10:50. 9 more minutes for the train to arrive. It was the middle of June and the cruel sun, like a project manager on the day before a big release, showed no mercy. There wasn't a lemonade stall or even a drinking tap in sight. She scrunched up her face and sat down in defeat. 8 more minutes to go.
On the other side of the tracks lay a vast emptiness of sand. You could just make out the remains of tiny shrubs which had dared to grow in the desert. Dry and shrivelled they were dead and about to become one with the sand any time now. 7 minutes more...
She looked around for any signs of another being. A dog. Patchy fur the color of burnt coal. He was most definitely wounded and diseased. Licking at a miraculous puddle next to the track it desperately reached for survival. 6...
She had always wondered about mirages. Do they always look like an oasis in the desert or do people see what they most desire? In case of a thirsty traveller in the desert the two would probably be the same thing. But what about the traveller with unlimited supply of water. Would they see a bathroom? Or a pair of Jimmy Choo's they would kill for? Or the BMW their neighbour just bought, but shinier, and faster. What would she see in a mirage? Her husband? Ex- husband ie. Nah, she would see his new wife. Young and pretty, wearing expensive jewellery bought with money that was saved by not paying alimony. But she wouldn’t see her like that. She would see her like the shrivelled up shrubs. Hmmm....that would be a happy sight. 5...
A middle aged man wearing a turban appeared in the distance. He seemed to feel very important indeed with his entourage of camels. Camels. Who on earth would have given them a chance if they hadn’t been able to store water for long durations of time in the desert. They were so funny looking with their odd humped backs. If camels had plastic surgeons, would they be paid to make the humps bigger or smaller? 4...
And then she saw her. A tiny tot she was, not more than 5. Skin dark for running around in the sun. My mother would surely have disowned me if I let myself become that shade, thought she. Sunscreen was one of the great things we bonded on. But then again, she did disown her anyway after the divorce. Might as well have run around in the sun when she wanted to. 3...
The little girl would playfully run around her father who in turn would get annoyed and tell her to walk straight. She was reminded of her own daughter. Of ring-a-round-the-roses. Of merry-go-rounds. Of big wheels. What is it with children and the fascination of going round and round in circles. Some kind of divine knowledge that in the end you’re just gonna end up where you started? Or just the unnatural feeling of dizziness that makes them excited. Probably the latter. She certainly wasn’t all that divinely knowledgeable when she was a kid. 2 …
Finally, the train appeared in the distance. She picked herself up and readied for its arrival. She looked around for any other people, but there were none. The camel man also seemed a good distance away now, he was walking with his back to her. She couldn’t wait to be rid of this damned heat. The sweat on her brow felt like it could create an oasis by itself now. 1 ...
She remembered the last time she had sweat this much. In the hospital. When the doctor told her. She saw her body just lying there. Her baby. It was all her fault. She let her go across the street alone to buy biscuits. Oh how she loved those biscuits. And then it hit her, like a truck, which it was. 0.5 …
She brushed the sand off her jeans, and stepped onto the tracks.
On the other side of the tracks lay a vast emptiness of sand. You could just make out the remains of tiny shrubs which had dared to grow in the desert. Dry and shrivelled they were dead and about to become one with the sand any time now. 7 minutes more...
She looked around for any signs of another being. A dog. Patchy fur the color of burnt coal. He was most definitely wounded and diseased. Licking at a miraculous puddle next to the track it desperately reached for survival. 6...
She had always wondered about mirages. Do they always look like an oasis in the desert or do people see what they most desire? In case of a thirsty traveller in the desert the two would probably be the same thing. But what about the traveller with unlimited supply of water. Would they see a bathroom? Or a pair of Jimmy Choo's they would kill for? Or the BMW their neighbour just bought, but shinier, and faster. What would she see in a mirage? Her husband? Ex- husband ie. Nah, she would see his new wife. Young and pretty, wearing expensive jewellery bought with money that was saved by not paying alimony. But she wouldn’t see her like that. She would see her like the shrivelled up shrubs. Hmmm....that would be a happy sight. 5...
A middle aged man wearing a turban appeared in the distance. He seemed to feel very important indeed with his entourage of camels. Camels. Who on earth would have given them a chance if they hadn’t been able to store water for long durations of time in the desert. They were so funny looking with their odd humped backs. If camels had plastic surgeons, would they be paid to make the humps bigger or smaller? 4...
And then she saw her. A tiny tot she was, not more than 5. Skin dark for running around in the sun. My mother would surely have disowned me if I let myself become that shade, thought she. Sunscreen was one of the great things we bonded on. But then again, she did disown her anyway after the divorce. Might as well have run around in the sun when she wanted to. 3...
The little girl would playfully run around her father who in turn would get annoyed and tell her to walk straight. She was reminded of her own daughter. Of ring-a-round-the-roses. Of merry-go-rounds. Of big wheels. What is it with children and the fascination of going round and round in circles. Some kind of divine knowledge that in the end you’re just gonna end up where you started? Or just the unnatural feeling of dizziness that makes them excited. Probably the latter. She certainly wasn’t all that divinely knowledgeable when she was a kid. 2 …
Finally, the train appeared in the distance. She picked herself up and readied for its arrival. She looked around for any other people, but there were none. The camel man also seemed a good distance away now, he was walking with his back to her. She couldn’t wait to be rid of this damned heat. The sweat on her brow felt like it could create an oasis by itself now. 1 ...
She remembered the last time she had sweat this much. In the hospital. When the doctor told her. She saw her body just lying there. Her baby. It was all her fault. She let her go across the street alone to buy biscuits. Oh how she loved those biscuits. And then it hit her, like a truck, which it was. 0.5 …
She brushed the sand off her jeans, and stepped onto the tracks.
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