Just Around the Corner
Lily glanced at her watch pondering why her train hadn’t arrived. Staring at the overhead sign, she wondered why the train’s next arrival was in another hour. Lily stared at her ticket and realized that she had missed her train, making her ever more disappointed.
Lily sat down on a cold metal bench and slowly unzipped her bag, catching her bracelet on it. Irritated, Lily yanked her bracelet out and grabbed a bag of chips. Munching on her chips, she pondered about why she had bothered coming to this city. After aimlessly fiddling with her bracelet, Lily looked up to see the next train arrive and slowly climbed the steps to board the train. She mindlessly rambled through the compartments.
Suddenly, a voice shouted beside her, “Hey! Would you like to sit here?”
Turning, Lily saw a teenage girl with a big grin, similar to her age. The girl held a sandwich in one hand and waved at Lily with the other. Somehow she felt a sense of familiarity and closeness, but she couldn’t place it.
“Oh sure,” Lily nodded and walked to the adjacent seat.
“Hi, I’m Sadie,” the girl introduced herself.
“Yeah, I’m Lily.” Lily was still tired but tried to match Sadie’s cheerful voice.
Smelling the familiar aroma of ham and pineapple, Lily stared at the sandwich in disbelief, and her stomach rumbled.
Seeing Lily stare at her sandwich, Sadie looked down slightly, her face turning slightly red, before blurting out, “I know ham and pineapple sounds like a weird combo, but it is actually quite delicious. Would you care to try some?”
“I actually love ham and pineapple. I was so surprised that you also enjoy it,” said Lily. Sadie handed Lily a half, and the two munched away.
After a moment of silence, Lily asked Sadie, “why did you ask me to sit next to you?”
Sadie replied, “because you looked so depressed. I thought you would want company.”
“Er, yeah… I was so disappointed. I visited my home town trying to look for...um…an old ‘friend.’ I haven’t been in touch with her for many years and was so sad that I couldn’t find her,” said Lily. “I was so sure that I could find her, but it didn’t turn out right.”
“I’m so sorry for you,” whispered Sadie. “I’m going to this town to try to see my old family. I went to boarding school for 10 years, and I can’t wait to connect with my old family. Hopefully, I can find them.”
As the two girls chatted away, the train conductor announced, “Next stop, Hartford.”
“That’s my stop,” said Lily.
“Mine too,” echoed Sadie.
The two girls stepped out of the train together.
“It was really nice to meet you. Hopefully you have better luck than me on your search,” said Lily. “Wait, what is your phone number so we can meet again before you go back east?”
“Yeah, maybe we can have ham and pineapple sandwiches. I’ll type my number into your phone,” said Sadie.
Lily took her phone out and handed it to Sadie. When Sadie held the phone and typed, the bracelet on her left wrist jingled. Recognizing the familiar sound, Lily carefully looked at Sadie’s bracelet. The beaded pattern was exactly the same as the one on Lily’s own wrist. The day that Lily and her friend had separated, they promised to always wear these bracelets. Sadie caught Lily’s eyes and glanced at their bracelets…
Lily finally placed the familiarity she felt earlier. They smiled at each other knowing that their searches were complete