"I hope that I'm not late!" murmurs Annie to herself hopping around on one foot while trying to put a boot on that remains elusive. Running a quick brush through her hair only to be stifled by a knitted cap because of the cold weather, she rushes out the door taking the more convenient stairs instead of waiting for the elevator.
After reaching the subway station, she rams her weekly pass into the slot and pushes past the turn stiles. The train fortunately arrives on schedule as she heads towards Penn Station to meet Jennings and Alice Hammer.
Rushing down the yellow tiled hallway lined with beaux-arts sculpturing and high vaulted ceilings, Annie searches for the right Amtrak concourse to meet her friends. Talking out load, Annie mumbles "I've got to find track 8 where that is ..."
Finally Annie arrives at her destination just in time with only a handful of minutes to spare. She finds a bench and collapses into the wooden panels. After taking a deep breath, she looks up to find Rick about five feet in front of her with his hands in his coat pockets appearing to be waiting for someone as well.
Without stalling, Annie yells as loudly as possibly over the noise of trains arriving on other tracks not too far in the distance "Rick! Rick! Is that you?"
Surprised to hear his name, Rick turns around to find a wind-blown Annie very elated a few feet from him. Rick smiles enjoying the image of seeing about 60 percent of Annie's hair in some other direction other than where it was intended to be. The scuff of her jeans are stuff in her left boot and it appears that she was one button off when trying to match up the holes and buttons on her shirt. He begins to chuckle while walking over to see her as she stands to greet him. She gives him a hug and then looks down and realizes how uneven her shirt is.
"Oops, I was in a bit of a rush this morning and it looks like I might have been a little off in the calculation of my buttons" giggle while trying to speak through some of her embarrassment and then tugging at her jeans to bring them at least even with her heel.
"I didn't know you would be here" delighted explains Rick "I just arrived a few minutes ago myself. I'm here to meet Jennings and Alice Hammer".
"So am I. Alice Hammer left a message that she wanted to know if I could pick them up" explains Annie horrified as she moves a hand to the top of her head and can feel all of the misplaced hair and then while attempting to smooth it down while she continues to talk "Did she call you too?"
"No, actually Jennings called me and let me know when they would be in town and if I could pick them up. I guess they were both making plans at the same time" amused offers Rick "Would you like to go to lunch? I found a very good deli around the corner if you are interested. Then we can fight over who gets to take them home."
"Sounds like a wonderful idea! But I might need a moment to fix myself up first" laughs Annie feeling a bit disheveled and hoping a ladies room is not that far away to put on some makeup too which she went without not expecting to run into anyone she knew except for Alice Hammer and Jennings whom wouldn't care.
"No, that's all right. I think you look perfectly fine. I like you just the way you are!" jokes Rick but sincere in his meaning too.
The whistle blows interrupting their conversation and the train pulls into its docking station. Rick moves closer to Annie to block some of the blistering wind from the movement of the train. Annie mouths "thank you" knowing that he cannot hear her from all the noise of the train's arrival. His eyes meet her smile feeling content for a moment.
"Yuuu-hoooo!" rings a familiar voice behind them. "Rick! Annie! We're here!" screeches in a sing-song voice of Alice Hammer.
"Alice, you forgot your hat!" instructs a voice just beyond her "I'm wearing two, so it didn't get left on the train."
As Jennings makes her appears she is wearing a t-shirt with the statue of liberty in sunglasses stating in big bold letters "I Love New York!" . She is wearing a fushia southern belle summer hat with large plastic roses as well as a fisherman's hat with tons of pins attached from every vacation spot that Jennings has visited in the last thirty years.
"I think this is your hat" informs Jennings plopping the pink floral puff ball onto Alice Hammer's head. "I told her she would need something warmer, but she thought this hat would be much more prettier. I didn't want her sticking out or anything like that" as a couple of travel pins reflect the light from Jennings own original cap.
