Stranger

Don't break down... don't break down... don't break down. I was sitting on the train, first carriage, next to one of the men. We'd been stopped at this station for far too long. Five minutes maybe. With each minute I became more nervous. Not that broken trains worried me. The guy sitting next to me did. And I was anxious to get away from him, get this job done quickly. If we were going to be stuck here for the next hour... I couldn't bear it. I really couldn't. I was around so many people, and yet I wasn't free to talk to anyone but him. Any one of the people I was traveling with could recognise me. Save me. Rescue me. But they wouldn't. Because I didn't look the same. Because I was no longer that innocent boy. I was just a stranger. To everyone. Including myself.

[148 words]