Nov 23 2008
Train Stop
Beauty. By definition, this person fits it perfectly. Are they a boy or a girl? I laugh, you know someone is truly a God when you know they are beautiful regardless of sex. Short messy dark hair, dark blue skinny jeans, a coat that looks like it’s from H&M, and a pair of battered Converses. Somehow, every piece of clothing looks like it fits perfectly, each one made specially to emphasize the beauty. Not conventional or traditional beauty, but pure beauty. I look to the fingernails and realize it’s a girl.
I look at the bac-pac on her lap, it says CAL on it. My eyes shift upward to stare at the face I have been searching for. Every piece of her face looks like it was perfectly crafted and mixed together, each peice picked carefully to bring out the next. She turns to me and our eyes meet. Our gaze lasts a few seconds longer than most people’s, neither of us smile, but search into one another. Each of us gazing with such intent as if we were scanning one another’s souls. We look away.
An old woman walks up and the girl gives up her seat. She stands where I can feel her back pressed against my side. She stands around 8 inches shorter than me. I stare into her reflection in the window in front of me. A perfect image of her illuminating in the glass. She’s staring at me. We stand staring for what feels like minutes, but could not have been more than 5 seconds. It feels as if time has froze. We look away. I look back, she looks back, and we both smile, never breaking eye contact.
“SF State next stop.” The voice comes over the loudspeaker. I feel the train come to a stop, I break eye contact and brush her back as I walk by her toward the door. With one foot outside in the cold, I feel something grab onto my hand. I quickly turn my head and see her hand touching mine. She pulls it away as my eyes meet hers. The world goes silent. I watch her lips break open and closed as she mouths the word “bye”.
“Bye…” I mouth. The door begins to close and I step back. I stand unable to move, my face inches away from the train as I watch it carry away my touch with perfection.
