Wanderlust

Real Chapter 1

The carriage jostled as the train rounded a bend. The man sitting across from me stirred and mumbled something incomprehensible then continued snoring softly.
         I leaned my head against the cool window hoping to find some comfort in the stuffy carriage. Outside the dark clouds were releasing their heavy loads of rain down on the lush landscape. It rained  a lot more in England than in France.
          I absentmindedly fiddled with my gloves watching the raindrops slide down the glass. The train whizzed along full speed, the landscape a blur of green outside the glass barrier. 
         Everything was so silent you might not have guessed a thousand other frightened children had been crammed in the all the other carriages not so long ago. All with a common unsettling feeling of dread as they were whisked away from their homes and sent to live with distant relatives most had never heard of. Relieves with houses far from the hellish nightmare that their homes had become. 
           As the train whisked along the track the scene of dread that had been eating away at my insides since Monday began to subside. A feeling of calm optimism took its place comforting me. For once in the my long three day journey I felt at peace with my seemingly hopeless situation. I had never once heard of my great aunt Rose before the war had begun. Being sent to a whole new country, alone, fleeing my home because of reasons I couldn't quite grasp set a cold hard feeling in my stomach that I hadn't been able to shake since my mother had broken the news ever so tearfully Sunday night as we sat by the fire.
         Aunt Rose was my fathers aunt. I had only heard her mentioned in hushed conversations from just outside the room. Conversations I was not meant to hear. As far as  I could tell she had never traveled across Europe with the rest of my family, and that for one reason or another made her an embarrassment to the rest of us. But now, her distant home was our savior.
          I couldn't help but grin at the fair workings of the world.
          "Little girl, what are you grinning at?" A laughing jolly voice inquired. I jumped slightly at the sudden noise. The man with whom I shared the carriage had awoken. His blue eyes danced with laughter as I collected myself.
         "I'm sorry to have startled you my dear." He laughed. He was the sort of man who you might not spare a second glance at when passing on the street. His face was jolly and round. He wore a permit smile that could illuminate a dark room and had a neatly trimmed white beard. He reminded me of grandpa.
          "No worries, I've just been lost in my own thoughts that's all." I responded returning his smile.
          "Ah, that's very appropriate for a young girl such as yourself. If you don't mind me asking, what were you thinking about?"
          "Well, I was just thinking of my great aunt. I'm going to visit her for some time." I answered puzzled at his queer question.
          "Oh, how lovely.  I'm afraid this is my stop now, do tell your aunt I said hello." The man said rising from his seat briefcase in hand. "It's been lovely traveling with you." He smiled with a nod and before I could respond was out the carriage door, leaving me alone with my thoughts. The carriage was now deathly silent.
         I turned to look out the window again. A scared girl stared back. Her once flawlessly done curls now looked like a wild lines mane. Her green eyes held emotions I couldn't even decipher myself, the dark circles under her eyes made them pop. Her face was flushed and she looked too skinny. Her new grey coat hung loosely on her shoulders. I couldn't help but cringe at my horrid state.

          Soon the train began to move again. Starting slowly, inching down the track as if each turn of the wheels physically pained it. Slowly, the scenery began to blur together until you couldn't tell where one tree ended and the next began. With in minutes we were speeding across the country side once more.
         I'd never realized how defining silence truly was. Without the rhythmic snores of the man the silence closed in, pressing against me, filling my lungs until it became hard to breathe. I would meet the long fables Aunt Rose soon enough.  This thought made my stomach churn. The mere thought of this new place sent shivers down my spine. Something deep inside of me gave a sharp tug. When would I go home to my mother? And what would I find in this foreign new place?