Read Online A Life In A Moment by Stefanos Livos - Free Book Online
Authors: Stefanos Livos
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sleep.
When I
woke up, the Italian coastline was a strip in the middle of the
scuttle. It barely made itself known from among the colours of the
dusk. We were very near. I felt relieved. After I gazed at the lights
on the shore for a while, I started packing.
I wondered
how the day had begun in Greece. Quite logically by now, they must
have learnt I left. Natalia and Aunt surely wanted to communicate
with me, but they didn’t know how. Michalis and Ellie... No, I
didn’t care to follow that thought.
23
A few
hours later, having obtained a ticket to Milan, I was waiting for the
train on one of the platforms at Ancona Centrale. It was weirdly
unnerving being amongst so many strangers. Even if I searched, I
don’t know if I’d find someone speaking the same language
as me. Different people, different languages and cultures, with
different stories and passions, with different departure points and
destinations.
Something
sudden and fleeting came over my face. It was a unique, refreshing
and exciting sort of feeling. The first beautiful feeling of my brand
new life. In that moment, I felt I didn’t simply exist, but
lived. I at last realised I was alive. I sensed my hands, my feet,
the weight of my suitcase, the pain in my face, the cold wind across
the open platform. It may have been impossible due to the distance,
but I was sure that the click sound I had just heard came from a
door. It was the door the hand of the train station’s clock had
shut behind, as it walked into room 9. I felt as if I could smell the
leftovers of the sandwich a cat was pawing on the opposite platform.
I saw a man in suit running after a train, which threatened him with
its closed doors. I didn’t matter at all that these may be
thought of as silly, ridiculous thoughts.
I was
alive!
In my
excitement, I nearly missed the announcement of my train’s
arrival. Italian was not my forte.
Thank
Goodness, my English was good. I had my childhood friends to be
grateful to: Wilde, Dickens and Austen. It was thanks to them that I
had learnt English so I could read their works in their original
language. At long last, it was time to redeem all those quips and
quiddities I’d accumulated as an unusual child.
The voice
announced the train would arrive in eleven minutes. At nine minutes,
the engine appeared, at ten it slowed down before me, at eleven it
ground to a stop. Finding my carriage, I hopped on board. Putting my
suitcase in its place, I nestled myself in my window-seat, alone with
my desire to feel the train accelerate, leaving Ancona behind.
It didn’t
take long to see the station move away and hear its humdrum sounds
fade into nothingness. Once again, I felt such elation… I
lived dreamlike moments. I was unstoppable in my ache to live each
day.
I hid
myself away in a deep sleep to pass the time.
24
I was
nearly comatose for six hours. I woke only when the lights of Milano
Centrale dazzled me. Nobody had bothered to wake me up; that’s
why I was one of the last passengers to disembark. I pulled down my
suitcase, hopped off and started looking around for the ticket
office.
I was
lucky. The train to Paris left in an hour. It was morning and the
station was teeming with people. I wandered around. The station
looked like a small town. I had never seen such a thing. I saw a
telephone booth and it suddenly dawned on me that I had overlooked
something critical.
I had
forgotten to notify my brother. He must surely have learnt what
happened and would be frantically worried by now. I groped for some
coins in my pocket.
«Hello»,
I suddenly heard on the other side of the line.
«Pavlos?»
«At
last, Vassilis! Where the hell have you been? You’ve driven me
up the wall!» He didn’t sound as happy as I had expected.
«You’re
right. I should have called you earlier.»
«Where
are you?»
«At
the railway station, in Milan.»
«Milan?
What the hell are you doing there? It’s going to take you at
least two days to
When I
woke up, the Italian coastline was a strip in the middle of the
scuttle. It barely made itself known from among the colours of the
dusk. We were very near. I felt relieved. After I gazed at the lights
on the shore for a while, I started packing.
I wondered
how the day had begun in Greece. Quite logically by now, they must
have learnt I left. Natalia and Aunt surely wanted to communicate
with me, but they didn’t know how. Michalis and Ellie... No, I
didn’t care to follow that thought.
23
A few
hours later, having obtained a ticket to Milan, I was waiting for the
train on one of the platforms at Ancona Centrale. It was weirdly
unnerving being amongst so many strangers. Even if I searched, I
don’t know if I’d find someone speaking the same language
as me. Different people, different languages and cultures, with
different stories and passions, with different departure points and
destinations.
Something
sudden and fleeting came over my face. It was a unique, refreshing
and exciting sort of feeling. The first beautiful feeling of my brand
new life. In that moment, I felt I didn’t simply exist, but
lived. I at last realised I was alive. I sensed my hands, my feet,
the weight of my suitcase, the pain in my face, the cold wind across
the open platform. It may have been impossible due to the distance,
but I was sure that the click sound I had just heard came from a
door. It was the door the hand of the train station’s clock had
shut behind, as it walked into room 9. I felt as if I could smell the
leftovers of the sandwich a cat was pawing on the opposite platform.
I saw a man in suit running after a train, which threatened him with
its closed doors. I didn’t matter at all that these may be
thought of as silly, ridiculous thoughts.
I was
alive!
In my
excitement, I nearly missed the announcement of my train’s
arrival. Italian was not my forte.
Thank
Goodness, my English was good. I had my childhood friends to be
grateful to: Wilde, Dickens and Austen. It was thanks to them that I
had learnt English so I could read their works in their original
language. At long last, it was time to redeem all those quips and
quiddities I’d accumulated as an unusual child.
The voice
announced the train would arrive in eleven minutes. At nine minutes,
the engine appeared, at ten it slowed down before me, at eleven it
ground to a stop. Finding my carriage, I hopped on board. Putting my
suitcase in its place, I nestled myself in my window-seat, alone with
my desire to feel the train accelerate, leaving Ancona behind.
It didn’t
take long to see the station move away and hear its humdrum sounds
fade into nothingness. Once again, I felt such elation… I
lived dreamlike moments. I was unstoppable in my ache to live each
day.
I hid
myself away in a deep sleep to pass the time.
24
I was
nearly comatose for six hours. I woke only when the lights of Milano
Centrale dazzled me. Nobody had bothered to wake me up; that’s
why I was one of the last passengers to disembark. I pulled down my
suitcase, hopped off and started looking around for the ticket
office.
I was
lucky. The train to Paris left in an hour. It was morning and the
station was teeming with people. I wandered around. The station
looked like a small town. I had never seen such a thing. I saw a
telephone booth and it suddenly dawned on me that I had overlooked
something critical.
I had
forgotten to notify my brother. He must surely have learnt what
happened and would be frantically worried by now. I groped for some
coins in my pocket.
«Hello»,
I suddenly heard on the other side of the line.
«Pavlos?»
«At
last, Vassilis! Where the hell have you been? You’ve driven me
up the wall!» He didn’t sound as happy as I had expected.
«You’re
right. I should have called you earlier.»
«Where
are you?»
«At
the railway station, in Milan.»
«Milan?
What the hell are you doing there? It’s going to take you at
least two days to
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