Rainbow Station

Rainbow Dome

The setting sun shone over the entrance to the Underground Railway. She liked to sit here. On evenings where everything seemed to fade away. The bench she sat on was with an ornate green painted iron structure and brown wood, on which the paint was already chipping away.

The top of the long, almost never-ending steps down was covered with a ceiling arc of patterned glass with different colours and shapes. The 7pm light shone through, illuminating the staircase. This is the only time it looked pretty.

For her, the light looked prettiest when it shone through the red orange coloured glass. It made the sunset look so much more amazing, so much more unreal. That was the colour she imagined her sunsets could be in paradise. She knew she wanted to move far away. She, for a reason she couldn't quite pinpoint, wanted to move to somewhere in California, and near the sea.

She had always longed to smell the salt rising up into the air from the warm afternoon heat, and the wind to ruffle her long, curly black hair. She wanted to live up on a cliff, where she could see the wide expanse of the almost mystical ocean, the waves beating against the rocks and sand.

Brooke wanted all that. But she knew her parents would never let her move until she had her own money, that's why she had started working at the local supermarket at the earliest age she could, to get money to run away.

But she snapped back to reality, as soon as she heard footsteps behind her. She made sure to always come here after rush hour, so she could be alone with the sunset. So what did she hear just now.

She turned around a bit on her bench, as she wasn't bothered to actually get up, as she thought this was just her mind playing tricks on her. But no.

Before her stood a tall, handsome man. He had fluffy brown hair that nearly completely covered his left eye. He had a burgundy beanie on, it suited him so well, better than anyone she had seen wearing one. He wore a yellow, nearly mustard sweater, and blackish brown jeans.

She felt nearly embarrassed to be around someone as pretty as him. Most of the time Brooke wore black oversized hoodies and skirts or black dresses. Today she wore a black, fluttering skirt, a sleeved black crop-top, some thigh high socks and her boots. She looked nearly the opposite of him.

Brooke stood up and spoke.
"Ummmm hi. Who are you?"
"I wanted to ask the same thing. I've always seen you sit on this bench every night. I thought it was just a coincidence but I think it's not anymore."
Brooke was silent for a bit.
"I'm Wilbur, Wilbur Soot."
"O-oh. I'm Brooke Silver. Nice to meet you Wilbur."

She looked at him up and down once again and noticed he carried a big black case on his back.
"You play guitar?" she asked
" Yup, I love making my own songs and I'm currently starting a band with my 3 best friends. That's where I just came back from.
"So uhh why did you come up to me?" asked Brooke nervously. She didn't know why, but as soon as she saw him the air felt different but she wasn't sure how. She just knew she had never felt this before.
"Ahahhah" Wilbur laughed. He seemed like such a carefree sweet guy. "I just wanted your number. You seem quite nice." He winks at me with a small smile straight after. This was the first time anyone had ever said that to her.
"Ummm sure I guess." She told him her number as he punched it in on his phone. He sent me a message just to be sure he got the right one.

"I should get going now. Gonna be late for my train." He walked towards the staircase slowly. How come she had never seen him before? He seemed so easy to notice, yet it was the first time she had ever met him.

Just as he started climbing the stairs, he glanced back at her. His expression was mysterious. She wanted to know so much more about him. He turned away, and descended the stairs into the dark cold station. His footsteps echoed up and down the stairwell. The further he went the less she could hear him, until the sound was completely gone.