Glimpse

He looked... sort of like a returned soldier, from the days of my grandparents. But he couldn't be. I saw him, he was right there, right in front of me... but then I blinked, and he was gone.


I hadn't noticed the man sitting in the corner of the train carriage up until now, but he must have been there all along. He sat, very still but for the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. He was looking out the window, he seemed rather focused on it, like he wanted to join the birds in the sky. Then I jumped a little as his deep brown eyes met mine. For a moment, only a moment, and then he looked away again. I blinked and the curious man was gone.


I got off the train late that afternoon and I spotted my grandparents waiting for me on the platform. Their faces lit up at the sight of me and I ran for them, feeling completely content as they wrapped their arms around me and pulled me close.
"Hello Love," said my Granddad as he took my suitcase and we walked from the platform, "how was your trip?"
"Good, long.." I said, and suddenly remembered the curious, disappearing man. "Only, there was this man. He looked like he was from another era. He was dressed in the uniforms you see in the history books, from World War Two. But then I blinked, and he was gone. Like he'd never been there at all."
"Hmm..." Said Granddad, glancing briefly at me. Those eyes.... They looked... familiar.. like I'd seen them somewhere before.
"Do you think I was seeing things?" I asked.
"Maybe you were daydreaming Dear." Grandma said, a small smile on her face.


My bedroom door had been left open and as the soft glow of the lights outside the room fell in, so did Grandma and Granddad's voices.
"What Maria said," Granddad was saying... "I think... I think that's what I was telling you about all those years ago."
"The magic story?" Asked Grandma, and I could almost see her eyes lighting up with excitement.
"I think you were there, Love," said Granddad, "when time snatched me away, for an instant. I found myself on the train and there was that strange, lovely, curious young girl there, looking back at me before I got returned to you."
"I'm glad you did come back to me," said Grandma.
"So am I," Granddad agreed, "But, what I didn't realize back then, I'd gotten a glimpse."
"A glimpse?" Asked Grandma, "glimpse of what?"
"Glimpse of the future. Our future. The girl I'd seen, that was Maria. She saw me, when I was still young, for a moment, and she looked exactly as she did when she came to us today. I saw our granddaughter before we knew she existed."