A Day in the Woods

He was surprised to find his allocated seat was actually in a compartment. He made his way there and found three other people in the compartment already, two men on one side and an extremely attractive woman on the other. She looked up from the paperback she was reading, responded to his nod, and went back to her book. He was excited to see she was reading an English language novel.

“At last,” he exclaimed, “someone I can have a normal conversation with.” It was not a great opening line, but one that he really did feel was true, if she were prepared to talk to him.

She was. She laughed, beaming a beautiful smile at him. “I know exactly what you mean.”

He stashed his pack on a rack above the padded bench seat and sat down next to her. The train was gathering speed through the beautiful Austrian countryside, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her. “I haven’t been able to converse normally with anyone for months,” he said almost breathlessly.

She smiled again and agreed, “Neither have I. I was okay in France since I can speak French.”

“Oh, that is useful. Where are you from?”

The train carriage shook from side to side as they went through a track-switching area.

“Canada,” she said above the track noise.

“Ah, hence the French connection,” he observed and then added, “What’s your name?”

“Kerri.”

When she said it, it sounded like a bell tinkling. He was smitten. “Marry me!” he blurted out.

She laughed genuinely. “Hang on! I don’t even know your name, so let me see the ring first.”

“Touché!”

She has a sense of humor too! he thought before he finally said, “I’m Brian. Where are you headed?”

“Spain.”

Not only is she extremely good looking, but she’s friendly too. She said she was traveling on a Eurail pass, a system that entitled the user to unlimited European rail travel for a specific period for a fixed price. She was on her way to Madrid and on the final leg of her journey, after having spent a month in Europe.

They connected instantaneously, as if they were old friends, and enjoyed animated conversation, oblivious of the other people in the compartment. He hopped off the train at several stops, which were numerous (if it stopped in Mattighofen, it had to stop everywhere) to buy some cold beer, and Kerri joined in for a few.

As the train gained altitude into the mountains, the weather deteriorated, although this fact was completely lost on Brian who was absolutely enthralled by Kerri. Before he knew it, the next stop was Innsbruck.

It was like cold water in the face. He had to leave. Somehow he went through the motions, picking up his pack, saying his good-bye, and dejectedly going out onto the platform. Like a zombie, he walked to the end of the platform, thinking it was chilly while he continued his walk through the cathedral-ceilinged station and out into the street.

As he stepped outside the station, he was almost knocked off his feet in a sudden gust of wind, which flung cold rain against his face. He came to his senses and discovered it was pouring with bloody-cold rain. He stood under the protection of the station entrance and pondered his options for about half a minute and then spun around on his heels and headed back to the train and Kerri … and Spain.

It was just starting to move as he jumped back on. “Surprise!”

Kerri laughed excitedly, jumped up, and hugged him. “That certainly is a surprise. What happened?”

Brian pointed out of the window as they were leaving the station. “That’s what happened.”

Rain was lashing against the window, blown almost horizontally by the wind, the storm that neither of them had even noticed before the train stopped in Innsbruck.

“So where are you going?” Kerri asked.

“To Spain with you,” Brian replied flippantly.

She gazed querulously at him, mesmerizing him, before saying, “You can just make a decision like that?”

He held her stare and replied, “It wasn’t that difficult.”

“I admire you,” she said, looking away after a moment and out the window at the storm.

It wasn’t quite the same as “yes, I will marry you,” but it did make Brian feel good, and he was pleased to be welcomed back. It also made him feel good that he had really made a decision where he was going to go, even though it was an emotional decision made on the spur of the moment without logic and the only driving factor was Kerri’s companionship.

He hadn’t even bought a ticket. Nor did he have any idea what it would cost him to go from Innsbruck, Austria, to Madrid, Spain. He was exuberant that he was again in Kerri’s company with the excitement of traveling through numerous countries and no tomorrow in mind, his first true adventure with no specific destination. That was if he didn’t count Kerri as a specific destination.