Fiction Friday - All Aboard!

Gareth stared out the window at the passengers boarding the car behind him. The train station was fairly busy today. A few families, lots of business men and women, and - a sigh escaped him - a large group of teens on some kind of field trip. Big back-packs and small suitcases. He thought a silent prayer that they would be a "good" bunch and not too troublesome. 

When the numbers boarding thinned so that it appeared most of his travelers were on board, Gareth entered the first car to begin checking tickets. He watched the faces as he punched the slips of paper, and listened with a trained ear to the snippets of conversation.

A poor mother was trying to calm her crying infant, apologizing to those around her. "I'm so sorry. Shh, honey! Oh, baby, hush..."

Someone stubbed a toe on another traveler's bag that was sticking into the aisle. "Ow! Hey, can you put that away?" Gareth kept an open ear as he punched the next tickets, waiting for tempers to flare. They didn't. The offending bag must have been removed.

Squeezing out the car doors, and across into the next car. It was full of that teen group. Loud, goofing off, jostling for space - who were the "cool" ones? Gareth briefly wondered. There was a group of girls near the back of the car, hanging over the backs of seats to get together and sing something in harmony. He didn't recognize the song. Standing just inside the back doors, a trio of adults stood comparing notes on their clipboards and looking up at the kids - counting heads? He gave them a nod of approval and passed on through the doors into the short entryway.

The next car was sparsely filled with adults reading or tapping on laptops or other devices. In one pair of seats sat a forlorn teen with her mother. "...I know, Mom, but I don't get why I can't just sit with them." She was in a neck brace, seated by the window while her mother kept guard at the aisle. "I let you take the trip, as you asked, you'll be with your friends soon enough..."

Gareth passed on, feeling sorry for the girl. She must be part of that big group in the previous car. He hoped that her mother would let her join her friends for a while. So far, they seemed to be no trouble, and Gareth was a pretty good judge. It looked like it would be a calm journey.

He continued through the sleeper cars, knocking on doors and meeting the few passengers there, and at the end of the train he stepped into the tiny cabin where his seat was awaiting him. He peered out the window at the landscape slowly passing... speed picking up ... a little more ... soon they'd be at full speed. 

It was too early to judge, but Gareth had a good feeling about this trip. No one had given him a sideways look as if judging whether they'd get away with something they shouldn't. He'd give them all time to settle before going back through his hallways to get a better measure of who was riding with him this time.

The town turned into fields and farms outside the window as the sky faded into shades of lavender beyond the horizon.

It's FICTION FRIDAY!

Every Friday I write a new flash fiction piece. If you have a writing prompt you'd like to see turned into a story, just leave it in a comment.