Page 51 - Contrast2016

CONTRAST - 49

"This seat isn't taken, you know." I gestured to the seat next to me, and he
sat down appreciatively. His name was Edwin, and he was a high school student
that liked rowing, movies, and sarcastic jokes. His friends were all just as funny as
he was.

When it was time to get off at the New York stop, he helped me get my bag
down, and he hugged me a little awkwardly. Some of the other guys did the same,
clapping me on the back, wishing me well.

"Hope you don't get lost!" One of them chortled, and I shrugged.
"It's Penn Station. I probably will." I noted, shouldering my bag and pocketing
my phone. As we roared into the tunnel and darkness engulfed us for a moment, I
felt a rush of pride come over me. I had made new friends successfully instead of
holing up in my shell and ignoring them.
I exited the train with as much grace as my huge duffel bag and I could muster,
and I waved to Edwin and his friends before starting off on my adventure up
through Penn Station. "I'm going on an adventure." I muttered to myself, feeling a
little like a lost Bilbo Baggins, stranded in the depths of the goblin caves- except
minus Gollum, and minus the ring. It took me a moment, but I sucked in a deter-
mined breath, feeling my chest clench with anxiety as the throngs of strange, new
people engulfed me. I had no idea where to go- except up.
Up was possibly the best way. Underground didn't seem promising.
I muscled through the heavy pulse of my heartbeat, shaking myself out of a
panic, telling myself that a year ago I couldn't walk across campus alone without
being afraid. Now I would navigate Penn Station without someone to hold my hand,
and bravely, I found a random escalator and took it.
"Yo! Emma!" One of the rowing team boys was ahead, waving at me, grinning
widely. I sighed a little and waved back- okay, at least I was heading in the right
direction. This couldn't be all that difficult then.
From there, I walked down past several other stations before finding another esca-
lator up. I hesitated before stepping onto this one; I'd had a strange fear that I'd
fall on an escalator and get sucked into the part at the top. So I took my first step
onto it very seriously.
The boys split up from there, some getting onto a second train heading to
Pennsylvania, some moving onto Penn Station, and I continued on into the crowds
of people.
I wondered if the main character in my novel, Meri, would be nervous around
this many people.
They shoved and pushed around my duffel bag, but I wrapped my arm comfortingly
over the top of it and clutched my phone.
Bilbo had made it out of the caves, and so would I; hobbits were small and
could disappear if they wanted to. So I hunkered down, making myself as small as I
could manage, slipping through the crowd and making it to the next level.
I peered up over the top of the escalator, noticing that some real light was
appearing through windows up above me, and I felt somewhat relieved.
There had been no service down in the tunnel, so now perhaps I could call my
aunt and see where she was parked. I passed the big boards of trains and times
and places, eyeing a few of them appreciatively and wishing I was more of a confi-
dent traveler.
I passed the coffee shops and the newsstands, watching the various people
mill about, stirring coffee and typing away on their laptops, waiting for the time to
pass.
I could see daylight ahead, filtering through dusty windowpanes, and I exhaled a