The Diaries of Ayesha

I first saw the girl while waiting for my train home from visiting Mistress Venus in Lansing Michigan.

She was carrying a Velveteen Rabbit and wearing fuzzy bunny slippers and a hooded sweatshirt as she sat curled up on a seat in the waiting room. She looked at me nervously and then pulled the hood over her head and looked away.

I kept a subtle watch on her even as I chatted to the young lady sitting next to me that was visiting from Ireland.

The body language of the bunny girl as I thought of her, spelt out runaway, but you don't just walk up to a young lady who is already nervous and ask something like that.

When the train was called we all lined up together and I lost track of the girl in the crowd but as luck or the Goddess would have it, she wound up sitting across the aisle from me.

I didn't speak to her at the time, and in fact I paid more attention to the young Irish girl, but the girl continued to hover on the edge of my attention.

That night I noticed her using the rabbit as a pillow, but she was lacking a blanket and every once in awhile shivered.

It wasn't until the morning of the second day of the trip that I had the chance to speak to the bunny girl.

I was digging through my travel bag for a snack and noticed her doing the same thing, removing a can of Pringles.

As I watched her out of the corner of my eye, I saw her take out a stack of chips, count them and then put most of them back in the can.

"Excuse me," I said turning to her with a couple of fruit bars. "I have some extra fruit bars. Would you like one or two?"

She hesitated for a moment and then accepted them.

"Thank you," she said stripping the wrapper off one and wolfing it down.

"No problem, I've got more food than I need," I said slapping my belly.

She laughed at that and then pulled out a bottle of fruit juice.

"I really don't like warm juice, but they ran out of ice in the dining car."

"They've had a bit of a supply problem on this trip," I said. "They've been running out of a lot of things. The attendant said she'd have more ice after we hit our next stop."

"I hope so," the girl said.

"By the way, that's a nice rabbit you have there."

She smiled.

"Thank you. I've had it since I was very small. It's a Velveteen Rabbit, like in the story."

"Makes a pretty good pillow too, I noticed. Incidentally, I have a spare blanket if you need one," I offered.

"Are you sure you won't need it?" she asked as I pulled it out of my backpack.

"Nope, I'm fine with one," I said.

She took it and yawned.

"I'm sorry. I'm real tired."

"No problem."

She stretched herself across both seats and curled up again with the blanket around her and her head pillowed on the rabbit.

As the train turned into the sun, the light flooded through my window and into her face. Before it could wake her I pulled the window curtain closed.

A couple of hours later she woke as the train pulled into the next station and they announced a fifteen-minute station stop.

I took advantage of the stop to grab a snack from the small store in the station and a cup of coffee. Thinking of the young lady I also grabbed a cold bottle of apple juice and took it back with me.

"Here," I said giving it to her. "Thought you might want a cold one."

"That's very nice of you, " she said taking a big swig from the bottle.

"It's what I do," I said sipping my coffee." Oh, I'm Michael by the way."

She offered her hand.

"I'm Sarah. Thank you for the juice."

I shook her hand and took the opportunity to ask where she was coming from and where she was going.

"I'm going home to Modesto," she explained. "I was living with my girlfriend and her boyfriend in Pontiac and everything went to hell. They started fighting all the time and I always wound up in the middle."

"Being in the middle isn't always a bad thing, " I quipped.

"Well no, but not in arguments," she agreed.

As I listened to her talk about the situation, I thought about how lucky I'd been to be involved in stable triads.

Spider Robinson once observed that stable triads were rare as a chimney fire and just as spectacular when they went.

We talked about relationships for a bit and then she went forward to the observation car while I settled down to make notes for a new story.

A couple of hours passed and she returned to her seat with a young man with spiked hair and carrying a skateboard in tow.

She introduced the young man to me and explained he was going to Hawaii for a surfing tournament.

"Not on that," I hope pointing to the skateboard.

"No man, I just always have to have some kind of board with me. It's a luck thing," he explained and then proceeded to demonstrate how he could skateboard down the aisle of a train and back despite the rocking motion.

I had to admit he was pretty good to pull that off.

I left the two young people to their conversation and returned to my notes but kept an ear perked for more information on the girl.

During their conversation, the young man started talking about the Illuminati and their control over society.

Now, I have to say as a peripheral member of the Illuminati with my connection to Ay'esha I was amused and annoyed by his know it all attitudes on the subject.

I kept my comments to myself however and continued working until the young man left.

"Interesting young fellow, " I commented.

"I've learned to humor some of the less sane members of society," she said. "Sometimes you get some unusual insights on things from them."

"I take it you don't believe in global conspiracies," I asked.

"Not really. But sometime it seems like there might be."

"Oh boy, could I tell you some stories," I thought.

About that time the young man came back disrupting any further conversation.

Just before I was due to join the young Irish girl for dinner the conductor came through the car to announce that there were sleeping car spaces available at a substantial discount.

"I wonder how much?" she said after he passed through the car.

"Don't know, I'll ask though," I said thinking of the advantages. One being a bed and the second being free meals in the dining car for the rest of the trip.

This can really be cost effective as meals run about $15 a shot.

Her new male friend pointed out that the sleeping cars also had shower facilities.

"I could really use a shower," she said.

"Tell you what, " I offered. "If I get the room, you can use the shower."

She smiled brightly.

"Deal."

Sad to say it was still out of budget at $95 which broke my heart.

She took the news cheerfully and thanked me for the offer of the shower anyway.

I went off to dinner and when I returned Sarah was gone, but her things were still in the seat so I knew she was on the train somewhere.

The next day we passed through Fort Morgan, Colorado and I was joined by one of my regular readers of the Diaries, Nicole who as promised delivered coffee and a box of doughnuts as well as joining me for a ride as far as Denver.

I can't say enough about her kindness in doing that because it fed me, the Irish girl and Sarah and served as a fine example of a small thing becoming a big thing for others.

When we reached Sacramento the next day where she was scheduled to change trains I made sure I slipped her some of the cash I could spare and wished her good luck.

"I wouldn't normally take money from a stranger," she said.

"I wouldn't normally offer it, but you're a special case," I replied.

"If you give me your address I'll send it back," she offered.

I shook my head.

"Nope, think of me as the Lone Ranger. Who was that masked man? Just help somebody else when they need it."

She hugged me and got off the train and the last I saw of her was as she disappeared into the tunnel leading into the station, with the bunny clutched in her arms.

I suppose if anything you could call it a random act of kindness on my part.

Or you could call my looking out for her a moral imperative.

Myself, I was just doing my job.

Goddess bless Sarah and protect her.

Chapter 31 Sections 1 to 6

Goober Peas
  Men
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Pandora's Gift
The Velveteen Rabbit
Supermarket Sweep