El último tren (The last train): free B2 Spanish story
Level B2 (Upper intermediate) · Romance · about 2 minutes
Two strangers share the midnight train and a conversation neither expected.
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The story in Spanish
Andrés llegó a la estación cuando el reloj marcaba las once y cincuenta. El último tren de la noche salía a medianoche, y si lo perdía, tendría que esperar hasta la mañana siguiente.
Corrió por el andén con la maleta golpeándole las piernas, pero las puertas ya se estaban cerrando. Una mujer que estaba dentro del vagón sostuvo la puerta con el brazo justo a tiempo. —Ustedes, los que siempre llegan tarde, deberían comprar un reloj mejor —bromeó ella.
Se sentaron uno frente al otro. Ella se llamaba Julia y viajaba para visitar a su hermana, que acababa de tener un bebé. Él volvía a su pueblo después de diez años trabajando en el extranjero. Hablaron de todo: de los lugares que habían conocido, de los planes que nunca habían cumplido y de lo extraño que es regresar a un sitio que ya no es el mismo.
Cuando el tren se detuvo en la estación de Julia, ninguno de los dos supo qué decir. Ella escribió algo en un boleto viejo y se lo dio antes de bajar. Andrés esperó a que el tren arrancara para leerlo. Eran solo diez cifras y una frase: «Para la próxima vez que llegues tarde».
Andrés guardó el boleto en la cartera, entre sus documentos, como si fuera lo más valioso que tenía. Durante los días siguientes, su pueblo le pareció más pequeño y más silencioso de lo que recordaba. El domingo por la noche, sentado en el andén media hora antes de que saliera el tren, marcó el número. —Creo que voy a llegar tarde —dijo cuando ella contestó. Al otro lado de la línea, Julia se echó a reír.
English translation
Andrés reached the station when the clock showed eleven fifty. The last train of the night left at midnight, and if he missed it, he would have to wait until the next morning.
He ran along the platform with his suitcase banging against his legs, but the doors were already closing. A woman who was inside the car held the door with her arm just in time. “You people who are always late should buy a better watch,” she joked.
They sat down facing each other. Her name was Julia and she was traveling to visit her sister, who had just had a baby. He was returning to his hometown after ten years working abroad. They talked about everything: the places they had been, the plans they had never carried out, and how strange it is to return to a place that is no longer the same.
When the train stopped at Julia’s station, neither of them knew what to say. She wrote something on an old ticket and gave it to him before getting off. Andrés waited for the train to pull away before reading it. It was just a phone number and a sentence: “For the next time you’re late.”
Andrés put the ticket in his wallet, among his papers, as if it were the most valuable thing he owned. Over the following days, his hometown seemed smaller and quieter than he remembered. On Sunday night, sitting on the platform half an hour before the train left, he dialed the number. “I think I’m going to be late,” he said when she answered. On the other end of the line, Julia burst out laughing.
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