Task 0- Menewsha Grand Station

She was fidgety, more then she had been in some time. After all it had been years since she had been back home, to take the grand tour as well. Deep in her mind she wondered how much of the place had changed. Where the memories anything like what would breech before her.
She played with the Ticket in her hand, in her nervousness it now had a worn consistency like that of a tissue. The small star in the center would be gone if she didn’t stop playing with the thing. She smiled and put the thing in her purse. Her mother had bought it for her, a special Christmas gift. Her mother was a caring woman who she missed very much, had she too changed from her memories?
She watched out the window absently, her thoughts running across the different landscapes that she mildly remembered. Something seemed off and finally she spoke her mind to the coachman, “Mr. Petterson, I feel you are getting us lost.”
A short, uneasy laugh answered her words. That didn’t sound right. No answer could be heard over the laughter. Was she perhaps right after all, were they lost? Lost on menewsha was not the best place to be. Her eyes crept wearily to the volcanoes in the distance, envisioning the dragons she knew lived there. Butterflies played in her stomach, mixed with her ever growing nervousness made the likelihood that she was going to vomit all the much more likely.
“Please Mr. Petterson, tell me we are not lost” Her voice was fragile, and a bit weak.
“Nothing to worry about Lady Lorington, the roads where closed the traditional way and we had to take a small detour, we’ll be there shortly”
Her mind was once again at ease, or as much as it could be. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her mind started to drift into a state something like semi-consciousness and she thought about her childhood here on Menewsha. She remembered the many years of playing in the fields that now passed by her window. Frolicking in the flowers with her sister Abigail and her best friend Luke VanDracile. She missed those days, just as she had missed her home.
It didn’t take them long to reach the station. A door was opened for her and she stepped out of the coach. She marveled at the size of the new station. People, some she recognized from her youth others she did not, rushed by her in flurries along the wooden boardwalk leading to the train.
Her eyes scanned the area for those who would come to meet her. She expected her mother of course, and her father. Her sister would come as well. She showed her ticket at the gate and headed inside. The inside was just as wonderful as the outside, with the same rustling of people. The wooden boardwalk continued into the station, an occasional bench lined the edges. She would have marveled if she wasn’t too busy looking for her family.
It was then that she saw it, The Spirit of Calesco. It appeared both new and shinny with its fresh coat of black paint. A golden start adorned the front, and even that screamed new to her. And the size, for a passenger steam engine it was a grand size that had the appearance of both elegance and beauty. She could hardly believe her eyes.
A small redhead suddenly attacked her from the side with an excited squeal, “Cora!”. She could hardly contain her laughter as she looked down at the head of her much shorter sister Abigail.
“Abby!” She laughed again and wrapped her sister in a hug that was warm but only lasted a moment because her sister pulled away from her with her hands on her tiny little hips and pouted.
“Why don’t you visit more often…..its been seven years since you where last here” Cora looked around at the group in front of her all nodding there heads in agreement. Her mother was there as she expected, as well as her father. What she hadn’t expected was him.
Luke VanDricile was exactly as she remembered him and at the same time nothing at all like she remembered him. He was all grown up now. Color filled her cheeks as she looked at him, there surroundings melding into one. It was only when the rain clouds that had cast themselves over the sky began to pelt them with large raindrops that she remembered they needed to board the train. The group hurried to get out of the rain. She thought, "it sure will be and interesting trip indeed"

The group on the train was quiet at first, her being the quietest. Whatever she had expected at the train station it wasn’t what had occurred. What was that then, the total loss of words between her and Luke. They had once been best friends hadn’t they. She looked over at the group around them in the car. “Maybe we could take turns answering riddles or something to pass the time?”

“That’s an idea, you used to be really good at that” his voice was smooth much like that of silk bringing a rosy color to her cheeks and she looked away quickly to hide it. She became increasingly interested in the poinsettias that decorated the train. This was going to be a long trip if she didn’t get a hold of herself.

She took one solid deep breath, “sounds fun” she said evenly. Good they where getting there.

“I have a riddle” her mother piped up and Cora knew this would never be good. “Why has cora never gotten married?” she elbowed Luke, “wouldn’t she make such a lovely bride”

She was dead…..yup might as well dig her grave now. She was never going to make it out of this trip alive, she was now certain of this fact.

“I think she would make a truly beautiful bride” that silky voice again. She was thankful for that excuse to stop when the train pulled into the next stop. She was just about to reach for her luggage when the knot slipped lose and stuff began to scatter everywhere. She watched as her clothes began to scatter and even the set of dice she brought with her rolled under the seat.

Quickly she grabbed at her things and began to shove them into her luggage. Redness now filled her cheeks tenfold as Luke handed her the pajama’s she had packed. She reached down to tie the knot securely before grabbing her ticket out of the bag and racing from the train in a flash.

Once off the train she felt exhilarated. The cold air brought memories from her childhood and the trips here to Garland. The history, the stories all came flooding back to her in one fowl swoop. The graves, yes, they should visit the graves. She leaned against a nearby tree and waited for her family to emerge from the train after her. She picked up a small piece of bark from the ground and waited……and waited.

