Train Ride

I was on the train home from the city when a mother a daughter dressed to the nines and reeking of money sat next to me. The daughter was no more than four years old. The girl looked sweeter than a bucket of cotton candy. The last stop of this line was one of the more affluent towns in the country, I assume their destination.

The mother pulled out a magazine and started reading. The daughter stared out the window watching the landscape turn from city to country. Son the daughter said aloud, “I wish I could use the computer at home. I want to go on the internet and register my webkinz. But we don’t have internet connection and that makes me sad.”

The mother replied, “It has been a long day, why don’t you try to sleep?” The daughter did not reply and continued to stare out the window.

A few minutes passed and the mother said, “That was a stupid article.”
Daughter replied, “What was it about?”
“Nothing, it was just stupid.”
“Was it about toilet paper?”
“No. Now mommy is going to try and sleep so please be quiet.”

No more was said during the trip until the first stop when the daughter asked if it was their stop and continued to ask at every stop until they got off the stop I expected.

The Peppermint Squad?

“The Peppermint Squad!? What kind of pansy assed name is that!?” This, of course, is the ranting of Sebastian Q. Whimsfairy. He was in his usual spot on the bus top bench eating a bowl of barley soup. Barley soup is a great choice to warm your bones on a cold winter day. But seeing as the temperature was in the nineties and humidity level was higher, I’m thinking a gazpacho would have been a better choice. But a clear line of thinking was not Sebastian’s strong suit.

Sebastian was sitting alone on the bench not just because he was a disheveled old man ranting aloud to himself, but he was also a very animated talker and would often spatter soup on anyone within spattering range.

“Why in my day we would have had tough sounding names like the Fireballs…or the Jaw Breakers…or the Jujubes. Well maybe not the Jujube’s. People might think we were a bunch of heebs. “

The bus showed up to the relief of the future riders who gingerly moved around Sebastian and made their escape. Sebastian remained on the bench spattering and spewing about his next errant thought process.