Tales From Sin City (Completed)

Story(04): Hope ... On A Train -Ch 01-

The clock read 5:49 am, I have just woken up and my back already aches as if I have been sleeping on a freezing metal surface for ages. But then again, who said that train seats are as comfortable as motel beds? well, I know I didn't.

"Mom" that's what crossed my mind as soon as I flinched underneath the covers. Her image flashed through my memory hence I quickly turned to my right side checking, praying that she is there

is she?

And yes she was, her mind far asleep; eyes closed and her body gently rested across the seat covered with my favorite yellow blanket. She was breathing slowly, dark circles beneath her eyes as if they were telling stories about all the sleepless nights she had been through, surviving the ache of the unknown, pushing, sacrificing and providing for her daughter.

Providing the life she very much longed to live and simultaneously the base ground for the life I am ceaselessly fighting to reach.

I stared at her with all the appreciation, gratitude and grace left in me. Whispering endless thank you for the holy God who has blessed me with the existence of such a woman in my life.

My vision became blurry as I noticed a spectrum of light slipping from behind the curtains covering the window of our cabinet.

"Sunrise already" I assumed to myself as I pushed my legs off my coat which I used as a blanket during my sleep. it wasn't exactly the cleverest solution but it was enough to kick off the creeping cold from numbing away my toes and legs which was the least I could wish, as they say, desperate times indeed call for desperate solutions. Although my feet were clothed with a double pair of thick socks I sensed a brush of freezing breeze slightly brushing against them therefore, I couldn't help but wonder, where's the sudden cold creeping from?.

Slipping my fingers under my seat, I snatched my only pair of glasses, lifted them to my lap then quickly after checked them for any scratches or god forbid broken glass. Yet luckily, there were none therefore, I gently wore them then blinked a couple of times. And Lord, how I admired that rapid transition in my eyesight; from blurry to straight, clear vision

Certainly and like each time I put my glasses on, I allow that small full-of-gratitude smile to dance on my lips expressing the amount of praise I hold towards god, science, opticians and all in between for being an important part in the production of this fragile piece of glass I am gracefully wearing on my face.

For rescuing my vision.

As soon as I was up on my feet, I leaned closer towards my mother's seat, and judging by the peaceful expressions being displayed on her face it was quite clear that she is still taken away inside her unconsciousness by a cryptic dream. And at that thought, I prayed that whatever the dream was let it be a pleasant one. pleasant enough to reassure her petrified neurons and provide her mind with the rest it very much deserved.

As I stared at her petite sleeping figure once again before laying my coat on her blanket, my mind wandered to the adventures we've been through together recalling the ecstatic moments we've spent where we were supposed to naturally be miserable; And the tough times on the other hand, which she mystically made them seem not as a bit tough as they actually were.

Although I asked her the same question a few times, " aren't you bored?"

and yes, that's how I thought about it back then; bored. You see some things in life require a specific degree of mental maturity and spirit comprehension for them to represent their true meaning and fully make sense to us.

Yet once we do reach that stage, we realize how falsified simple concept might appear whereas they could completely mean otherwise if possible.

Her answer was as simple as a smooth wave reaching the shore and the way she said it was the part that marked my memory the most