Liam Geraghty: "It was dark now . . ."

June 05, 2005

"It was dark now . . ."

It was Monday. I’d been in the city on some business that had taken a great deal longer than expected. It was dark now. And raining. The lights of Dublin City glowed a thousand shades of orange. As I hurried to the catch the last bus to Hueston, drops of rain on my glasses made each street lamp spiral and explode as if large orange stars had been scattered throughout town. The number 90 pulled off the minute I stepped on. There was an old lady sitting at the very back of the bus, eyes closed. Presumably sleeping. Upstairs was empty. For the whole journey, I listened to the sound of the rainwater that had seeped through the ceiling, rolling unruly up and down the floor of the bus.

Upstairs I was reading Darren Shan’s new book, “Sons of Destiny” which is all about vampires. Earlier, by chance, the author had arrived into Eason’s the same time as myself to sign copies of his new book. I got in line and (an hour later) I had a signed copy of “Sons of Destiny” that read “To Liam, Destiny wishes you lots of luck trying to track down Ayuanarca!! – Darren Shan”

The bus rattled and groaned and then sighed when we came to rest at Hueston Station. Downstairs on the bus, the old lady was still at the very back. Eyes shut. Presumably sleeping. I hurried into the station out of the screaming wind and pelting rain. Inside seemed bigger, if only for it was empty. Not a soul in sight. I tell a lie. There was a man lying on the bench in front of the miniature model of the station. He worn a tattered tweed jacked. Both elbows patched with an awful shade of brown. By his side sat a plastic bag that had the tall neck of a whiskey bottle leering out.

I turned my gaze toward the large LCD red timetable. It had but one train on it. The last train home. Stopping at each station. Last stop – Newbridge. I walked slowly along platform one. More rain water dripped randomly from the weather-drilled holes of Hueston’s palazzo roof. Up ahead awaited the Arrow menacingly. Its head lights beckoning. I walked up past all the empty carriages to the top carriage. Empty also, save me. Minutes later the doors closed automatically and the train pulled off into the night. Flying by outside the window was a blur of branches, trees and ditches. Rain spattered against the window. The only thin I could really see was my own reflection and even that appeared only as spectre. We stopped at each station along the way. Each bereft off life. At Hazel hatch the ticket man passed though the carriage, took a look at my ticket and disappeared again. This I thought would be my only human encounter along the journey. I was wrong of course. Even though later that night I wondered if that had been the case.

About twenty minutes away from Newbridge Station we came to a sudden halt. The Arrow sat motionless as I did I for around half an hour. Then we began moving again without any explanation. At this moment a man, possibly in his forties and with dark, dark circles under his eyes started walking up the carriage towards me. I hadn’t seen him previously at all. He asked if he could sit down and have some company for a while. “It won’t be long now,” is what I think he said. At the time I thought he meant it wouldn’t be long before we arrived in Newbridge. He just sat across from me. Staring out the window. Thinking. A few minutes away from Newbridge, he got up, nodded and walked into the next carriage. The train began slowing down and the ticket man re-appeared. “Sorry bout’ that delay earlier,” he said. “There was a fatality on the track.” Morbid curiosity played at my mind but I didn’t ask. I merely nodded and got up to stand by the door as the train pulled in at Newbridge. The doors opened and I stepped out into the rain once more. I looked up the platform to see if anyone else had got off but nobody had. I stared a bit longer. But this is Newbridge, I thought. It’s the last stop. It’s the last stop.

Trains, Buses & Automobiles by Liam Geraghty appears every week in the Kildare Nationalist (page 6)

Posted by LiamG at June 5, 2005 10:05 PM