The train never left the station.

The sun beat down through the windows, and the air-conditioning had stopped sometime before we boarded.

An announcement crackled overhead.

I looked around until the German exchange student beside me smiled.

“Power outage. We have to change trains.”

She picked up her bag.

I followed.

She led me across the platform, where we climbed onto another train.

It was more crowded than the first.

We stood shoulder to shoulder in the aisle, waiting.

Nothing happened.

The German girl looked toward the front of the car.

“Same problem. Still no power.”

Werner to the next one.

“Is this normal?” I asked along the way.

She shrugged.

“On hot days sometimes.”

By the third train, I was ready to give up.

We squeezed through the doors, found a place near the back, and stood among the other passengers.

The air smelled of warm clothes and stale breath. Sweat was already gathering under my collar.

Then the vents came alive.

Cold air spilled from the ceiling.

Everyone looked up.

The train lurched forward

The German girl laughed.

“Third time lucky.”

I leaned against the door and watched the countryside slide past.

Windmills turned above green fields.

Rows of flowers stretched beside the tracks in long bands of color.

The train kept moving.

After a few stops, the German girl gathered her things.

“This is mine.”

She smiled, waved, and disappeared through the doors.

I watched the platform slide away, then turned back toward the window.

~

An hour later, I reached Düsseldorf.

My tickets said I had to transfer here.

I glanced at the time printed on them.

Thirty seconds.

The station made that seem generous.

The doors opened onto an underground concourse.

Stairways led in every direction.

Electronic signs flashed destinations I couldn’t pronounce.

My ticket was in German.

So were the announcements.

Thirty seconds. Maybe fifteen remaining.

I picked a staircase and ran.

At the top, a train was waiting.

I sprinted the last few steps, climbed aboard just before the doors closed, and collapsed into the nearest seat.

The train pulled away.

To my left a river appeared, the evening sun glinting off its blue surface.

A castle appeared on the far bank.

Terraced vineyards rose into the distance.

Only then, did I glance at the overhead display board.

There it was—the fifth stop down:

Koblenz.