Tonight as we were heading back to Engis from Huy we had a bit of an episode. The last train of the evening is supposed to leave at 10pm, but it was 20 minutes late. No problem. We wait with all the creepy late night train people in the dark for our train. We finally get on the train, rest easily on our vinyl seats, and smile and nod at the creepy late night train man who assumes we know French. Ah, the next stop is Engis. We stand up and move for the door. I turn the handle, which normally causes the door to slide open, and…. Nothing. Nothing? The door will not OPEN??! I turn and run, flying past Clay, trying to get to the door a few cars up, only to see the Engis sign start to fade past us. It was too late. We missed our stop…
…on the last train of the night.
We started pushing every button we saw, as if an index finger can stop a train. We were desperate… and so tired. Clay had been lugging these two baguettes around, and they now hung limply at his side. I started to cry. “What are we going to DO?” I asked. We found a conductor that basically told us that we needed to get off at the next stop or we would soon be over 20 miles away from Engis. Great. “What should we do?” I asked. He shrugs. I continued to cry. So we get off the train and WALK all the way back to Engis. Two and a half MILES, people. We didn’t want to wake up Michael and Blanca, and all our team could do was laugh at us from the comfort of their own homes, so we started trekking. The baguettes made it about a mile before Clay was eating one, and I was trying to feed ducks with the other as we walked along the river. (Note: The ducks weren’t nearly as excited about the late night feeding as I was. That bread is still floating somewhere.)
We arrived home around midnight, trying to be all quiet and not wake up the family. Wouldn’t you know they were still up watching a movie! Oh well.
There were tears at the beginning, but we ended up having a nice late night walk with the moon shining overhead, the River Meuse, and even some French bread to enjoy and (try to) share.
All and all not a bad ending to a day.
7 comments:
My response, "Poor things, this would not have happened if I had been there! I would have gone to get them!"
Your dad's response, laughter...then, "Awww, it's just part of the experience!"
This is why God made women moms.
-mama
I love your mom's comment.
I am also glad you were able to enjoy the night and make a story of it so quickly!
Oh the panic when the train door wouldn't open! I imgained it being something like taking the subway back to Brooklyn after midnight and being trapped. I would have cried too. that is so scary! I am glad you were only 2 and half miles away!
A story to tell your kids one day! True grit!! Glad it had a happy ending. Hope the bread wasn't today's lunch.
I took the last train from London to Uxbridge (last stop)on my first trip there. Didn't see the small print that said it stopped 10 miles before Uxbridge on the last run of the night. I wimped out and took a cab the extra 10 miles. Maybe I would have walked if I would have had bread.
Love you guys, thanks for keeping your blog updated.
Oh Megan. :) I would have cried too. And Eric would have eaten the bread. And I would have tried to feed sleeping ducks. It's funny when I read it, but if I was there the humor would have been lost in the moment.
Love ya,
Lindsey
Meg, I am so with your Mom! Phil said the other day "Did you read their blog today! It was so funny!" Now I'm thinkin' not "Ha Ha funny--funny weird!" At first I was thinking "Oh no! What if?????--then as you guys ended the blog in a dreamy old black & white sort of a movie, I was OK. I'm so glad ya'll are OK! Scary! (Maybe amusing later!) Hope the home improvement is going well. Know that we KNOW what you're going through! Love Mom
That sounds truly horrible Meg. I would have been crying too...maybe even given up and just spent the night on the train. At least you have your strong husband to protect you from all the creepy "night riders" :)
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