Longing. —Present

It was getting warmer, and the man let a long breath out. His features were set and cold, yet his eyes were warm as he raised his head, pulling his mask down. I miss your voice. His gaze remained on the train tracks that lay above him, and he closed his eyes with another soft sigh.

            “Be careful, okay?” He frowned and the girl grinned, shaking her head. “Aw, you’re worried? Don’t worry, I’ll be cautious.” She winked, her cheerful laughter hanging in the air and he nodded his head, smiling softly. She was the only person who could do that to him, without a complaint. She was the only person capable of challenging him non-stop, and never making him sick of it. And she was the only person who could make him smile with just a simple gesture, a word, or her mere presence.

The wind picked up, no longer the cool breeze he’d gotten used to in the past few months. Summer was coming.

He stood on the cold metal, staring at the rocks at either side of both tracks and took a deep breath before squatting down, knowing to listen for the incoming train. After all, he’d learnt it from that girl.

            She had the recorder with her again. Truthfully, he never really understood why she always had it with her… and it appeared she wasn’t going to tell him unless he asked. Even if he asked, she might not tell him.

The man smiled again, this time letting him bask in her presence, or at least her past presence. She was no longer beside him, laughing so hard her stomach hurt, or cheering at random happenings. He no longer had the girl who didn’t watch her facial expressions, who didn’t give a damn about others beside him.

            “Listen!” She didn’t have to say it for him to know the train was coming. After all, he’d already heard the rumbling a while back but played along anyway, putting his ear close to the track. He thought, so this is how you tell. He looked up, into the smiling girl’s face and she waved the recorder before his face. “I wanted to let you hear it. I think it’s an amazing sound.”

He loved her. He still did. Taking the recorder she used to hold all the time, he stared at it. It was silver in colour, with her name written in bright pink paint marker at the bottom. It was so like her to do that, and he snorted before bringing the recorder to his ears and closed his eyes. “If you lose just one sense, all other senses are heightened.” He wanted to fully appreciate her voice, the one voice he loved so much, yet would never hear again.

“There will always be particular people, some things, and certain points in time which you’ll never forget, no matter how much time passes and how hard you try. I’m slowly losing it. One day, I won’t even be able to talk properly anymore, recorder. Will you stay with me, till that day?” Unknowingly, his eyes began to warm and there was a certain prickling sensation he couldn’t fathom. It hurt. Not just his heart; his eyes hurt too.

            The two of them were walking carefully so as to not fall off the track and he followed behind her, not really paying much attention to the ‘path’. Her footsteps were light and dainty, much like her physical traits and shook his head. She was never one for dresses, so she was again in jeans and a simple shirt.

The rumbling of the train and the vibrations of the train tracks screamed at him to move, and he slowly got to his feet to move to the side of the bridge. It was always the same trains travelling here, always the same rapid pace and the only thing that changed was that he was now the only one standing there.

            They always came to this place, be it in the morning, afternoon, or evening. Finally, he had the courage to speak his heart yet the train was coming, and the two fled to different sides of the train. He thought it was hard to muster up that courage so he might as well confess now. “I like you! I like you a lot, more than you think, so will you go out with me?” It was absurd. To him, it was absurd. The train was passing by and she was on the other side so what were the chances she would even hear him? Yet he said it. And he saw her smile. “Brat! Say that again! I could only hear parts of it!” She grinned, flashing her white teeth and squealed when he growled, lifting the girl over his shoulders and headed down the train tracks.

He missed her.