Track of Dreams

Those long steel tracks heading north and south carried my imagination away every time the trains ran, the racuous horn  pulling me from my chores to race to the crossing. Passengers and frieght rumbled by while I stood beside the tracks waving watching as it rolled out of sight wishing in my childish heart to be part of their adventure! I'd wander down the tracks hopping from one cross-tie to the next searching for the coins I'd laid there like some small offering to the thundering train gods. I'd find them flattened... thin as paper Lincoln and Washington unrecognizable, copper and silver, a child's treasure worth more than gold. Sometimes I'd balance atop the narrow rails, an acrobat dressed in glittering sequins like I'd seen at the circus last year, Careful, watch your step, it's a long way  d-     o-         w-              n... or remember the horror story told by a cousin about a drunken man... his legs amputated  by a locomotive, the scene blurry and frightening in my mind's eye Then in the distance, I'd hear Momma's voice calling as she leaned out the back door: "Supper time Rose Marie, come on  home now." Time for me to leave the railroad tracks at least till tomorrow, or perhaps later,  in my sleep when I could once again ride my track of dreams. Rose S. Williams ©Southernstoryteller~2010