Anne with an E - A Winter Journey

2 - Escape from reality

"Yes it is. Please, sit down." replied Diana with a warm smile as she shuffled along the bench to make room for Gilbert.

"Hi, Gilbert" said Ruby shyly, a soft crimson creeping across her face.

"Hello, Ruby," replied Gilbert warmly, "Hello, Anne".

"What are you doing here?" Anne asked rather abruptly. She mentally kicked herself as she realised she had not said "hello". Once again she had forgotten her words and she could feel her cheeks turning pink. Hopefully it wasn't as obvious as poor Ruby who was completely gone over Gilbert and turned scarlet every time he looked at her. Gilbert seemed oblivious to Ruby's crush, however, which was her only saving grace.

"Oh, I've just been to the bank to sort out some finances related the farm," answered Gilbert as the train began to move. "What have you been up to? On an exciting adventure I suppose? Although I'm pleased to see you've paid for your tickets this time!"

The girls laughed as they remembered Gilbert catching them hopping a freight train just a few months previously. That was quite the adventure, thought Anne. Like something out of an exciting novel where the hero had to bravely break the rules to rescue the damsel in distress. Only in their case they had been on a mission to save Miss Stacey, their beloved school teacher. Anne's gaze drifted to the window again as she imagined more adventures with her friends. It had been a while since anything exciting had happened in Avonlea and Anne had found herself daydreaming more frequently than usual recently. As she watched the snow flakes fall outside the train window she imagined a winter wonderland where the Snow Queen ruled powerfully, driving out enemies as the people in her kingdom celebrated her bravery.

Anne was so lost in her thoughts that she was completely unaware of Diana telling Gilbert all about their trip to visit Cole and Aunt Josephine. She was even less aware that Gilbert's gaze had barely left her since he sat down.

As Diana recounted the highlights of their day to Gilbert – visiting the new book shop in town, having afternoon tea with Aunt Josephine and building a snowman with Cole – he smiled politely and chuckled along when Diana and Ruby laughed at an anecdote. He tried his best to focus on what Diana was saying but he could not tear his eyes away from Anne. She was gazing out the window, lost in her thoughts and he longed to see what she was imagining.

Gilbert loved to read just as much as Anne. In fact, it was one of the things that drew him to her the day he first met her at school. She read from their English book with such passion that he knew she shared, if not surpassed, his love for reading. While he could just about match her knowledge of famous literature and her spelling ability, Gilbert's imagination and ability to create his own fiction was severely lacking in comparison to Anne. At times he thought his upbringing was to blame. Being raised by a single father meant Gilbert had to grow up much more quickly than other children his age as he helped with the farm work and had little time to play make-believe. He quickly discounted this theory, though, when he learned of Anne's upbringing. She did not talk about it often but Gilbert had pieced together enough information to understand that Anne had almost no childhood at all as she left the orphanage to work as soon as she was old enough. It pained Gilbert deeply when he realised that Anne's imagination was as big as it was because it had served as an escape from reality when real life was too much to bear. As he watched her daydream, Gilbert wished he could offer Anne a life so wonderful that she would not need to dream to be happy.

Before he could finish that thought however, Gilbert was startled by a strong shudder passing through the train carriage. Anne had been rudely torn from her daydream too as the shaking movement caused her hat to slip onto the floor.

"What was that?" asked Ruby, the worry evident in her high pitched voice.

"I'm not sure," responded Diana slowly, "But look... the train has stopped".