Blake Ford was surprised when the train arrived. He didn't remember hearing the old steam engine's roar to signal its arrival at the station. It was the train's alarming whistle that woke him up from his slumber. Before he could even ponder about it, he noticed that he was the only one left at the platform. He grabbed his suitcase and made it just in time as the conductor hollered the train's departure.

"At last," he whispered to himself. A small smile escaped his lips. He waited so long for this journey.

He scanned the train, looking for an empty compartment but each one he passed were already occupied. It was expected. The war drove many people out of the cities and forced them to migrate to the countryside. Those who were privileged or blessed with fortune, fled to other countries. Luckily for Blake, he belonged to the latter.

He resigned himself to sharing a compartment with whoever would allow to spare part of their compartment. However, he found no friendly face that would be willing enough to welcome him. All eyes that looked back at him were sullen or blank.

He shook his head. He felt foolish and a bit guilty for being selfish and happy. The people in the train were driven out of the cities to survive, unlike him who was just leaving the city to go back home. He felt sorry for them, but he can only do so much as sympathize with them. He was just out of the university. Besides, he was unsure whom to help. For all he knew, any one of them could be enemy spies and he didn't want to be caught in a war especially now that he decided to embark on a new journey of his life.

Blake was on the second to the last cabin when he found a compartment with a lone occupant. The lone occupant had his back turned to him, his face obscured underneath a cloak. He hesitated but thought it better to get a seat rather than squatting elsewhere in the train. Resigned, he knocked on the door.

"Excuse me Sir," he greeted, "I am sorry to intrude but is this seat –? " He stopped when the occupant turned to face him.A pair of blue-green eyes looked back at him - a stark contrast with the chestnut locks peeking underneath the cloak.



(Author's Notes: Yes, I updated. However, this is not a new piece of work. This was supposedly my entry for Beyond Light and Darkness with the theme Jewels, Train and  an Inconvenient Truth. If you've read my other works, this might seem familiar to you. This is probably around 3 to 5 parts. I'm not sure where I'll end the other parts but this is just a short piece. Thank you for reading!)