The Angel on the Train
Fran Weissenberg

     I didn't recognize the middle-aged woman sitting across the aisle from me on the train as an angel. I was too busy feeling the pain of losing my mother just last week. Now I was going to live with my Aunt Juanita, the only living relative we had. I took out the two pictures from my bag. I studied them. I wiped a tear at the beautiful one that was my mother. Then I studied Tia's family, her stocky husband and three little boys. Would they like me?

     In fact, I hadn't noticed the woman until I began to feel so drowsy, that I could hardly keep my head up. Every time my head drooped, I would pull it up and make my eyes open. Was it safe to sleep on a train with strangers? Would I miss my station? This was the first trip I'd taken in my thirteen years.

    "If you're worried about sleeping, I'll keep an eye on you. Where are you going?"

    "Tucson, Arizona," I mumbled, almost asleep. "So am I," she said, a smile lighting up her face. "You won't miss your station."

     I thanked her and slid into sleep, a great weight lifting from my shoulders.

     By the time we got to Tucson a few hours later, I knew the lady was Mrs. Cormack and I had told her about myself, even showing her the pictures. She took my aunt's address and gave me her address and telephone number with a brief invitation to call her.

     We parted after we left the train. She headed to a chauffeured car and I went straight to the little group waving at me. I was hugged and kissed by my aunt and the three little ones. My uncle Julio held back and then formally shook my hand. The trip home was in a dilapidated truck, with the youngest one, Pedro, snuggling on my lap. He was fast asleep by the time we stopped in front of a small adobe in a yard crowded with a few broken down cars. 

     "Julio fixes cars," my aunt explained, brushing her beautiful wavy hair off her face. I carefully handed the sleeping Pedro to her outstretched arms.

     Julio picked up my luggage and I followed Juanita and Julio into a fairly large room, obviously the kitchen. A bed in one corner of the kitchen slept the two older ones. The youngest still slept in a crib in his parent's room. Where would I sleep?"

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