Villeneuve Natalia

Teens Fiction Honourable Mention
Cornwall Publicv Library 2015
Annual Writing Contest Winners

WAY BACK HOME
I remember it clear as day on that windy fall morning. A few days after my accident, I
stepped outside to get my morning paper when I suddenly felt the cold breeze brushing against
my pale skin. I looked up and noticed that the trees were bare and the leaves were rustling down
the street. I had only one thing on my mind. My morning tea. I always drank tea in the morning,
because it helps get me ready for the day.
As I walked back into the warm and cozy house, f made my way to the end of the long
dark hallway and turned into my room where I saw my suitcase. I realized that I was late.
"Oh no!" I said.
"I can't be late today, I'll miss the train!"
I quickly got my most elegant dress out and put it in my suitcase, and then I packed the
rest of my clothes for the long trip. I had decided to wear a more sophisticated type of dress for
the train ride because you never know who you'll meet. I ran out the door and realized that I
forgot to get the address out from my other coat, so then I ran back into the house quickly getting
the address out. Which read, 1455 crystal rd. Paris, France.
I put it in my pocket and flew out the door. I remember just floating down those front
steps and jumping into a cab. When I finally got to the train station I stood in line to get my
ticket to Paris. I thought to myself.
"I can't wait to get to Paris. All the lights, the cafe's and all those litte boutiques on the
side of the roads. What a wonderful place to be!"
After a while, the lady in line behind me asked in a rush,
"Are you buying a ticket today or tomorrow?"

I noticed how impatient she seemed so I simply told her I was sorry for not paying
attention. I was so deep in thought as to what was waiting for me far beyond this little town of
Bodrum, Turkey. I got my ticket and soon enough I was off again to catch the train. When I got
on, the conductor asked me if I wanted a sleeper car. I told him I did because I knew this would
be a long journey.
As I got to the sleeper I sat down and placed my bags in the overhead luggage
compartment when a man came knocking on my door.
I said to him, "Hello, can I help you with anything?"
He asked me if he could stay with me for the few nights he was travelling. I guessed he
didn't like who he was sitting with before. I first mentioned to him that we hardly knew each
other and that it would be quite unheard of for the two of us to spend our nights together. We
decided to talk for a while to get to know one another. I felt quite comfortable talking with this
man. We had a lot in common. I realized it was silly for me to tell him he couldn't stay and I
soon let him spend his time on the train with me.
Later that evening, I was sitting by the window catching up on my reading when
suddenly, I looked up at the star-filled sky. The stars were much brighter than I had ever seen
before. I saw the moon shining on the water as we passed over a tiny bridge. The night was
calm, I heard the wind whistling through nearby trees as I opened the window just a crack.
I heard a sound coming from the other end of the room. It was the gentleman snoring. I
looked at him and noticed he was wearing clean clothes. I recognized, he was not a poor man.
He had a nice long face with a firm jaw, and very few wrinkles. He must have only been around
my age of 45. He had dark hair and I noticed when he was awake he had the clearest blue eyes I

had ever seen. He reminded me of an old friend I once knew when I was a little girl. Soon after,
I started drifting off.
I woke up the next morning to the warm sun shining through the window and the smell of freshly poured tea. I sat up and turned to see the strange gentleman drinking the tea. He asked
me if I wanted some and I gladly replied,
"Yes, thank you." I sipped the tea as it slowly cooled down.
We started talking about our reasons for being on this train. He started off by explaining

that he was a writer, writing about a man and his career. He told me his name was Clark Rogers,
"Pleased to meet you M. Rogers." I said.
"You may call me Clark." He insisted.
"My name is May Thompson" I replied.

I told him I was traveling to Paris, France. He looked at me with a surprised gleam on his face because he happened to be going there too. We chatted for about an hour until the train
stopped in a small town called alpine hills. As passengers walked out of the train. we heard the
conductor shout,
"The train will be stopped for about 45 minutes."
We stepped out and walked down the deserted streets and couldn't see anyone for miles.

