Once a Stranger

Chapter 1: The Stranger on the Train

Pov y/n

The rattling of the train is even as I walk through the train compartments to find a free seat.
Who would have thought that the train to New York would be this full?
Well, I suppose I could have guessed that but still, I expected a little less people to be on this train.

After leaving another wagon behind, I finally reach one that doesn't seem to overflow with people. I push my small suitcase in the space with the other ones and go to find a seat. Since I'm also carrying a backpack, I'd prefer two seats to put my backpack down and still have freedom to move.

Close to the end I see two empty seats in a booth. I sigh internally, glad to finally have found a seat. There are four seats in the booth, two on each side and they face each other with a table in between.

When I get closer, I see two people sitting on one side of the table. A man and a woman, both scrolling through their phones. They don't even acknowledge me when I sit down opposite of them. But I don't really care about that, I'm just happy to have found a seat.

I lean back and look out the window. The landscape flies by, bringing me to New York fast.

I stretch a little before leaning my head back against the seat. This is the second train I'm on today, the first one brought me from Atlantic City to Philadelphia. This one is taking me from Philadelphia to New York City. I had a bit of a struggle to catch this train because the first one was a little late due to a missing signal on the track that kept us from driving. It's okay though, stuff like that happens. But switching trains interrupted my light slumber and the dream I had.

In my dream, I met a beautiful blonde woman and her daughter. We started talking and falling in love and we even proposed to each other but the announcement of arriving in Philadelphia woke me up before we could get married or even talk about the wedding.

I sigh, that was a really great dream and it felt so real that I needed a few seconds to realize, that I am in fact not with that woman and her child. I'm on a train, sitting opposite of two people, waiting to arrive in New York.
I open my backpack and pull out a book about dolphins. Recently, I have been reading more about dolphins to freshen up my knowledge for my job.

Originally, I was sent to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to join a research team on a study about dolphins. The plan was for me to stay there for a week but we worked faster than anticipated, so I could go home a day earlier. I'm gonna continue the research in New York with my team, which I'm pretty excited about. And just to be on top of things, I decided to read a little more about dolphins.

Time flies by and soon enough, it's not long anymore until we're reaching New York. The woman opposite of me put her phone away and is studying the title of my book. I lower it and smile at her.

"That's an interesting book you got there." She comments with a kind smile. I return the smile and put the bookmark in.

"Thanks, it's very educational." I reply and she nods.

"It also seems pretty advanced. Are you working in that field?" She asks while I put the book into my backpack.

"I am. I'm a marine biologist and we're currently studying the behavior of dolphins along the east coast." I explain. She seems impressed and leans a little forward onto the table between us.

"That sounds very interesting. What is the study trying to achieve?"

"We want to see, which species are living along the coast and how they behave in the waters. After collecting the data from one place, we compare it to the data from another one to see if the behavior is different and what could have caused it. We hope to figure out how the rising temperature of the water is affecting the dolphins in their habitats." I tell her and she nods impressed.