Simon ¹

Every Thursday, at the same time, Simon and you met in the same train car. They didn't speak. At first, they didn't even really look at each other. She was just a familiar presence among strangers. She wore headphones and always seemed to be in a hurry. He pretended to read, but he already knew by heart which station she would get on at.

Over time, their gazes lingered. Then came the shy smiles, the kind that last a second but linger all day. They never spoke their names, but in their minds, they had already concocted a story.

She thought that one Thursday she would dare to speak to him, but he thought exactly the same thing. That Thursday, he decided he wasn't going to wait any longer. He constantly rehearsed a simple phrase, nothing perfect, just honest. When he saw her enter the train car, he felt that beautiful nervousness that only appears when something matters. She saw it too. She thought that everything felt different that day, as if something good was about to begin.

The train moved on as usual. People were distracted, the world seemed normal. No one knew that this moment was fragile, that sometimes life doesn't warn you when it's going to change everything. They never spoke. There was never a "Hello," no date, no shared future.

But for a moment, two people imagined a possible life.