Beyond the Window Frame [Short Story]

Trains at dusk are mysterious.

They lack the frantic pace of the morning and the stillness of the night.

Carrying people toward the end of their day, they slowly traverse the city.

I sat down in my seat and gazed at my smartphone screen.

One notification.

A few news items.

Updates from social media also flow by.

If I move my finger, information appears one after another.

I think it is a convenient era.

However, for some reason, I didn't feel like continuing to look at the screen that day.

I closed my smartphone.

I suddenly looked up.

Beyond the window frame, the setting sun was dyeing the city orange.

I liked trains when I was a child, too.

It was an era when smartphones were not as widespread as they are now.

When I rode the train, I would only look out the window.

Distant mountains.

The flow of the river.

The roofs of residential areas.

A small park.

　Laundry belonging to strangers.

　None of it was special, yet for some reason, I never grew tired of watching it.

　Back then, I feel like

　I enjoyed the time spent on the train itself.

　Clack, clack.

　A rhythmic sound echoed.

　The window frame was like a picture frame.

　It showed me the passing scenery as if each view were a painting.

　People hurrying through the shopping district.

　Someone pushing their bicycle home.

　A line of cars waiting at a traffic light.

　A dog walking along the riverbank.

　Even though each scene passed in just a few seconds, each one held someone's daily life.

　Thinking that made it a little interesting.

　I picked up my smartphone again.

　Then, my own reflection appeared faintly on the black screen.

　What kind of day was it today, I wondered.

　Working busily since the morning,

　chased by things to do,

　and before I knew it, it was evening.

It was surely the same yesterday.

Tomorrow might be a similar day as well.

But I felt that it wasn't just busyness that caused me to lose the time to look out the window.

Since when?

Since when did I start filling all my waiting and travel time with my smartphone?

Instead of feeling bored,

the time I spent looking at casual scenery had also decreased.

The me from the past might have found them.

Clouds glowing red.

A distant railroad crossing.

A school building illuminated by the setting sun.

Such small discoveries.

Before long, the train approached my destination station.

The train announcement played.

I stood up and put my smartphone in my pocket.

Just before the doors opened, I looked out the window one more time.

The setting sun had lowered just a little.

The orange sky was slowly beginning to turn into ultramarine.

This day was coming to an end.

Yet, that scenery felt somehow nostalgic and gentle.

I step down onto the platform.

As I started walking along with the flow of people, a thought occurred to me.

I will probably take the train again tomorrow.

And I will surely look at my smartphone, too.

But, every once in a while, I should try looking up.

Because beyond the window frame, there is a view that can only be encountered today.

Thinking such things, I left the station in the twilight.

#Essay #Twilight #Train #DailyLife #Realization #Nostalgia #ShortStory #ShortStory #YUEsHandicraftWorkshop