All aboard. It’s a 6.

Southwest Chief Train #4 left the Flagstaff depot at 8:38 PM, night’s blanket having completely covered the blazing skyline

Nearing 9:45 PM, like a lullaby sung to an overtired infant, the steady rhythmic sound of the train’s wheels turning on the tracks sent me into a soft slumber.

Dreams, deserting for the farther reaches of my mind, left nothing in their wake but the sighing of my unconscious as peace found its niche

There, against the scrub landscape of anything is possible, the map unfolded, a vein of gold on the ocean’s floor, it couldn’t have been farther from my reach

Yet energy and insistence shone a light on the adventure that lay before me, destiny on reserve

Southwest Chief Train #4, peopled with hope and expectation, sped through the night, destinations yet unknown