Amsterdam Zuid – Leiden “I walked 3,4 kilometre today.” “Hmm.” “That’s what it says.” “Yea.” “Including two hours in the concert hall.” “Tja.” “Cycling counts too, though.” “Oh.” “4331 steps. And it’s almost tomorrow.” “True.” “What about all those stairs though. I guess they don’t count.” “No.” “Not fair.” “…”
Leiden – Groningen “They’re young. Must feel like a lifetime away”, Willem puffs. I laugh. Look at us, four grey heads, worrying about our kids’ pensions. “With the current interest rates…” Thea nods, her face serious. And there it comes, home-made coffee and sliced raisin bread. A grin spreads on Read more…
Heerenveen – Schiphol “It’s my first time on a train today!”, he says. I chuckle, and the conductress smiles. “And how are you liking it?”, she asks. He grins and gives two thumbs up. She moves on, then changes her mind and walks back. “How come you haven’t used a Read more…
Amersfoort – Hilversum A pair of dirty sneakers stretched out onto a suitcase. Two bags and another suitcase. It’s a six-person compartment, but it looks full. I slow down, annoyed, doubtful. Then I make eye contact with a friendly pair of eyes, belonging to the dirty shoes. She pulls her Read more…
Schiphol – Zwolle I sniff him – suspicious! He’s next to me, waiting for the train to stop moving. Only a few more seconds, then he’ll be gone. I scour him for details. Are his shoes dirty? Or his fingernails? A large yellow suitcase with the letters AMS, but no Read more…
Zwolle – Leiden Awesome, the newest Enzo Knol-vlog. Nibbling on a ladyfinger, he silently thanked mom for the ten bucks they got every week for something to eat on the train. He tried to open a Kinder Chocolate onehandedly, listening to Enzo talk about pizza. Didn’t that Haribo-bag have little Read more…
Utrecht – Rotterdam Alexander Like everyone in this compartment, Tycho had an open study book in front of him. Something-something anatomy, but he kept getting distracted. The beeping and vibrating of his phone, lady-behinds passing by and the frantic typing of the girl next to him. What would she be Read more…
Lelystad – Steenwijk “Why do teenage girls giggle?”, I type into my Google search bar. Maybe there’s a good reason, I think while my hypodermic irritation bubbles. It started with two, in front of me. Now there’s three more behind me. It’s spreading. “By stimulating other girls to giggle with Read more…
Leiden – Delft He understood life better than others. His delicate grey coat, buttoned-up neatly, his pointy nose and sharp eyes registering everything. His curls were not quite pulled down by gravity yet. In every story, he would be the main character. He could do things others can’t, he noticed Read more…
Heerenveen – Schiphol She occupies three seats, one for her, two for her bags. Annoyed, I pull up an eyebrow. She jumped the queue when entering the train too. She rummages through a bag, and I chuckle. This is how my mum would pack; stuffing a set of towels in Read more…
Amsterdam Zuid – Almere Civilised annoyance right and left, but they’ve got no leg to stand on. One woman appears mildly amused, the rest of the compartment radiates anxious aversion. They are in the connection piece, not the compartment, the rules are different out there. And they don’t actually bother Read more…
Delft – Leiden Vincent scrambled for a different topic while Cora complained about her son. “I could sell my house for a good price, but there are no properties to buy back!” His voice was too loud. Cora glanced sideways, annoyed. “Toine’s not taking care of himself. He lives on Read more…
Delft – Leiden I tap the plastic with a vague sense of doom. Not at all what I expected. They can’t spell my name, that’s the first myth confirmed. I thrash my straw through the goo, the texture is closer to a slush puppy than a coffee. I push the Read more…
Amsterdam Zuid – Almere Centrum “Can you cut these?” I bristle internally. He walked off before I noticed. “Properly”, he had added over his shoulder. And I am fucking doing it. I shake my head but continue cutting. Nine o’clock, still working for Paul. I háte him. Most names on Read more…
Leiden – Amsterdam Zuid You used to be called crazy for talking to yourself, it was completely normal now. She chats into space, occasionally grinning shamelessly at her reflection in the window. I often notice headphones too late, for a second I actually thought this girl was crazy. And yesterday Read more…
Zwolle – Schiphol “It’s like it is on the road. Red means wait.” I glance sideways with a mix of embarrassment and tenderness. Jaap loves speaking the language he spoke with his mother, any opportunity he gets. “Two minutes late we are,” he translates the Dutch intercom for the Asian Read more…
Rotterdam Centraal – Utrecht Centraal Let’s give it a try. He holds his phone up the way he sees his grandsons do it. The screen remains dark. Settings maybe? Ah there it is, the inside camera needs turning on. Again. Now he sees himself looking back, a close resemblance to Read more…
Leiden – Den Haag Centraal He turned once more, a cheerful look on his face. Would anyone notice? His face gleamed. Would they think he was weird? Or interesting? Would they think was going to Munich or a theme party? Expectantly he looked around. No one responded, but he felt Read more…
Almere – Zwolle He stared out the window with astonishment. “A windmill. And another one! They are everywhere!” He saw the giants far away and close by, it felt like the train almost hit them. “It must be windy here.” His wife didn’t respond. At home in Australia they also Read more…
Leiden – Almere Centrum I bend down to fish my laptop from my back, and there she is. Whoa. Big brown eyes look back at me with interest. For a second I freeze, this is unexpected. Then I smile. My laptop is open in front of me, but my attention Read more…
