Adapting

Train Station

I have this excited feeling as I am packing up the bags for the train being as quiet as humanly possible. I look at my phone and see that it is 5:30am and we need to be at the train station at 6:30am. I go to check on Valentina to see if she is still sleeping. We want her to sleep so we don't have to worry about her making any noise. I creep around the wall and see her small body wrapped in the tiniest blanket. Hopefully our new life is better than this. I finish packing as my mother walks in.

"You ready?" She says in a hushed voice holding Valentina on her hip still sleeping. "Yes mama, I have Val's stuff too" We quietly go by the small kitchen and see Father laying almost lifeless on the couch with beer bottles in his hands and broken glass surrounding him. We sneak past him and we make it out of the door. Valentina starts to wake up. Mama gives her to me to get her back to sleep and I grab Val's teddy out of the bag and start to rock her back to sleep whispering "Don't worry we are going to a better place...go back to bed" Valentina nods sleepily and moves her head back onto my neck. I smile and we walk to the train station. I feel the cold wind on my neck as we are walking. I feel bad for my mother because she is carrying Valentina's clothes in the backpack and pulling 2 suitcases with essentials for us right as we move to the new home.

 We see the street lights start to dim down and we turn and see the sun start to rise. It has such a beautiful mixture of blue, purple, pink as the sun slowly starts to peek out over the horizon. I feel Valentina start to wake up once again and I turn her so she can see the sunrise. "Wow" she mutters in astonishment of the magical sky. "I know" I smile at her and tickle her little round tummy as she giggles. We arrive at the train station and we hear so many different sounds around us we haven't seen or heard in forever. We hear the loud whistle of the trains coming and going as the people are talking loudly in a stern voice. Mother finds a bench and sits down. Even after everything she had to do to get us to this point she has the biggest smile across her face I have ever seen. It lights up the whole platform as she smiles and compliments people walking by. 

"Mama, where are we going" Valentina asks in a questioning voice. "A wonderful place, where there are smiles everywhere and so many kids I can't even count that want to be your friend" Valentina giggles her sweet laugh.

 "TRAIN 106 NOW BOARDING" That's our train and we grab all of our luggage and I grab Val's hand as she is holding her teddy. We sat down and the feeling of stress lifted off of me, as if I had 20 tons laying on my shoulders and someone came and took it off. 

Valentina laughed as she met a new friend about her age named Maleah. Meleah and Val laughed and talked as Mother stared out the window with the smile that never left her face since 5:30am. 

I take a nap holding the one thing I brought with me (besides clothes and food) my signed poster of Iron Man. I have had this poster with me since I was about 7. My dad brought me to a Convention and I got to meet the richest man I've ever known. That was before my grandma passed away and my father became abusive and a drunkie. But think about the good things in life, that's what makes you wanna continue.