There I was on the 5pm train in Seymour. It was one of those peak hours where carriages were brimming with passengers. So I sat next to a woman in her 40s. Very pleasant person, actually. We had a small chat. Turned out she was from Shepparton, and she was on her way to Melbourne. To visit relatives, she said.
She asked me where I came from. What am I currently doing here in Melbourne. And what was I reading at that time (was actually holding "The BookThief" by Markus Zusak).
I told her bits and pieces. She smiled amiably, and she later left me to my reading.
All was quite unremarkable until it was time for her to go.
She stood up, collected her bags, and gestured that she was about to alight from the train.
She leaned forward, gave me a hug and a light kiss on the cheek, then looked at me straight in the eye and said:
"Be careful. Do not always trust the people around you."
The woman walked towards the exit, and just before she left... she turned back to me - with that all-knowing look, a nod, an enigmatic smile and a slight wave of her hand.
For the next 20 minutes of my train-ride home, I was restless. Puzzled. Unnerved. Why would someone I barely know hug and kiss me on the cheek, out of the blue? More importantly, what was that warning for? What does she mean?
I still do not understand.
Labels: People
