

He parked the Jeep on the gravel road right outside the cottage, and helped me out. "You're welcome to look around the farm for a bit, before I show you your room. I'll take your luggage inside. The stables are that way, by the way" He said, pointing at a large brown building. "I heard you like animals. One of my stable-hands is there right now. She can show you around."

I gave him my thanks, and I walked along the gravel road until I got to the stables. The crops were a little ways behind the stables, and from here I could see that they were mainly vegetables, like cucumbers and tomatoes.

I cautiously headed up to the entrance, and as I got closer I heard a very lovely voice singing a gentle lullaby. I peeked my head inside, and I momentarily forgot to breathe.

Inside was a beautiful girl, and she looked to be about my age. Her long black hair was tied up into a messy bun on the top of her head, and she wore an oversized t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

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1338 words

QOTD: What do you find attractive that others might find unusual?

Sorry for being so inactive and inconsistent! I promise that won't happen again <3 Have a lovely day!