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Description
The tracks were surprisingly more comfortable then she thought. The cold metal was cooling in the sun, though the trees showed the signs of autumn being on its way, the air was not yet crisp enough to signal the autumnal feeling. It was still summer as far as she was concerned. The sun grew low in the sky, birds floating over, headed for home. The clouds drew orange, pink, pastel colours that could only really be put in comparison with a chalk drawing.
Around and a little bit away from the side of the tracks sat trees, amber and gold and few leaves still green.
She looked back down from the sky as she heard her friend talking.
"Birds are happy..." He mumbled, half to himself, half thinking out loud.
"Yeah..." She smiled.
He sat up, taking out his camera from his satchel bag pocket and pointed it to the sky, laying down once again. He snapped a picture, pulling the Polaroid from the front and giving it a tiny shake. Not too hard that the ink would smear. "That's a nice one." He said, smiling. She watched his blue eyes twinkle as he looked from the picture to herself, and then she smiled.
"It is pretty." She answered. She too decided to sit up. "Its been so long since we've been able to do this..."
"Well, we're both back now... Back to reality. I'm glad we decided to hang out." He smiled, running a hand through his dark black hair, pushing his fringe back. His hair contrasted well with his pale skin and blue eyes. Even the piercings. The ones that clad the sides of his ears and the one through his lip to one side.
When he smiled his white teeth shone slightly as his lips parted. She couldn't help but smile back.
"Yeah... Now its just a case of getting everyone back together again..." She answered, brushing her own blue fringe to one side.
"We will. I know we all missed each other..." He answered.
"Everyone left, they were getting on with their lives..." She answered, pulling out a small packet from her pocket and lighting one, taking a drag. "They forgot about me... And you."
"They moved on... I'm not surprised after what happened."
"We were children then... We're 18 now, and they didn't even visit. Even the ones who live close by." She answered.
They had been an inseparable group when it came down to it, always hanging out, helping each other when there were fights, playing all the time instead of doing work in lessons. And though she hadn't hung out with Xephos in a long time it was good to see him now. He had moved to a school just outside of town about 4 years before, when they were 14. For a long time it had just been him and her. Best friends, but now when she looked at him, he was hard to recognise. And she knew he thought the same of her. But they still clicked and got along so well. She stared up at the sky once again. They weren't children anymore. None of then were. But they would all meet up again soon. They would have to.
It had been way too long, even for the two of them that still sat there in the same sleepy town, the same train tracks. She didn't know what she would think when the others came back. She didn't know what they would think.
A small person from a small town could never fill the shoes of the bigger city. That was what she thought after all. She belonged in a small town. Where you could hear the birds, see the mist roll in and the sun rise over the ships in the harbour.
"Well... They'll be back here soon... After all, they're planning a small... Party type thing to honor him..." Xephos mumbled, knocking her out of her train of thought with a tough, harsh kick of reality.
It had been 12 years since it had happened. Since Minty... She didn't want to think about it, but she would never think about it. There had been two times she had been forced to think about it. The funeral, and the wake. And now with the day of remembrance drawing ever closer, the idea of thinking about it was becoming more and more of a necessary must. She couldn't pretend like it had never happened.
She took a long drag of her cigarette, before holding the packet out, letting her friend take one. He had come back to town about a week before, not letting her know before he turned up. He had shown up to come back to college, and had bumped into her while there. Though she didn't go to class anymore, she still liked to hang out. Though the teachers weren't too fond of it. It wasn't that she wasn't smart, just put it to the wrong uses.
The first to move had been Sjin and his family, moving to Seattle just a year after it had happened. He had just managed to catch the wake before his mum and grandma had dragged him away.
"How many days before the reunion?" She asked.
"2... Its come so quick. I don't think any of their families are coming with them. They're all staying in the hotel near college."
"The small place...? They're gonna take up all the rooms..." She answered, quietly. Not quite calm, something in the back of her mind was causing her to be on edge. She just didn't know what it was.
"Yeah they're bunking up as well... I said if it gets too crowded then someone can stay with me in my dorm... I don't know about you and your room at your place." Xephos said, taking a drag.
"I'll see... There should be enough room at the hotel. Might go and stay over with them... Just to catch up... I don't know though." She said, staring up at the pastel sky.
"Anyway." He said, standing up and breaking apart the fragile state of the conversation. The quiet calming talk that was hushed in the early morning redness was almost cut by the sudden end.
She also stood. "Yeah you should probably get back to college."
"Yeah... Don't have lessons today though, maybe we should hang out round yours...?" He asked, seeming nervous suddenly.
"Uh... Sure." She answered, though in her head she thought about it. 'We don't know each other... Not anymore...'
It was true, they had been hanging out for the past couple of days since he'd been back, just relaxing and smoking and talking shit about the past. But they weren't who they were in the past. She knew he was now working for a journalism company, writing about various things. At the moment it seemed to be the state of the town. The diner that was still proudly open, the fishermen, the small patches of beach. She hadn't read any of his stuff, but he had always been into writing.
They smiled to each other.
"You're always off in your own little world aren't you?" He asked, smiling.
"Of course... The real world sucks." She answered, placing a smile on her face as if rubbing out any bad feelings she felt and drawing on new ones. "Let's go..." She said, and they began walking down the tracks, one on one of the tracks, one on the other, balancing as they walked.
The next week would be strange and difficult to say the least.