We noticed many little shops and restaurants along the street. We decided to stop into a quiet
gift shop where they sold little trinkets. They didn't have much to sell but I ended up buying a
locket. It had the picture of a horse on it. Clark asked me why I liked it so much. I explained
that when I was a little girl my family lived on a farm and I had this brown horse I used to love to ride. Until one day he died and I was devastated because we had known each other since I

was born. The locket helped me remember my past. As I walked towards the cashier to pay for
my locket, I noticed pictures of different people on the walls. They were old pictures of people
that worked in the store.
I finished paying and Clark was waiting outside for me. When I walked out, Clark was
sitting on a bench by the water writing something down. I sat down next to him and admired the
blue sky, where the birds were singing their sweet songs. It was just about lunch time and I
could smell the bread baking at the bakery. That was such a nice place. Clark offered to buy me
some bread and I told him we could make sandwiches for lunch on the train. After buying the
bread, I heard the conductor telling us to hurry. We got on the train and returned to our sleeper
where I thought about Clark and how considerate he was. He was such a good man.
Soon after, an employee came to our door to tell us there was a small dinner party that
evening at around 6:00. I thought to myself what a perfect opportunity to wear my elegant dress.
It was a floor length black sparkly dress which had a shining diamond shaped decorated flower
pattern on the hip. I no longer have it anymore but it was always my favorite.
We sat down and I prepared peanut butter and jam sandwiches for our lunch. After
lunch, I decided to take a walk on the train. I walked down the brightly lit hallway. The walls
were painted red with a yellow, gold color around the door and window frames. I looked at the
pictures on the walls, which were pictures of the european countryside. As I looked at them, I
knew they looked familiar but I didn't know where I had seen them before. At that time, I was
starting to get a headache, so I went back to the sleeper to lay down.
When I walked in I noticed that Clark wasn't there. I supposed he was out for a walk as
well. I just laid down and went to sleep.

Suddenly, I woke up to the sound of Clark's voice.
"It's 5:00." He said.
"Where were you earlier?" I asked.
He told me that he just went out for a stroll to work on his story. I asked him to let me
read it but he didn't want to yet because he wanted it to be a surprise. At that moment, it
occurred to us that it was almost time to go to the dinner. So we went
to change in separate rooms.
When we returned, Clark looked at me and said,
"You look beautiful. That dress makes your long blonde hair look like long strands of
gold."
"Thank you, M. Rogers." I teased.
We came out of the sleeper and walked down the hallway. As we got closer to the dining
car, we heard people laughing. We walked into a well lit room, with beautiful lights hanging up
on the walls. I noticed an older gentleman sitting at the end of a big wooden table, smoking a
cigar and he had gray short hair which was parted on the side. He looked up at Clark and I and
said,
"You must be May Thompson and Clark Rogers."
He asked us to sit down, along with everyone else in the room. We talked to everyone
that night and it was nice to be able to talk to all these wonderful people.
Later on, waitresses came out to serve us dinner. We had chicken with potatoes and
vegetables, and for dessert we had chocolate mousse. I was stuffed the food was exquisite.

It was around eight o'clock when we started saying goodnight to the other passengers
then, slowly walked out of the room. Once we got back in the hallway, we started to talk.
''Tell me about the book you're writing" I said.
"Well, there's not much to say. It's about a poor man who goes to New York and tries to
become a lawyer but he has many obstacles to overcome because nobody wants to hire him." He
answered proudly with a smile tugging at the side's of his mouth.
"I'd like to read it when you're done." I then answered.
We finally got to the washrooms and we changed into our normal everyday clothes.
went back to the sleeper but Clark wasn't back yet. I sat there reading a book for about five
minutes, until Clark walked in with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. We spent that
evening talking and laughing. It was getting late and Clark suggested we get a good night's rest
In the morning we were going to be in Paris, so we both went to sleep.
After having a good night's sleep, I woke up the next morning and I noticed that Clark
was still asleep. As I decided to prepare the morning tea. I thought about how he also enjoyed
tea in the mornings.
A half hour later, Clark woke up. He looked up at me and I still remember the words
said to him,
''It's funny, you really look familiar." I said.
He looked at me funny but continued putting his shoes on then, as he hopped out of bed.
we both sat up by the window and drank our tea. We started noticing that we weren't in the
countryside anymore. We could see some of Paris's great monuments. We were even able to see
the top of the Eiffel Tower from a far.

