As the train rides along the rails, going clickity – clack and blowing its horn, Daphne looks out the window in aw at the scenery rushing by in a blur. When the train slowed down as it approached each station stop Daphne would notice the little things she could not see in the blur of colors when the train was racing to the stop. When she seen a field with some flowers as the train slowed, she would ask “mommy, what type of flowers are those?” and “can we go and pick’em?” If her mom could see the flowers and knew the names of the flowers she would say “what a pretty sunflower” or “what a cute lily” but always “they are so pretty, I wish we could”.
Daphne also seen a few birds in the trees as they were pulling into each station stop and asked “mommy what type of birdie is that?” or “can we catch one?” her mom would say if she seen the bird before it flew off, “it’s a blue jay” or a “robin” and they even seen a couple crows that were making a big squawk over a piece of food at one stop.
With each station stop, Daphne would look around and watch the people boarding the train. As each person passed by she would attempt to say hi and managed to get a few smiles and even a couple pieces of candy and a lollypop or two. A few times she seen a few other kids her own age get on the train and tried to get them to play as they went by with no luck because their parents were trying to find their seats.
At each station stop, Daphne heard the conductor yell out “Tickets please have your tickets ready”. She decided she was going to ask him why he kept yelling out “Tickets please have your tickets ready” at the next station stop. So she waited as patiently as she could and when he passed by her and her mommy, she decided to tug on his coat.
Knowing that it was a little girl that tugged on his coat, he playfully acted as if he could not see her there and asked her mommy “are you the one who tugged on my coat?” she blushed and he asked in a very playful manner “are you sure you didn’t” and then said “I know it must have been you” looking at the young man across from them who was trying to keep from laughing because at that point the Daphne was trying to get his attention and half laughing. Then he looks down and said, “If it wasn’t those two, it must have been you since you’re the only other one here.”
The conductor got down on one knee and put his conductor’s hat on her head and asked “What is your name” and she replied in a loud squeaky voice “Daphne”. He then asked “Well Daphne, you look like you have a question you can’t wait to ask” and she blurted out “Why do you keep saying Tickets please have your tickets ready?” For which he replied “That is so I know where they are getting off and remind them if need be.” Then she asked “Why do you need to wear this hat?” and he replied “So everyone knows who is asking for their tickets and so they know who to go to for help.”
After the conductor left, Daphne tried to sit patiently for the next stop but being the normal rambunctious girl like most girls her age were, for what seemed like an eternity to her even though it was only a minute or two she got up and started walking up and down the isle between the seats that was almost a slight jog. After going up and down the isle a few times, taking in all of the faces, she decided to stop at other passengers that she thought looked friendly and asked “Ticket please” most of the other passengers that she asked looked at her and could not help but smile with a couple breaking out into laughter.
When she got to one passenger, and asked “Ticket please” the passenger smiled and asked “who might you be?” for which Daphne laughed and said “I am the conductor, see it says so on my hat”. Then the passenger opened up her bag, looked through it and then pulled something out. Before letting Daphne see what it was, she asked “are you sure you are the conductor?” for, which she said “yes I am” and “could I please see your ticket” as she was saying this the real conductor was walking up the isle behind her to retrieve his hat because the train was approaching the next station stop.
The passenger could see him coming up the isle and hesitated long enough to be in earshot of them and said “Here is my ticket” and handed her a one dollar bill and a couple pieces of salt water taffy. After she gave Daphne the dollar and the candy, the conductor said “Thank you for collecting the fare for me” when she heard him she jumped so high that everyone that seen it could not help but laugh and she turned beet red as the conductor asked “could I please have my hat back?” then slid it off of her head and thanked her for keeping it safe.
After the conductor put his hat back on and started walking, Daphne just stood there for a few seconds, slightly embarrassed and looking down at her feet then she turned and ran back to her mommy who then asked “did you have fun?” and already knew the answer just by the look on her face. “Daphne, come and sit down our stop is next” her mommy said as Daphne pouted and a little then plopped herself back in her seat by the window, and staring down at her feet for a few minutes. After getting over her pouting she went back to looking out the window again, with her face and hands pressed against it.
While Daphne was looking out the window, the train slowed and eventually came to a stop by a marshy area then the conductor came over the P.A. saying “sorry, about having to stop we have a red signal ahead that is letting the engineer know that there is another train up ahead and we will be moving shortly.” Daphne never took her eyes off of the window until she decided to ask “mommy, where are we?” and her mom looked out the window and said “we are in a marsh and if you look hard enough you might see a beaver’s home somewhere in there.”
Shortly after being told that, Daphne spotted a mound that was twice as high as the other mounds and looked as if someone had made it. She stared at it intently for a couple minutes and then seen a couple animals about the size of a small dog poke their heads out of the water and then climb up onto the top of the mound. Daphne then turned to her mom and asked “Are those the animals you were talking about mommy?” She looked over and said “Yes and look they have a little family of them climbing onto their home.” “That’s their home?” Daphne asked with her mom nodding yes at the question.
Shortly after that, the train started moving again, and Daphne was waving by to the beavers as if they could see her waving. After they were past the marsh, she slipped back into a sitting position and then slowly nodded off to sleep. Her mom let her sleep the rest of the way to their stop since it was going to be at least an hour to their stop. While she slept, the conductor passed by and stopped briefly to ask “I see you are finally getting some rest” and she nodded saying “Thank you for taking time to answer her questions earlier” for which he responded “No problem, I am use to those types of questions.”
When the train slowed down so they could pull into the station stop, Daphne’s mom woke her up telling her “Daphne, wake up we are at our stop and daddy will be waiting for us.” With that she picked Daphne up and carried her where there was a line of passengers waiting to get off. When they got to the vestibule of the train Daphne’s mom put her down and then they walked off of the train. As Daphne walked onto the platform, she ran over to the conductor, hugged him and thanked him. After that she walked away waving at him until she seen her dad and ran up to him and jumped into his arms.
When they were done hugging, her dad put his hand out for her to hold and they walked to the car as she grabbed his hand and started telling him her adventure on the train, leaving no detail out with him going between saying “wow”, “that’s nice” , “you seen that?” and “you did that?”
