Farewell, Jane Moore!

After my first post having been a poem in Portuguese, I thought it would be appropriate to post a short-story in English; change of style and change of language!

I have to say, though, that this short was created during a class. This was a writing exercise, and we were given a handful of words or facts, can't remember very well, and were told to write something. For me, that's Heaven! This is the result of that exercise. Without further ado, here you go:

Jane was waiting on the platform. The conference she had gone to, in Vancouver, was over; she was going back to Connecticut. It was ten days since she hadn't seen her boyfriend. They had had a fight before she had left, and now enough time had passed for their minds to cool down and for both of them to think better about what they had said to each other... She bought a paper to read on the train. "John is stubborn" Jane thought, "but he is the man I love. We will have to sit down and discuss calmly about his decision to join that strange sect..."

John had been attending some meetings, some gatherings, and was somehow compelled to join this sect, just when he and Jane were planning to get married; this was taking on Jane's nerves, because it affected her whole life and dreams. She had argued strongly against his decision, saying she had heard some rumours about one of the leaders, who supposedly had been in jail for some blackmailing, money extorsion and murder cases... But John just wouldn't listen to her!

"They have really brain-washed you!!!", she exploded, and then she had left to Vancouver, without telling him.

The train came, so she got in and sat opposite the only person in the carriage, a middle-aged man, around his forties, slim and tall, wearing small glasses, with a calm, superior kind of strange expression on his face...

Feeling a bit uneasy, she was picking up the paper to read, when the man leaned forward looking straight into her eyes, as if seeing through them, and making her feel even more uneasy.

"Sorry to disturb you, madam" he said, very politely, "but I couldn't help noticing the worried expression on your face, as if your whole future was being threatened..."

The politeness of the man and his power to discover other people's feelings (like hers, for instance!), made her feel more comfortable.

"Now, I know it may sound strange, because you don't know me from anywhere, but if you need to talk, I am all ears! I would feel very much pleased if I could help a needy soul... and I'm sure you would feel better also! My spiritual master used to say we should help every soul that crossed our way... even in such a short train trip like this one!"

Jane couldn't resist that strange, but nice, gentleman, and although perplexed, she decided to open up: the words flew from her mouth as anything, it was so easy to talk to him! She told him about her problem with John, his decision to join "that damn sect", as she said, and everything else... The man, from time to time, would nodd and say things like "Oh!" and "Really?"... His expression was so appealing, that she even told him where she lived, and how John used to climb her window, when they were not dating officially yet!

Meanwhile, half an hour had passed, quite quickly, and the train reached the next station. The man prepared to leave.

"Thank you very much!" Jane said. "Do come home, when you visit Connecticut; I would like you to meet John!"

"Oh, I sure will! My opinion is that you should try to understand John's ideas; and being such a fine lady as you are, you will surely get a way out of your problem! Have a nice day! And a nice journey!" and he got out.

The train was starting to move, and Jane, now with a smile on her face, unfolded the paper. On the front page, there was a picture of the man she had been talking to, under the headline: "Police hunt escaped murderer, belonging to a famous sect..." She almost fainted!

"I was alone in an empty carriage, talking for half an hour with that murderer, complaining about his own sect... and I'm still alive?!! Thank You, God!!!" She couldn't believe she was alive.

When she looked through the window, there he was, standing almost in the end of the platform, waving goodbye to her...

"Farewell, Jane Moore!" he shouted, "See you soon, in Connecticut..."