After we drank our tea, we began packing our things.
"What will you do once we gel off the train?" I asked.
"I'm going to find a publisher, to get my book published. If you ever need anything just
look me up in the book." He answered.
We soon finished packing and the train had finally stopped in Paris. We both said
goodbye to the conductor.
We looked at each other and I said,
"I hope we meet again soon."
"I'm sure we will." Clark added.
We walked off in separate directions and I called a cab. I jumped in and rode to the Aux
Petits Cafe restaurant. I had read a brochure about the restaurant while aboard the train. It
looked like a very nice place to dine. As I hopped out of the cab I looked up at the sign for the
restaurant. It was a small well decorated brick building with lights hanging over the windows
and the menu written on a sign right outside the door. There was a covered patio, where you
could see couples enjoying each other's company as they drank a glass of wine.
I walked inside, while noticing the cream colored walls and the dark wooden bar with
white square panels on it. There were also these beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
I sat down by the window and the waiter came over and offered me a menu. He told me the
special today was the fruit sorbets. I wasn't very hungry, but I decided to order the fruit sorbets
anyway with a small glass of red wine.
A few minutes later, the waiter came back with my meal which looked delicious.
quickly finished eating, paid the bill and left the restaurant. I saw a man standing on the side of

the street. I asked him where I could find, 1455 crystal rd. He pointed me in the right direction
but when I turned to look away, he ran off with my purse. I chased him for about three minutes
until, I ran out of breath and decided to let him go. I didn't have much in there anyway because I
always keep my money in my coat pocket.
Thanks to the man's help, I started walking down the street and suddenly. I realized I was
walking toward the Eiffel Tower. I noticed a little shop on the side of the road. I walked in and
grabbed a map, I looked at it for a bit until I finally knew where I was going.
I was a few blocks away from the Eiffel Tower when I noticed a street that was called
crystal rd. I walked down that street looking at the addresses. I was halfway down the street
when a car passed by and because it had just rained that morning, it splashed me. The water was
so cold. The car didn't even stop to help me. I was all wet by then. I didn't want to go to the
house looking like that, so I decided to go back to the little shop and run into the washroom. I got my extra clothes out from my suitcase and put it on and then, I walked out and went right
back to the street. I had to know what was waiting behind that door.
I walked around looking for the address and when I saw the house, I recognized it. It all
started coming back to me. The house had a green roof and white siding. There was a little
garden in the front where you could tell there were flowers that grew there once before.
I walked up the steps and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, I saw the shadow of
a man through the glass door. I fell nervous as he approached. Then suddenly, the door opened.
A tall man was standing there looking at me. I finally realized who it was.
"What are you doing here?" I asked.
He answered and said, "Would you like to have tea with me?"

As I walked in, I looked at the pictures on the flower patterned wall. We sat down in a
candlelit room, on a burgundy couch. He gave me a cup of tea and we started to talk.
He asked me to look around a bit and see if anything looked familiar.
I asked him,
"Why should it look familiar? I've never been here before."
He then added, "Do you remember when I first took you out to the restaurant on the
corner?"
I told him that I didn't remember. He told me to take a walk around the house. So I did, I
walked up the stairs to this small bedroom. I turned the light on and there it was. There was a
picture of me in a wedding gown standing next to M. Clark Rogers in front of that same house. I
turned around to find Clark looking right at me. I was baffled by the sight of the picture. I asked
him,
"Who are you? I don't remember ever getting married."
He quickly replies, "We do know each other May, you just don't remember because of your
accident."
We walked back down into the parlor. He took out these photo albums and he kept
showing me all these pictures of us but I still didn't remember. Then, we came across this
picture of him and me, when we were much younger. We were sitting in a tree in my front yard.
Then, I remembered how we used to always see each other when we were young because our
parents were friends. Later on in life, we met again and finally decided to get married.
He told me how we moved to Paris right after the wedding. Soon after, I had my
accident. I was so confused when I was in the hospital and I thought that I was still living in

Bodrum with my parents. Clark explained that he followed me back to Bodrum and put that
address in my coat pocket. He knew that eventually I would look for answers and try to figure
out what that address was for. On the day I left for the train, Clark made a deal with the
conductor so that the conductor could call him whenever he saw me board the train. He didn't
want to tell me who he was because he thought he would scare me. By telling me I was his wife
and that I was supposed to be in love with him, he knew that would frighten me. He simply
waited, trying to let me have the chance to get to know him and maybe even fall in love allover
again.
He was patient with me. He waited long enough for me to start feeling comfortable with
him. Soon enough, I was beginning to remember everything.
Even now, I think of that time in my life. It was scary not knowing who I really was or
who my family was. That was all just twenty years ago. Since then I've lived quite a life. I had
two dogs, a job and a wonderful husband. Clark passed on four years ago. He was a brave man
and a kind man but unfortunately he had a heart condition. The doctors had to take him to the
hospital because he had a stroke. However, he did end up getting his book published and It was
a bestseller. I still have the coat and the address is still in the pocket. Those two things made me
find my way back home. I don't know what I'd have done without my Clark. I look at my long
wonderful life as I sit here by the window in my house in Paris, and I drink my morning tea.