The Mundane Commuter

The train carriage jolted, a brief sound of metal scraping against metal, and the Commuter’s pen skated across the page of their book. A blue streak now ran through the shoulder of a fellow passenger, spitting the monocoloured illustration of the surrounding scene; fellow commuters awaiting their intended platforms.

The Commuter’s pen hovered over the new feature and stilled, pausing, mourning. In the next moment and with a decisive motion, they closed the book with a muted sound and rested the notebook in their lap. They would start anew tomorrow.

The book was small, bound in black cotton, a gift from a relative. It was worn from frequent use; each page used for a different purpose. Some pages held ideas jolted down with hurried thought, others showed detailed plans, still others held accounts of moments and most commonly some pages depicted illustrations.

To a casual observer the illustrations were idle, a sketched snapshot of a mundane moment. However, if looked upon for longer, the subtle lines would shift and the ordinary became the extraordinary; the passenger standing for the weary shift worker, the youth engrossed in their tome, the older gentle folk reminiscing upon scenes beyond those outside.

The Commuter had illustrated numerous “mundane moments” over the time the book had been in their possession. If someone thumbed through the pages, they would notice a general improvement in the level of detail, a by-product of the Commuter’s efforts. But people did not see the contents of the book, it was kept hidden.

Another jolt of motion, the train entered a tunnel. There was a moment of darkness before the automatic florescent lights flickered on and illuminated the compartment once more. The Commuter glanced up from the black notebook in their hands to the animated scene that surrounded them. There were the rows of hardbacked seats with their faded fabric, the worn linoleum floors, the ceiling grab handles and the various advertisements; ‘donate blood today and save a life’, ‘have your groceries delivered to your door’, ‘download the app today and save’.

Lost in thought, the Commuter did not notice the middle-aged passenger standing by their elbow. That is until they made a noise, like a clearing of a throat. The Commuter started and looked up in surprise. The passenger motioned to the book that was still in Commuter’s lap and enquired about the illustration that the Commuter had just been sketching. The Commuter opened their notebook to the page of the blighted drawing that had been run through with their pen moments before. The passenger seemed absorbed and taking the book from the Commuter they flipped through the pages, occaisionally pausing on other illustrations from previous days.

The Commuter looked on in bemusement and wondered whether this was a common occurrence that had only just happened to them. Abruptly, the passenger glanced up from a sketch that the Commuter had drawn in December and asked whether they could buy the book. The Commuter was stunned, they must not have comprehended what the stranger had said.

The passenger repeated their question, adding that they worked for the city’s art museum and that there was an exhibit taking place the following week, ‘Daily Life Depictions’.

The Commuter still was silent. The passenger assumed that perhaps the amount offered was too small for the Commuter and raised their buying amount to $20,000. The Commuter laughed then and agreed, as long as the passenger was certain. After an affirmative acclamation, the passenger handed the Commuter their business card and said that they would be in touch.

With a departing wave and mention that the Commuter’s work would be accredited accordingly, the passenger stepped towards the carriage entrance. The train pulled into the station, the doors opened and the passenger disappeared onto the platform.

The Commuter was stunned and thought perhaps they, like their sketches, were not as mundane after all.