"It's cold here!" reflects Alice Hammer "I may need to wear two sets of thermal underwear! By the way, I found some great ones, they're camouflage. I bought them at the Army/Navy reserve store on discount. If I ever get stuck in the wilderness, I can hide from the other wild animals if I need too."
"Yeah, that'll happen .." shaking her head but then Jennings reconsidering their track history together on assisting with the Girl Guard camping emblem each year that it might be possible offers instead "Well, I guess it wasn't such a bad idea."
"I like your t-shirt" offers Annie taking on of Jenning's bags into her hands to carry for her.
"I got it at the Home League white elephant sale. I thought it was appropriate for the upcoming trip" explains Jennings pointing down at her plaid pants "I got the jeans there too. It matches pretty well, I think."
"It will definitely make you stand out and we'll be able to find you if you were to get lost" offers Rick noticing that everyone else on the platform is dressed in subdued colors of black, navy, and dark taupe. "I'll get us a taxi since we have the luggage and we can drop it off before going to lunch together."
"Do you think the taxi driver will let me ride of front?" excitedly asks Alice Hammer "There's four of us, it might make it easier if I did."
"We can always ask" suggests Rick not sure that he's ever seen someone riding up front with the driver.
As they climb into the yellow cab, the friendly taxi driver agrees to let Alice Hammer sit up front with him. "I just love the view! Have you ever seen so many buildings that were so tall? Look at all the people! This is where the US began!"
"Not really, it was Jamestown, Virginia" informs Jennings "I'm sure you've seen "Pocahontas".
"Oh yes, "Colors of the Wind" is one of my favorite songs" as Alice Hammer begins to sing in her natural vibrato operatic voice " ... you think you know the land you live on ..."
"I thought it was Plymouth Rock" interjects Rick wanting to break into the musical interlude "but I'm not so good at history. What do you think Annie? I know you've always been good at trivia."
"Well, since you asked me ... Jamestown started in 1607 with the Virginia Company of London and Plymouth Rock was in 1620 with William Bradford and the 'Mayflower' Pilgrims. I read some of his writings in college along with Edward Winslow." noticing the captive audience Annie continues " Another piece of trivia you might find interesting is that William Bradford was actually English but came from Holland with the Pilgrims for religious freedom. Henry Hudson, a Dutchman working for the East India Trading Company found New York in 1609 when he landed in the bay. But of course, the native tribes were actually living here for centuries before then."
"Who is your favorite writer of the colonial period?" curiously asks Rick wanting to divert his attention from the rather reckless feeling of the journey.
"Probably Anne Bradstreet from Salem, Massachusetts" considers Annie "She also wrote a lot of poetry too and was a bit of a theologian as well."
"So what you're telling me was that the Europeans found Virginia first, then New York, and finally Plymouth Rock" summerizes Jennings "Annie you ought to be a tour guide".
"I've thought about it. I think it would be a lot of fun to meet new people every day and share the stories of what has happened in the past" sincerely offers Annie but not sure the pay would cover her rent, car payment, and other things she would like to do on vacation.
As the cab takes off, Annie grabs on the front seat to brace herself as she is squished between Jennings and Rick holding Alice Hammers hard plastic baby blue makeup case on his lap. Jennings rolls down her window sticking out her head to peer at the sky above. "Hey that cab was getting a little too close!"
As they whiz between cars, people, and other amber lights, Alice Hammer cheers "Ohhh... this is fun! I've never driven like this before!"
"It feels more like a derby ..." mumbles Jennings knocking against Annie once again as the cab turns the corner as yet another yellow cab inches its way next to the car "I could actually touch that car next to us if I put my hand out the window!"
They finally reach their destination of the Silver Crest Towers. Jennings climbs out of the cab sincerely grateful for the solid ground below her. After the cabie unloads their luggage, handing him a tip Alice Hammer offers him a hug to which he robotically slowly pats her back unsure of this unusual friendliness from another foreign state, while she assures him "Next time we need a cab, I'm going to ask for you! I haven't had that much fun in years!"
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