Description
The tracks were surprisingly more comfortable then she thought. The cold metal was cooling in the sun, though the trees showed the signs of autumn being on its way, the air was not yet crisp enough to signal the autumnal feeling. It was still summer as far as she was concerned. The sun grew low in the sky, birds floating over, headed for home. The clouds drew orange, pink, pastel colours that could only really be put in comparison with a chalk drawing.
Around and a little bit away from the side of the tracks sat trees, amber and gold and few leaves still green.
She looked back down from the sky as she heard her friend talking.
"Birds are happy..." He mumbled, half to himself, half thinking out loud.
"Yeah..." She smiled.
He sat up, taking out his camera from his satchel bag pocket and pointed it to the sky, laying down once again. He snapped a picture, pulling the Polaroid from the front and giving it a tiny shake. Not too hard that the ink would smear. "That's a nice one." He said, smiling. She watched his blue eyes twinkle as he looked from the picture to herself, and then she smiled.
"It is pretty." She answered. She too decided to sit up. "Its been so long since we've been able to do this..."
"Well, we're both back now... Back to reality. I'm glad we decided to hang out." He smiled, running a hand through his dark black hair, pushing his fringe back. His hair contrasted well with his pale skin and blue eyes. Even the piercings. The ones that clad the sides of his ears and the one through his lip to one side.
When he smiled his white teeth shone slightly as his lips parted. She couldn't help but smile back.
"Yeah... Now its just a case of getting everyone back together again..." She answered, brushing her own blue fringe to one side.
"We will. I know we all missed each other..." He answered.
"Everyone left, they were getting on with their lives..." She answered, pulling out a small packet from her pocket and lighting one, taking a drag. "They forgot about me... And you."
"They moved on... I'm not surprised after what happened."
"We were children then... We're 18 now, and they didn't even visit. Even the ones who live close by." She answered.
They had been an inseparable group when it came down to it, always hanging out, helping each other when there were fights, playing all the time instead of doing work in lessons. And though she hadn't hung out with Xephos in a long time it was good to see him now. He had moved to a school just outside of town about 4 years before, when they were 14. For a long time it had just been him and her. Best friends, but now when she looked at him, he was hard to recognise. And she knew he thought the same of her. But they still clicked and got along so well. She stared up at the sky once again. They weren't children anymore. None of then were. But they would all meet up again soon. They would have to.
It had been way too long, even for the two of them that still sat there in the same sleepy town, the same train tracks. She didn't know what she would think when the others came back. She didn't know what they would think.
A small person from a small town could never fill the shoes of the bigger city. That was what she thought after all. She belonged in a small town. Where you could hear the birds, see the mist roll in and the sun rise over the ships in the harbour.
"Well... They'll be back here soon... After all, they're planning a small... Party type thing to honor him..." Xephos mumbled, knocking her out of her train of thought with a tough, harsh kick of reality.
It had been 12 years since it had happened. Since Minty... She didn't want to think about it, but she would never think about it. There had been two times she had been forced to think about it. The funeral, and the wake. And now with the day of remembrance drawing ever closer, the idea of thinking about it was becoming more and more of a necessary must. She couldn't pretend like it had never happened.
She took a long drag of her cigarette, before holding the packet out, letting her friend take one. He had come back to town about a week before, not letting her know before he turned up. He had shown up to come back to college, and had bumped into her while there. Though she didn't go to class anymore, she still liked to hang out. Though the teachers weren't too fond of it. It wasn't that she wasn't smart, just put it to the wrong uses.
The first to move had been Sjin and his family, moving to Seattle just a year after it had happened. He had just managed to catch the wake before his mum and grandma had dragged him away.
"How many days before the reunion?" She asked.
"2... Its come so quick. I don't think any of their families are coming with them. They're all staying in the hotel near college."
"The small place...? They're gonna take up all the rooms..." She answered, quietly. Not quite calm, something in the back of her mind was causing her to be on edge. She just didn't know what it was.
"Yeah they're bunking up as well... I said if it gets too crowded then someone can stay with me in my dorm... I don't know about you and your room at your place." Xephos said, taking a drag.
"I'll see... There should be enough room at the hotel. Might go and stay over with them... Just to catch up... I don't know though." She said, staring up at the pastel sky.
"Anyway." He said, standing up and breaking apart the fragile state of the conversation. The quiet calming talk that was hushed in the early morning redness was almost cut by the sudden end.
She also stood. "Yeah you should probably get back to college."
"Yeah... Don't have lessons today though, maybe we should hang out round yours...?" He asked, seeming nervous suddenly.
"Uh... Sure." She answered, though in her head she thought about it. 'We don't know each other... Not anymore...'
It was true, they had been hanging out for the past couple of days since he'd been back, just relaxing and smoking and talking shit about the past. But they weren't who they were in the past. She knew he was now working for a journalism company, writing about various things. At the moment it seemed to be the state of the town. The diner that was still proudly open, the fishermen, the small patches of beach. She hadn't read any of his stuff, but he had always been into writing.
They smiled to each other.
"You're always off in your own little world aren't you?" He asked, smiling.
"Of course... The real world sucks." She answered, placing a smile on her face as if rubbing out any bad feelings she felt and drawing on new ones. "Let's go..." She said, and they began walking down the tracks, one on one of the tracks, one on the other, balancing as they walked.
The next week would be strange and difficult to say the least.