It seemed like such a long time that she waited for her family to emerge. She jumped suddenly when a voice spoke to her left side. “There looking for you, you must have missed each other getting off”

She didn’t speak for a moment, contemplating what to say. I would be silly to keep avoiding him. She was spared words for a brief moment however when he surprised her with a small package of peppermint bark, “you seemed a little out of it, and peppermint bark always was your favorite”

She looked up at him, really looked at him. Inside that handsome man was her Luke, that’s the thing she missed. It really was her Luke, “Thank you Luke, you always did have that knack of making me smile” she laughed then and tore open the package to eat a small piece, “would you like a piece?”

He wrinkled his nose a bit at her, a move he always had as a child….except it seemed a whole lot cuter now, “I forgot…..you’re the one who hates peppermint.”

He gently tousled her short hair and smiled, “Cora we’ve missed you, you know. You really should visit more often”

She looked at him, she hadn’t noticed that they had grown so close together but her heart sped up just a touch. Her eyes gazed into his until they closed, time seeming to freeze until, “There you are!”

She moved away from him to once again greet her family. The rest of the trip went as planned. They visited the graves which she said the same prayer she said all those years ago, “Please, let me find someone to love someday”. They saw the tail end of what looked like a spectacular wedding coming out of the quaint little church.

It was only later when back on the train that she made wonder about the quaint little town and all it encompassed. Well more on the end of herself, was it such a good idea to come back to this place….back to the heartache it once brought. She looked over at Luke and sighed, "Its not his fault.....don't blame him"

“Reindeer do so Trot!” she said out loud defending her previous statement but there was a bit of laughter in her statement due to the comical nature of the whole journey. Since there departure from Garland, all of them where now comfortable around one another.

She pulled a pencil and notebook from her purse and proceeded to draw out a small little picture diagram explaining how reindeer first trot, then run, and then jump into the sky. The whole thing was both a) badly drawn and b) ridiculously silly and caused the entire group, her included, to burst into fits of laughter. “ok so maybe that was a bit extreme, but reindeer do trot.”

It was shortly after this that Abigail pulled out a deck of cards and they spent the rest of the train ride involved in a game of go fish. It wasn’t until they where fairly close to there destination that she thought of something, “You know the festival is taking place while we are there” her mind flooded with memories from her past, of the many times they had gone to the festival as a family, “We should bake red forest cupcakes if we can!”

“I’m sure aunt Delilah would let us use her kitchen”

She bounced with anticipation and she could see Abigail bouncing in her seat as well. It would truly be an exciting day spent with her aunt and then an exciting evening at the festival. She was sure this would be the best stop of the trip so far.

****

She stepped from the train into the station. She could see the Volcanoes in the distance and thought to herself, “This…..is home” After all it was not far from Reinsend that she and her sister where born. She walked around outside the train station, this time her family was not very far behind.

It was strange, she heard the sound, knew even what it should have meant and still did not pause to consider the situation. The truth of the matter was that she walked straight into what would appear to be…..nothing. She heard the loud “Moo!” again and smack herself blank in the forehead, “Damn the invisible cows”

A flash went off fairly close to her right side, and she looked up to see Luke pointing a camera at her with a silly lopsided grin on his face. “You did NOT just take a picture of me in all my stupidity”

“Glue yourself together, its only a picture!”

She grinned at him with that mischievous smile known only to her and chased after him and snatched the camera from his grasp bent highly on deleting said picture. She began to go through the pictures….looking for the last one he took of her when she became more interested in the pictures he took.

“Some of these are rather good Luke” she paused at the picture of the small little bluebird, “This one is so close up, its adorable”

She handed him back the camera, deleting the picture just seemed to lose its urgency, “Just promise you’ll keep that one to yourself”

“Yes sir” he grabbed a nearby rake and stood erect and saluted her.

She punched him in the arm, quite hard, and muttered, “idiot”

****

They spent the afternoon baking cupcakes, a task which Luke was forced to join in on and one which her father gracefully bowed out of. It was also a task which Aunt Delilah probably regretted having lent the use of her kitchen out to. After all the kitchen was a mess when the three where done with it. It all started with Luke, yes the whole thing was Luke’s fault. Luke put a dab of batter on Cora’s nose. Cora Retaliated by throwing a spoonful back at Luke but it missed and hit Abigail. Abigail quite promptly dropped the bowl of batter in her hands and things just sort of went south from there.

Needless to say the kitchen was nothing but a darn right mess when the whole ordeal was done. By the time the three where done cleaning the kitchen. They had no cupcakes and no time, for it was already time for the festival. The three headed to the festival which for them was almost just as eventful as the baking in the kitchen. The visited many of the attractions for the festival but the whole thing ended when Cora got stampeded by a baby reindeer.

She didn't end up too incredibly hurt, and in fact the fact that Luke had scooped her up into his arms to get her out of harms way. She leaned against him, "yes, it had been a good day"