'A Train For Somebody'

Somebody once told me that waiting for things to happen will never equate to success. That ‘Somebody’ also told me that hard work is the only action you can take to get somewhere you want to go. Regardless of what he thought, I took it with a grain of salt.

It was late in the middle of the subway. I sat on a bench looking off to the empty station. Whoever he was, that ‘Somebody’ just happened to be at the same empty station as I, where he saw me all alone. His curiosity must have peaked as he approached me to ask what I was still doing here.

I told him I was waiting for my train, and he looked confused as he told me my train was canceled for the day.

“It's an error,” I said.

He tried to convince me I was wrong by insisting on its absence, but I held my opinion strong.

I said, “Really? What makes you think that?”

He looked at the station's train arrival display and told me, “You see that? All of the trains have been canceled. The next one isn't till tomorrow.”

“Well, I guess I'll be the first one to catch it then.”

His expression was still very surprised and confused, but I could tell this only made him want to argue more.

“Hey man, I know I'm not one to tell you what to do, but come on—go home.”

I smiled and playfully told him, “But I've been waiting for so long. I can't leave now.”

“Well, better late than never. Everyone else already went home. Why don’t you?”

“I have faith.”

His tone got louder and aroused. “Faith! Faith in what! The trains are all canceled.”

“Surely you do not wish for me to go home at this hour,” I stated sarcastically.

He put a hand on his face and said with disappointment, “Yeah, that's kind of what I'm trying at here.”

“Well, why should I?”

“Because you have no point being here—”

“Really, says who?”

“Well, I don't know, but I would assume sitting here waiting for a train that clearly isn't showing up till another 7 hours, isn't a valid reason to sit in an empty train station till then.”

“Have you thought that I may be homeless?”

“Uh, well no. Are you homeless?” he said with a bit of regret in his voice.

“No, but if I was, you’d feel guilty wouldn't you.” I told him with a smile.

He sighed with a bit of relief but just as much impatience.

“Yeah, but you're not, so why don't you just go home.”

I thought about it for a second. Not about going home, but what I could say next to rebuttal his claim, seeing how long he’ll be able to keep this up.

“How’d you know I wasn't lying?”

I saw his patience run dry as his voice got louder. “Lying! What, lying that you're not homeless or lying about what you're doing here?”

“Being homeless.”

“I don’t know, man—I’m just trying to see why you're still here.”

“Alright, but I'm not the only one who is here. Why are you here my friend? You work here? Forget something? Homeless?” I chuckled.

He gave a bitter grin and told me, “No, I work here, and I'm working overtime right now. I'm here for maintenance on some of the lights.”

I leaned back in my seat and stared back out to the railroad. “Well, I best not disturb you then.”

I concluded my sentence there and began to wait in patience like he wasn't there. I didn’t look at him, but I knew he was standing in the same spot he was in. He wanted to say something, but was unsure on what to bring up.

“So, you're just going to keep sitting there?” I heard him say.

I continued to look forward.

“Yep, pretty much.”

“Why? You can’t just be waiting here on your own all night.”

“But I can—and I very much will,” I quickly responded back.

“You know loitering is illegal here,” he stated.

I turned my head to him and squinted my eyes in disapproval. “You know your job isn't going to get done if you keep trying to get me to leave.”

He went quiet looking for something to say as a counter, but he was stuck on my words. I saw him bite his lip as he murmured something while he walked over to the light he had to fix. I watched him as he brought out his gear and started to do his work. And that's when I turned my head back to the railroad and kept waiting.

It was quiet for the next few minutes. An empty train station with two individuals who were doing their own thing. One who waits in solitude and one who questions the ethics of the one who is waiting, as he is a bat to the beliefs and reasons he has, not settled with the discrepancy I have with him, and all the others who share the similar opinion.

From where he was working I heard him call out, “Nobody just waits here without a reason—and I'm not talking about that faulty excuse of a reason you told me earlier.”

“I'm no liar, sir. I am waiting for a train,” I responded.

He went quiet in frustration, but I wasn't done talking.

“But who says I'm not here for the peace.”

“Are you here for the peace?” he said in annoyance.

“No, not quite. The peace comes with the waiting you see. But, many times the peace is often disrupted with thought. Difficult thought, painful thought, and even regretful thought.”

“So, what are you? A sad prophet or something?” he said jokingly.

