She clutched her book bag close to her chest.  There seemed to be people rushing all around her, people who seemed to know more than her.  She had arrived at the train station early, she didn’t want to be late on her first day.

The voice booming from the speaker in the station offered no solace that day.  She could usually find a calmness in the predictable tones as the voice alerted commuters as each train pulled into the station.  She checked her watch again, it was still 5 minutes until the train would appear.

She looked around the station, searching for a friendly face, someone she could sit next to and maybe strike up a conversation.  She needed the distraction today.  It seemed that she had picked the wrong time of day for friendly faces.  All of the travelers had grim expressions painted on their faces, readying themselves for the start of another working day.  Oh how she longed to be one of them, to find something in common with the rat race.

The familiar voice boomed across the station letting her know that her train was approaching the platform.  She searched the faces of the commuters, looking for a face that was uncertain, thinking that helping a fellow traveler might take her mind off the anxiety of what lay ahead.  Her shoulders slumped as she noticed all of them striding confidently to the edge of the platform, forming loose lines to make it easier to board the oncoming train.

She took a deep breath and stood behind one of the groups, this was it, there was no turning back now.  Her book bag suddenly felt heavy against her shoulder.  Was she making a mistake?  Could this really be the new beginning that she needed?

Her children had urged her to sign up for a course at the local university when their father had passed away.  She knew that she needed to do something.  This was the first time in her life that she been allowed to do something on her own, she was almost giddy with the excitement of it all.  She was finally out from under his power, it was time to start from the beginning again, even if she was doing it at almost 60 years old.

Linking up with Zanni for Sunshine Sundays.