Schiphol – Zwolle “High-five!” She looks up at me cheerfully, my little lady. “Told you we’d make it.” She sounds cheeky. Before I can find my seat she’s already sitting, coat on her lap, book in her hand. I can’t imagine a better travel partner. She used to make me Read more…
Heerenveen – Schiphol “Is that it?” Sybren gaped out the window, bouncing in his seat. I chuckled, Sybren was a grown man, but it seemed that the novelty of everything stirred up his childlike curiosity. “It’s dirty, isn’t it. Yeah, I think that’s it”, Sybren nodded. He was fidgeting. It Read more…
Zwolle – Schiphol I have a soft spot for travel girls. Tan skin, natural look, that’s my type. From where I’m sitting I just catch her sunbleached bun over the headrest of the seat, unmistakeably a travel girl. My assumption is backed up by the presence of two huge backpacks Read more…
Zwolle – Leiden With tears in his eyes he reads back his own words. Did he write this? Had it been this dark in his head? The text calls upon images that haven’t surfaced for years, but ones that are part of the foundation he’s built on. He feels that Read more…
Breda – Tilburg Too bad. She wasn’t exactly good-looking. Hopeful he gazed around, but his eye kept landing on the girl opposite him. Her make-up was sloppy. He cast a glance behind him. That was better. Also a blonde, but skinny. But he could hardly turn around on his seat. Read more…
Steenwijk – Almere He struggled to keep his eyes open. His wife had spent ten minutes fussing over the bun of the oldest, yet she hadn’t found time to brush her own hair. She had bags under her eyes and her skin was grey. Trouble shared was supposed to be Read more…
Steenwijk – Zwolle It was hard to say whether he was 25 or 45. Some guys were like that. He was balding, but that wasn’t it alone. He had the face of an accountant that had been unhappily married for at least forty years. He wasn’t dressed overly young or Read more…
Zwolle – Amsterdam Zuid Now and then a little blond wiseacre would pop above the backrests. She reminded him of a meerkat. He couldn’t quite explain, but it made him feel oddly cheerful. She sat six or seven rows ahead and they just happened to stretch in perfect synchrony, peering Read more…
Together they bend down over the book. “Look at that penguin!” Helga had lost interest a while ago, but Ans was firmly set on crocheting her fifth grandchild an animal, just like she did the others. The first two had cherished them. Her son wasn’t the type to spoil his Read more…
My attention is grasped by a muscular woman on a pole. Almost instantly it fades and I keep scrolling. McGregor with an award. Like. Oh, funny, Danielle posted a fragment from Friends. About Joey and a woman wanting to try a bite of his food. Halfway through the fragment I Read more…
She feared lagging behind, he thought. That must be it. She couldn’t stand feeling disadvantaged. She was suspicious about the weirdest things. Right now she worked herself forward with liberal use of her elbows, probably out of fear she would be denied a place to sit. She caught his eye. Read more…
“The conductor has mistaken the time, but he is on his way.” Typical Harry, he thought, letting go of the intercom. Harry was the most chaotic person he knew. No wonder they weren’t taken seriously here in the South, this nonsense would never be tolerated in Rotterdam. What bothered him Read more…
Severely annoyed he stared at the abundance of colors on his screen. He pressed the green circle, but nothing happened. Damn it, his grandson had explained it all this morning. This program was supposed to give him access to all music he could think of, a clear improvement on the Read more…
“Why do I keep doing this to myself”, he says with a smile on his lips. I smile with him internally, I know how much he likes this. “Do you want to practice a little?” I nod. “Hana, dul, set, net”, he starts chanting. My head feels foggy, I’m tired. Read more…
It was a cacophony of ringtones and languages. He heard Indian, Farsi and passionate Spanish. A traditional nokia rang every few minutes somewhere behind him, neglected by its owner. In that same area someone was now yapping at her phone which she had fished all the way from the depths Read more…
They were chatting elatedly. She loved it, particularly in public like this. Francine sounded incredibly posh. Her own r’s rolled nicely as well, but Francine really brought it home. After spending time in the company of Francine she always felt she had risen in ranks herself. Francine was about ten Read more…
He glanced sideways and saw how her marker hovered over the paper. She was studying a summary. He looked at the title, but it wasn’t a course he taught. She was blankly staring at the page, seemingly not taking anything in. He softly touched her arm. She startled. “I’ll miss Read more…
A vague trail of cigarette smoke could be strangely erotic, she thought absentmindedly as she followed the conductor with her eyes. It reminded her of the time she would shamelessly flirt with older guys in smoky café’s. She would occasionally still look at the type of guy she used to Read more…
Sundaynight. She was starting to get used to the sunday ritual of commuting back to her studenthouse. The bored look in the train, the feeling of independence on the tram and a undefinable scent of adventure on the walk home. Her first two financial aid payments were used entirely on Read more…
“How do you feel about the interior of the train?” Her face puckered. “Well, I kinda like the blue.” She thought for a second. “But it would be better if they were all separate chairs, all in different colors.” Expectantly she turned to her mother, who smiled back at her. Read more…