He had never hated smokers until this train ride. His hard sleeper was the top bunk of three. That meant six sleepers per compartment. His had seven. He was slotted into the very top. With only enough room to prop up his head on his elbow, he tried to sleep mostly. But the constant smoke kept his throat dry and clothes stinking. It was even worse when the train went through a tunnel. The smokers congregated between cars and when the train tunnelled into the mountain, the smoke forced its way through the rest of the carriage.
The one bright spot in the train was the seventh companion. She was all of 5 years old and stood 3 foot nuthin', but had the stoutest heart of them all. She was travelling with mom and dad to Chengdu. He found out later that she was being taken to visit family she had not yet met. The 40 hour train ride meant two nights of sleeping on the train, yet he had only heard her cry for a moment on the first night. He had wanted to cry bitterly by the 3rd hour.
He had been told the journey was 25 hours. A few hours into the ride he met some english speaking travellers. They informed him of the extra 15 hours and broke his heart. His seventh companion was all smiles and joy the entire ride. She had adopted a surrogate auntie after a few hours on board and was shy but curious towards him, the only westerner. Eventually she would quietly sit next to him and provided better company than the human chimneys at the end of the car.