“No, not sad, nor a prophet. Sadness comes and goes, anger comes and goes, even happiness comes and goes. All emotions come and go, just like the people in life. You see, many people believe feeling a certain way makes you a certain person—it doesn't. Most of these things that make someone feel that way are just temporary—never permanent.

“So you're a wiseman,” he said sarcastically.

I looked down at my hands in train of thought.

“Not a wiseman—just a person. Maybe someday I'll be viewed as that, but for now my wisdom is just for me. I'm the only one who understands what my wisdom truly means. So no, I'm not a wiseman. I'm only a person. A person who has experienced a story. Just like you and just like everyone else.”

I looked over my shoulder to look at him with the corner of my eye. He was replacing the light like he stated before. And while he was doing so, he spoke out, “Well, I can't say you're wrong, but how does that have anything to do with waiting for a train that won't even show up?”

I sighed.

“It means that my reasoning for waiting is not justified from words. It’s justified by experience…”

I cupped my hands together and sat up in my seat out of anticipation.

“If you knew my story—you would understand.”

“You ever thought of telling that story?” he asked.

I smiled.

“Yeah, one day, but I haven't even finished writing it yet. So, I couldn't even tell you if I wanted to.”

“Fair enough, but you do know that waiting doesn't normally get you anywhere you want to go. It takes time, work, repetition.”

My smile grew even larger as I told him, “I know, but tell me, does waiting not take time, repetition, and work?”

I peaked back over my shoulder and saw him looking over at me too. He was thinking of an answer.

“Good point, but other than the repetition and the time, you still have to put in the work.”

“Whoever said I have not or I do not?” I asked him.

“Uhh, I mean—”

I cut him off.

“Who is to say I am not just waiting for my work to pay off.”

“I don’t know man—all that I know is waiting for miracles or in this case trains. Isn’t the best way to get somewhere.”

“Exactly! It's only what you ‘know’ that makes you somebody. If it wasn't for your story and that structural view, then you wouldn't be the person you are. Everyone is different, but we share one common similarity. That being, we are all somebody who has their own story, their own experiences. And even though they are all different from each other, that's the one thing we have in common—our stories. All different! But all the same. Everyone, only a product of what they know.

We both sat in temporary silence, while I waited for him to process what I had said.

“You make a valid case John, but a word of advice, don't wait around all the time—it makes you lazy.”

I said to that ‘Somebody,’ “Maybe so—or maybe you just have bad patience.”

He looked at me and grinned from my stubbornness. “Yeah, I wouldn't deny it if that was the case, but you can’t just wait for a train to come when they say it ain't coming.”

“No, no you can't, can you. It would be foolish if you did. It would be a shot in the dark at best. A dumb move to put faith into something so hopeless. However, it's not just a train I wait for—it is an opportunity. A risk, a jump of faith, a decision made on instinct. Something that those people who ‘say it ain’t coming’ won't see…”

I stopped for a breath and continued.

“People like you would call it foolish and at times it very much is. But the train I'm after is not canceled. It is simply delayed longer than most people are willing to stay for. They can't see past the mountain top to see it coming, but when you get higher than the mountain top you face, then and only then you will be able to see what comes next. And just because ‘They’ can’t see what I have once saw, doesn’t mean I lose faith in what I know. Because, when you believe in something no one else sees, then you will see how people will put you down because of it. However, if you stay true to what you believe in, you are also holding the inner belief in yourself. Something many people like you would do, but not in the same way I do…”

I took another breath and stood up from my idle position. I walked over to the ‘Somebody’ and put a hand on his shoulder and said.

“Sometimes taking intuitive and sudden actions isn't the best strategy for some situations. Go fast, and you may crash. Go slow, and you might never grow. Don't go, and you will never know. You get three options, over a thousand decisions, and seventy five years of time if you're lucky. It's for you to balance it. Right now, I have chosen to go slow, that's why I'm waiting. I’ll come to you if I ever need to go fast, but not now. Right now, I have to go.”

“Go where?” he said.

A rumbling sound filled the station as an approaching train was coming near. The train pulled into the station and it opened the doors to the one remaining passenger. I looked into the ‘Somebody’s’ eyes, as he was astonished.

“But how? How did you know?” he said, while I was boarding.

I turned around and said “I didn’t—I had faith in what I saw,” as I entered the train and watched the ‘Somebody’ slowly get pushed out of sight from the slight acceleration of the train. I watched him the entire time through the old mirror I used to see through, until I looked away, and began the new day—the new life.

© 2025, John Henry. Published by WhisperPublications. All rights reserved.

— John Henry

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