** Disclaimer** When you are half asleep things seem way more dramatic than they actually are and I am sure the James Bond theme songs I am listening to are only exasperating the situation J
My head was throbbing and the lingering light of the long Ukrainian days deceptively masked the fact it was almost 10 pm. It had been a long day of discussing the gospel with Alex, carrying packs, and engaging in secret shenanigans like seeing how many world racers could fit in a single train compartment, I took a prescription strength Motrin and laid down to rest my eyes, next thing I knew the compartment door slammed open and the man in the white shirt grumbled passports as he rushed to the next car, a short time after a pair of inspectors, a man and a woman, who looked like Mormon missionaries requested our passports. They spoke English, kind of, and seemed happy to practice on us. They took our visa slips, stamped our passports and disappeared into the night,
midnight- The door slams open and the white shirt man runs by calling out for passports, moments later 2 ominous figures stood in the door way, clad in dark navy, Russian soldiers, demanding passports. We pulled them from their hidding places and handed them to the officials, they were looked over, stamped and handed them back, after a brief ununderstood conversation in Ukrainian and the question “do you speak Russian” answered with no, they were gone. down the corridor, I closed the door. A few moments later another soldier came with a scanner, he checked our bags and knocked on the compartments, we think he was looking for weapons. Someone is locked in the bathroom, and a comment is made about Americans. Then we faded into sleep
2am- knock at the door, the man in the white shirt whispers, passports. We wait, and wait and wait some more then 2 men in black appear in the doorway, they took our passports, placed them in a satchel and wordlessly walked away. Sydney chirped “do they still have our passports” , then the darkness closed in and sleep takes us, then an oily man came in pulled up the rug and began pulling pipes from within the floor. Sleep came again. Then a chatty lady with magenta hair brought our passports back, I awoke and searched for my passport, it was a dream Then the first collision came, we were jolted awake and almost completely out of our beds. We closed our eyes, crash, another collision from the other side. The train began to move slowly tipping as though it were turning and then another collision, and another. We lost count and continued to drift in and out of sleep. A German shepard crossed by our open door. The man in the black button down shirt returned with our passports and we fell back asleep.
4am- The white shirt man knocks gently and I open the door, he says “passports” and a pretty red head in an army camo uniform takes his place, she studies our passports consulting with someone who was just out of sight behind the wall. They laugh at our passports or at least that is what it seemed like, the language was foreign and the half light of the early morning glowed eerily though the windows. She handed them back and walked away laughing with her companion, I closed the door and then there was silence, the train began to move before too long and we slept.
