Story From The Kingdom

A tale written in a random sequence about how someone lives in the kingdom back in the day

[storyfromthekingdom]

The Station

This picture is taken from http://ryderarchitecture.com

On my first day in the kingdom, I was lucky to try using the train. I walked for 20 minutes to reach the station from my place. Along the way, I just could not keep my eyes closed for a while. I felt the moment.

I remember sitting on a long chair in the waiting area of the station. I stared quite long at the structure above. It was a big old clock like clocks in the tower. I cherished my time at that moment.

There was no quite loud sound from the train itself. Only some skidding sounds from the train were noticed by me. An announcement coming from the tannoy gave the information of the train and platform. It was simply a joy to be there.

The gates were powered by the automatic gate system. I saw some people had difficulties to pass the gate, but all I could see was a leading technology. I knew it was not a huge leap from the one I had here in my country. Somehow, my fascination kept my mind occupied.

I could remember how busy the train station was on that day. It was an after-lunch time and people walked past me breezily. I saw a few foreigner there like me, but most of them were quite familiar with the station. Strangely, I did not feel unknown there either.

Some people took their luggage and the others seemed to have their late lunch. I had my lunch earlier in my place, but I could not help to imagine to buy a lunch pack here someday. Not many food stalls and shops were there, but I felt sufficient for all existing choices.

I was talking to my friends about their experience there while I waited for my train. One of my friends said that I would deal a lot with this station later and there would be numerous time you sit in this chair.

That was indeed true. I could not count how many time I spend my time here. The truth is I never feel enough.

[storyfromthekingdom]

First Journey to My Place

This picture is taken from http://wikimedia.org

I never thought in my life that I would reach this kingdom so fast before I realised it was real. It was real as I set my foot on the land of the kingdom. That was the first time I got myself on the European land.

I was simultaneously impressed by the time I reached there. It was a sunny day and I awkwardly felt so breezy. As I left the airport, I took a cab to go to my place, the place that I would share my life at least for a year.

In the cab, I tried to make a conversation with the cab driver. He was an old driver wearing a pair of reading glass with white-coloured hairs. I remember that he wore a black hat and he talked with an unknown accent. I knew that he might not understand my accent since I told him that I was from a Southeast Asian country. He seemed to ignore that. After that short introduction, we went on a silent journey to my place.

As we reached the city, we realised that the street of my place is not quite easy to find. He could not find the nearest connection to the street and stopped for a while nearby the area of my place. Surprisingly, he opened the dashboard and tried to read the actual city map. In this era of digitalisation, I was mesmerised that he decided to see the maps instead of searching on Google or whatsoever.

Finally, he dropped me to the nearest street that he could take me as the street was blocked. I brought my luggage back from the cab and walked helplessly to the actual place. It was a 10-minute walk from the place when the cab dropped me and carrying two huge suitcases strangely did not feel happy. I was more curious about finding the place.

After the walk, I ultimately found the place. It was a small flat house nearly in the corner of the street. The place was a two-stories flat with some car parks outside. I could see through its window that the kitchen was small and a bit dirty. I said to myself that it was okay. It was my new home.

[storyfromthekingdom]

The Walking Route

This picture is taken from http://chroniclelive.co.uk

All I could remember was the breeze coming from any point. In this part of life, you could never leave your home without any sweater or any sort of that.

My place was not really far from the university. I almost could enjoy every walk to the university except in the rainy days. I just walk down to the street and passed the convenience every single day. There was something magical in that convenience store inviting me in to buy any unimportant thing or maybe it was just my impulsive thought.

Every day, I knew that I would pass one of the biggest football stadiums in the kingdom. Seeing the statue of one of the greatest strikers was ordinary back then. I would walk with my coffee can on my right hand and some overcooked croissant on my left hand.

The thing about the walk to the university was that you could have the time to think. You could think almost about anything from your study to your sleep deprivation. It was as good as sitting in the coffee shop although the smell of some Chinese restaurants might interfere your thinking process.

Sometimes, you worried if you walked too slow there. People seemed to have their own thing to catch up and did not want to lose them. They walked as they kept their life on it. Especially near the bus station there, you could never see a person walking slower than a heartbeat. It was intuitively interesting.

It might feel counter-intuitive, but I did enjoy walking past the breeze in the kingdom. It felt terrible yet longing. I never experienced such a pleasure to walk outside as I did in the kingdom. There was a sense of moving forward surely when you walked there.

When I passed the bars, I was always wondering who wants to go the bar in the rushing morning. I could imagine a mature man who got fired yesterday and decided to spend his hollow day in this old bar. There is always a place for everyone in the world.

By the time I reached the university, I always took my steps faster. I did not know why, but I just felt more pace like someone pushing me through. In most days, it seemed like a good sign to catch the lecture on time. Meanwhile, my mind kept me saying in my head, “This experience might end sooner than I thought.”