Take Me Home

By antsypants_bored Nov 16, 2016

A sharp rap brought my attention to the compartment’s door. Another resonated from the polished oak. Before I could offer a response, the door slid open and revealed an older woman.

“May I join you?”

My eyes scanned the intruder quickly. I didn’t know her, yet she was vaguely familiar, distinctly comfortable to my senses.

“Please.” I motioned her to take the empty bench across from me.

“Thank you. I’ve been up and down the car looking for a seat. You are most gracious for accepting my presence.”

Now seated, I took a detailed account of the strangely familiar woman sharing my compartment. Her lavish, lavender satin dress was full length, trussed and pleated, with a flow that was untimely, out of style. In a dainty gloved hand across her lap rested a small purse of the same color and sheen, the kind designed to be a fashion accessory, not useful. A tight bun sat atop the back of her dark hair. Through the frivolous netting that fell from a flat topped cap reminiscent of the ’60s, I found a pair of eyes that couldn’t help but soften my desire to be guarded.

“It was nothing, ma’am. I’m happy to oblige.”

“Oh, yes it was! When I couldn’t find an empty compartment, I asked those with room to spare if I might join them. No one would let me and several were quite rude about it! You were the only gentleman to offer me a seat,” she huffed.

I could clearly see she wasn’t that flustered. The woman’s mannerism, designed to bring out empathy for her plight, reminded me of someone else who dramatized her misfortunes in this manner.

“If it would please you, may I ask where you are going?”

“Hmm? Oh. I’m heading for–uhm.” I struggled with the name of my destination. Surely, I knew. I shrugged. “I seem to have forgotten. I’m sure I’ll remember before I arrive.”

She looked at me with eyes that tugged hard at my soul. The look suggested that my answer made all the sense in the world to her. Those eyes: green. No, they were blue. Brown, I think. For some reason I couldn’t be sure. It seemed the more I searched the more elusive the answer.

“I’m heading for Westbury. There I’ll meet with my family, who I haven’t seen in a very long time.” She casually whipped out a fan and applied some air to her painted face. “Do you have family where you are going to?”

Family. I had family, didn’t I? Were they waiting for me? The answers should have been obvious. I stared back, looking to her as if for answers.

“Well, no matter,” she pointed at me with her fan. “I’ve been too inquisitive and lacking in manners. I do apologize.”

“I’m the one who should apologize. I was lost in thought when you knocked at my compartment door. I’m still a bit muddled. Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jake Carter.”

“I am Dora, Dora May Jensen. So pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr. Carter.” Her dainty gloved fingers gave my extended hand a shake that suggested she was more than just a painted face.

“Jake. Please call me Jake. I think of my dad when someone calls me Mr. Carter.”

“And that doesn’t settle well with you–Jake–does it?”

I felt a sudden prick at the back of my neck, as if the past had snapped around and slammed into the present. Did she know about me and Dad or had she guessed?

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she sighed, fanning herself furiously in abasement. “I was being nosy again.” Dora May shook, then rolled her eyes upward in shame before looking down into her lap. When she looked up again, she was a small girl dressed in a colorful T-shirt and blue jeans. Dark brown hair flowed over her thin shoulders with carefree ease. The smile on her face held the world’s lost innocence, and all of it was directed at me.

“So, Jake, what’s been happening with you?” she bubbled. Those gleaming brown eyes held both warmth and a deep interest to know something really cool.

“Uhm…nothing much, I guess. How about you?”

“Well, you see, I have to meet up with my family at the next stop. What a drag. But hey, I love my family, you know? It’s just that I feel I am old enough to be doing what I want to do, too. Ever feel that way? Ever feel like everyone wants you to do what they want, and no one wants you to do what you want?” The girl leaned into my space, eyes large and needy for understanding.

“Uhm–sure. Yeah. I know exactly what you mean–Dora May? Is it alright to call you that?”

“Oh heck, Jake. Just call me Dori. All my friends do.” She giggled with a wink, a wink that meant nothing more than she enjoyed the comfort of familiarity.

“So, what will you do when you get to your stop?”

“What will I do?” No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t remember. The girl squirmed as she waited for my answer. “Well, Dori, I have many things to do when I arrive. Many things. And what about you? What will you do when you meet up with your family?”

The little girl became an attractive woman with long, straight red hair that draped over her shoulders in a vibrant sheen. Her open white blouse and short corduroy skirt made for a tempting tease.

“Hey, Kiddo. What a question to ask! Why? Do you have some time for me?” She winked, a wink that meant a lot more than a need for understanding. “I know a great café not far from the train station. We can have some coffee and get to know each other better. Whatta ya say?” The hand thrown onto my right knee nearly made me jump. The unexpected touch had induced familiar sensations I couldn’t quite describe, but knew them to be excitingly familiar.

“Uhm–well–I suppose so. Sure. Uhm–I don’t think it will matter much with my plans.”

It had suddenly become hot and hard to breathe. I glanced up at the thermostat on the far wall. When my eyes returned to my guest, she had became a blond, and like the others before she bore a resemblance to someone I thought I once knew. It was time to ask.

“Dori?”

“Yes, Jake?”

“Who are you, really?”

The woman’s features changed, running quickly through all the people I had trusted and befriended over the years, had made a special part of my life from childhood on. Everyone I had loved and had been loved by, in friendship and in much more, transmogrified before me for a brief moment, then became someone else. I knew the answer, but still I needed to hear it.

“Why, Jake, I am your past, the best part of your past, and I have come to take you home.”