Sarah at dVerse has invited us to write a piece of prose to a max of 144 words and incorporating the line “No one left and no one came on the bare platform.” from ‘Adelstrop’ by Edward Thomas.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
“While no one can change the outcome of dementia or Alzheimer’s, with the right support you can change the journey.” Tara Reed
There’s No Train Today
Diane saw the single yellow daisy and she caught herself smiling, and she drifted, recalling significant daisy moments, like the time she and David, her late husband, had walked country lanes picking flowers, carefree it seemed, and she felt a yearning though she couldn’t quite place it. It troubled her, but she let it go. Then she remembered the train station and the daisies growing at the southern end of the platform. Was that smoke she could smell? Diane looked up but no train was coming, in fact, it was unusually quiet. After a time she noticed that no one left and no one came on the bare platform. How strange. and then suddenly, a young woman appeared and Diane asked: “Where’s the train?” The young woman smiled and said “It’s okay mum, it’s Julie, I’m your daughter. There’s no train today, you’re reminiscing.”
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
parallax 
Nice bit of prose–a fully articulated story.
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Many thanks Pat.
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Wow! This is excellent, friend. 🕊
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Thank you so much.
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Very poignant.
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Thank you very much for that.
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What a wonderfully empathic glimpse into the world of those slipping into dementia. Wow.
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Thank you so much Ana, having lived alongside it as parents and friends went through it stays with me, so it leaks out in story really. 🙂
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Yes, I’m quite familiar with that sort of leakage! 😄
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🙂
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Dementia in a love one is such a confounding thing to deal with. The person is there, but not there. Where did he go? Can’t we just call him back?
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That’s the really hard bit, the living dead I call it. So hard.
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Not easy but empathy is what they need!
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Yes, such a horrible end.
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Painful for the sufferer and the caregiver.
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Yes, it’s like being with a form of living dead.
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And dying every day.
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Yes 😦
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What an achingly accurate depiction of dementia.
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Thank you so much Sandy. Such a horrible end for sufferers.
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And heartbreaking for family and caregivers.
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Yes, I find it heartbreaking.
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Oh, that’s very poignant. The way it all comes together at the end. There’s something very tender in the relationship between mother and daughter.
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Yes, I watched my wife care for her mother, amazing journey, but a horrible thing to have. Thank you so much Sarah.
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Slightly different bent, but it reminds me of “The Trip to Bountiful”.
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Thank you indeed.
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For sure.
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So hard, this. Well done.
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It is hard, thank you Sascha.
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Love it.
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Thank you Rupali, such a difficult thing, one I don’t care to have either.
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🙂
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Beautiful poem – but quite disturbing as none of us know if we may be in this place ourselves one day
>
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Yes, so true, I was thinking of your mum at one point.
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A wonderful metaphor, Paul! Thank you very much. Michael
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So difficult, hope we all miss that one 🙂 Thank you Michael.
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I am sure we do or will, earlier or later, Paul!
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I sure won’t remember 🙂
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Really?🙂
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🙂
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