Station (F)

[High on Lullabies]

There must have been something in the air around me yesterday. I witnessed more sneezing in one evening than I've ever known. Either that or that very special time of year spoken of only in hushed whispers as 'grass pollen season' has arrived in full force. Personally, I'm not bothered which option of the above is true...

Anyway, I went to a concert in London yesterday, I don't have a car so as always I travelled by train (not that I'd drive into central London if I had the choice anyway). To save myself money, I can use my season ticket to get 2/3's of the way there and then buy another ticket, this means changing trains twice though, as opposed to not at all. Oh well, I'm a student, saving money is my primary objective, 3 trains it is.

First little trip was completely uneventful. Quick dash up some stairs and back down the other side and I was on my second train. I made my way up towards the front of the train so I could find an empty seat, did so and sat down. Looked across and noticed a woman sat on the otherside of the carriage from me. She had short, light brown hair, and she was wearing a jacket and pin striped trousers. She must have been late 20's/early 30's and looked to me like a business woman, though I can't imagine she'd be doing business at 6pm on a Saturday evening (then again it is London, can never be sure).

She drew my attention because pretty much every 30 seconds or so she would sniffle, she was also coughing a lot, mostly small coughs but occasionally a big chesty one. About 2/3's of the way into the journey just as we were pulling out of a station out of the corner of my eye I saw her raise her hand to her mouth and I turned to look expecting her to cough again, well until I saw her face.

Her eyes were half-closed, and her mouth a little way open. Her hand completed it's trip to half-cover her mouth as she stifled the sneeze by pinching her nose 'Ha-chuh..!'. It wasn't very loud, in fact if I hadn't been watching her I'm not sure I would have noticed. It was certainly a very pleasant watch though. That was only the pre-cursor to the main event however....

After getting off that train, I had to go and buy my new ticket. If I had run I probably could have got back on the same train I just got off of, but I wasn't in a running mood. Besides, I would have missed the show....

As I was coming down the stairs back onto the platform I heard a female sneeze behind me, it sounded half-stifled. I whipped my head round to look back up the stairs and saw...nothing. Right, time for a little game of hide and seek then, I had 10 minutes till my next train, time to play 'find the sneezer'.

I got down onto the platform and headed up it towardes where the front of the train would be, slowly, keeping an eye (and ear) out. As I was wandering past one particular girl (who was on her phone) I heard her sniff quite strongly, she sounded all stuffed up. There was my target.

She had shoulder length dark brown hair, and was wearing a green top and jeans with a brown leather patterned belt. She was about 5' 8" for a guess, slim to average build, with quite a long, thin nose.

I moved a little distance away from her and leaned against a wall to watch. For a while nothing happened, she chatted away on her phone and I was beginning to wonder if it was a one off. She moved behind a pillar out of sight (why can't people keep still when they are on their phones!) and I lost interest for a while until I heard another sneeze, similar to the first, which definitely came from behind the pillar.

Trying my best to be inconspicuous and natural, I wandered round the other side of the pillar and found her pacing from side to side behind it, still chatting away. I heard her sniffle again as I went past and found another convenient wall to support me, where I could see her. I only had to watch for a minute or so before I saw her eyes flicker open and shut a couple of times and then close completely as she lifted her head back, her voice so breathy as she tried to carry on her conversation, so much so in fact I couldn't really understand what she was saying, she seemed to get stuck, head back, eyes tight shut, right on the point of sneezing, for an eternity (though in reality it can't have been more than a few seconds) before 'Heh-chuh!'. Her head snapped forward and her hair flew so a little of it hung down over her face. As with the previous woman, the sneeze sounded half-stifled, though she didn't cover at all. It was almost like it got stuck in her nose, maybe she was too blocked up for it to come out properly, poor girl.

Anyway, she brushed the hair out of her face, excused herself to her friend on the phone and went right on talking. Within a couple of minutes though, her face had that look on it again, she rubbed her nose with her free hand, but the tickle was clearly too strong. The sneeze came on quickly, and this time she didn't get stuck at the apex of her build-up either "Heh-shuhhh!". This was a much bigger sneeze that last time, though it still sounded half-stifled, but the force of it bent her double (if she'd been looking the wrong way she could have head-butted the wall!) and this time her hair ended up all over her face. She tossed her head back, to get it out the way and gave a rather more tired sounding 'Excuse me..' to her friend and finished up her conversation just in time for my train to pull in, I actually ended up in the same carriage as her, but she didn't sneeze again.

Apologies for the length, think I might have got a little carried away . But it was one of the best obs I've ever seen, so hope you like!

[Guest writingnotes]

That's so lovely. What a great obs! I wish I were that lucky. I always seem to miss the sneezers. Thanks for sharing!

[miami83]

I don't mind the length, great details. You are very great at writing obs. Thanks so much for sharing, I loved it.

[zapata]

Great observation and wonderfully described!

[Big Bear]

Any great story, like a great movie, is as long as it needs to be. Great obs, loved all the details.

And on a side note, is there anything sexier than a woman with an English accent AND allergies?!

[Hypnos]

HoL You have excelled yourself again. I haven't smiled so much reading an obs in a long time, for three reasons:

1. Brilliantly delivered, don't apologise for length, I enjoyed every word.

2. I'm truly happy you had fortune to match my own on Sunday

3. I see a lot of similarities in writing style between you and I, and between you and I in general, although I imagine that isn't entirely a good thing from your perspective!

Thanks again for the obs.

[sneezy_skiperkey]

cool story sounds like you had a good time!