I wondered where he was or what he was thinking. It was the first time I could remember being on a train. I just wished there was a way that I could communicate with him. I looked at my watch. It was 11.35 am.
We decided to go Euston when the next train arrived to see if he was waiting there.
The train was crammed full – we had to stand up for the whole ride. There were about twenty seats against the wall on both sides of the carriage with a big space in the middle where a lot of people were standing. It was quite dirty with a few cigarette ends and drink cans on the sides. I heard the sound of another train dashing past us going the opposite direction.
The journey seemed to take ages. Euston was not very far away. The chatter of people around me was nearly inaudible because of the sound of the locomotive. We arrived at Euston in what seemed to take an hour. As soon as we got off the train, I started to search madly for my dad. None of us could track him down.
I began to get worried I would never find him. My heart was still pounding. I felt a bit dizzy by all the searching. For a second or two, I felt like I might collapse. I had to get a grip of myself.
None of us knew where he was. We suspected he must have gone back to King’s Cross to look for us.
While we were waiting for another train to come, I examined the area. The station was not very different from King’s Cross. The big difference was the amount of people. Without counting, one could tell there were fewer people there.
I kept looking at my watch to see the time. It was nearly midday. The train turned up about a minute later. Again, it seemed to take ages for it to stop.
Minutes later, we were back at King’s Cross. There was no sign of him. I was becoming very emotional. Tears started building up in my eyes. If I tried to speak, I knew the tears would come pouring down. I kept silent; hoping the tears in my eyes would go away.
We sat on a bench soaking in everything that had happened. My mum had a puzzled look on her face. She comforted me and told me not to worry, ‘everything is going to be okay,’ she reassured me. My sister was sitting next to me, also confused. We slowly walked to the eastbound platform.
My legs were aching from all the running around. Another train arrived. My mum decided that we must stay where we were. I disagreed. I ran onto the train leaving my sister and my mum no choice but to follow me. The crowds seemed to be decreasing.
As the train was moving along, I wondered how all this was going to end. The train came to a stop as the speaker announced ‘Euston’. The doors opened. Once again, I ran outside onto the platform. I was not expecting him to be there.
My dad was standing about 20 metres away from us. He was half hidden behind some people near the other end of the platform. I could barely see him. My sister and my mum had not seen him yet. They were still searching for him. I tried shouting out to them. I was so relived to see him that I could not speak.
Two seconds later, I saw that they had noticed my dad too. I started running with joy. I gave him a hug while the others were still catching up. I was so delighted to see him again.
The time was 12.45 pm. What a day it had been. A simple family day trip to London had turned out to be chaos and bedlam. It did not matter though. What did matter was that we were reunited again. It felt so good to have my dad by my side again.
The day’s mishap made me think – what if my parents weren’t here anymore. How would I feel? I remembered what my mum had told me – think about all the children around the world who do not have any parents or guardians to look after them. I should be thankful to God that He gave me and my sister a shelter and a caring family to look after us.