Two men on the train

Two men on the train, sitting side by side.

One is a young man, arms folded, back slumped. The other is an old man, staring out the window with a frown heavy on his face.

Between them sits a resentment that can only be born from a deep affection and care for each other. Between them sits a love that has turned sour and bitter.

The young man turns his head to speak to the older one, and when he does so, murmurs quietly. The young man is perhaps sensitive to the other people on the train; worried about causing a scene or having too many emotions on show for the other commuters to see.

The older man startles, ‘What?’ he says in a loud bark.

The younger man repeats himself.

The older shrugs and gives a short reply, echoing sharply through silence of the carriage.

It is clear that the older man is hard of hearing, and every time the young man speaks, he is interrupted with a frustrated and jarring ‘What?’, or ‘Wha?’.

It is a situation that seems to be frustrating for both of them, one being unheard, the other not hearing. The push and pull is clearly exacerbating the tension between them, the young man keeping his voice low perhaps on purpose, just to frustrate the older.

Or maybe the older one hears him fine, but can’t be bothered trying to listen.

‘Oh I don’t know. He’s gone off somewhere’, barks the old man in reply to a question asked by the younger, unheard by the rest of the carriage.

The young man looks around awkwardly, disguising his bitterness with discomfort.

It is clear on his face that he is caught between wanting to wish away all the other passengers, and wanting to yell and shout at his companion regardless of the half full carriage. In response, the other commuters shift in their seats, clear their throats awkwardly, or avert their eyes. They turn away, pretending that they can’t hear, or rather pretending that they’re not listening.

The two men are bitter.

The older belligerent, the younger resentful.

The tension rolling of the two men in waves is clearly at a breaking point, swelling and spilling over. The old man scoffs, shaking his head.

‘Go get a life’, he says to the younger, his words slicing through the whole carriage.

The wave breaks and suddenly there is nothing to look away from, and nothing to disguise. The young man slumps in his seat, his face red with emotions that are no longer concealable. The older one, now sitting still and statuesque, stares out the window resolutely.

The train pulls in at the central station, and before its doors are even open the older man has gotten up with surprising agility, and is waiting by the door. He gets off the train immediately, not looking back at his travelling companion for even a second.

The younger man, still slumped in his seat, looks broken.

His cheeks are flushed, and his eyes shimmer with tears. He had playacted being resentful and dealt with his rude companion through an ironic gap of eye rolling and awkwardness.

But with the words out in the open, it was clear now that the older man had wounded him deeply. The young man sat in his seat for as long as possible, glancing only once or twice out of the train window, looking after the old man who had vanished into the crowds.

He looked as though he was seriously considering not getting off the train; not going after his hard of hearing companion, maybe not even going home.

But the strings that hold us together are tied tightly, and after some hesitation, the young man begrudgingly stands, making eye contact with no one as he exits the train at the last possible second, before the doors slam shut and the train departs.

Thousands of people catch the train every day.

Dozens have grumpy old companions and impatient young ones, but all of us are going somewhere. So many possible destinations, for so many possible reasons. It’s an infinite web of individual motivations all crossing over and connecting for small moments, like catching the same train, or being on the same carriage.

The only thing that keeps us together are our relationships to each other. Who we’re going home to, who we leave the house for.

The commuters left in the carriage think about who they’re going home to.

They think about the two men, both so deeply wounded and frustrated by each other.

They wonder if the young and old man will ever sit side by side again.