Region: New Spain
Emilia Renee Coronado Cortes
A Long Wait Between Trains
(Part one)
As the train rumbled along its intended path she sat and
stared out at the passing landscape watching it turn from flat beige fields and
grey desolate towns to dark cities and then back again. Every once in a while the fleeting blue horizon
would offer up something other than the scorched war torn remnants of
yesteryear. On occasion she would see a
sprawling region that was vibrant with life and activity and she yearned to
stop, hoping that she could have a few moments to wander through it. She sighed to herself when her imaginings
where whisked away by yet another annoying interruption. “Your mother wants to see you” came a heavily
accented man’s voice. She turned away
from train window and eyed the man. He
was an older man with grey hair and noticeable posture issues. “What does she want now?” she asked in a flat
monotone voice with a slight accent of her own.
“I was not told what or why Emilia, I was just told to come get you.” he
responded intent to be done with conversation.
She stared at him for a moment or so and then resentfully got up from
her seat to follow him. He walked a few
feet in front of her wordlessly as they traversed the train’s cars one after
another.
At each doorway they passed through leading to the next car
stood two fully armed female soldiers.
None of them ever made eye contact with Emilia. It was something her mother had strictly
forbidden and it made her angry knowing this.
Day in and day out she was surrounded by distant, cold, calculating
brown eyes, at least for the most part, occasionally someone with green or blue
eyes stood in uniform, but none the less they were all no more alive than the
furniture around them. As she stared at
yet another pair of stoic soldiers she did not realize the man in front of her
had stopped and Emilia ran right smack into him nearly knocking him over. “I am so sorry Victor.” She exclaimed as she
helped to steady him. “It is ok, I am
alright. Do not worry my dear.” He
responded clasping her hands allowing a small smile to pass over his lips. Emilia smiled back. The moment did not last long because the next
door opened and her mother’s voice came booming out of the room. “Why are you taking forever?” Emilia’s mother
was always one to over exaggerate a situation, this time was not to be
excluded. “Victor I sent you to get her
nearly an hour ago.” Victor swallowed
his smile and hurried through the door toward Emilia’s mother. Emilia herself made no point to rush into
another one of her mother’s boring lectures about the way of the world and
whatever other droll advice she had to offer. Instead she proceeded to walk as
slow as humanly possibly into her mother’s presence, knowing full well it would
get under the Queen’s skin.
