My Travel Initiation

The young boy hung back at first. He was some way down the carriage and there was much between us. Assorted limbs, limp with sleep, littered the aisle. Sagging facecloths swung from hooks on the wall like ripe fruit. Cigarette smoke coiled and curled around people and possessions.

I could see the boy’s head cocked to one side. His eyes filled with questions at our translucent skin. Our first week away from home; I had as many questions for him.

I smiled. He carefully walked toward us, fighting against the intense tempo of the train. The television, suspended on the roof above him, was set at an intense volume to compensate. A formulaic Ben Stiller movie played, dubbed by a sole Vietnamese woman who voiced every character.

He came closer but a frenzy of shouting and scuffling from down the carriage distracted the moment. Wild wails of intoxication despite the morning hour. I shifted in my seat. Earlier the man, fuelled by exotic homebrew, had taken photos of us on his phone until we no longer smiled.

A stern female worker pushed a food trolley into the carriage. The boy fled out of her path as the carriage stirred and bodies uncurled. The smell of cooked chicken flirted with my stomach. The woman swept past us as people exchanged only tickets for food - a system we weren’t part of.

Sighing, I pulled the corner of the curtain back, revealing endless rice fields of a land I didn’t know. I felt a rising excitement, just as the chair in front reclined with a violent thud into my knees.

Tears welled. I needed an escape from the chaos…the toilet!
To my relief the door locked and I turned to weigh up the toilet: it wasn’t clean, it was a squat, but I’d seen worse in Scotland. At least there was a large window to watch the scenery rush by. So I began…

Suddenly the brakes shrieked. The train violently lurched. I braced my hands against wall and window. The fields slowed down and then turned into many colours and faces waiting behind a crossing only a few metres away, totally unprepared for the pale derriere on display before them!

Was that a giggle from the crowd? Wide eyes? A nudge? I was welded in the moment - the train still lurching to a halt.
Finally it stopped. I moved away from the window and took a long breath.

And then... I started to laugh and I couldn’t stop. I laughed so hard my ribs shook, my eyes streamed and my heart soared.

After all, some things are funny the world over.