WEDNESDAY BLOGGING CHALLENGE | AN INTERESTING STORY ABOUT FAMILY OR FRIENDS

I have been thinking on this one for quite some time, and all the stories I’ve come up with are either inappropriate, would embarrass said family/friends, or aren’t that exciting. So the only thing I can think of is a story about a trip I went on when I was a kid. My mother and I traveled on a train that goes from Vancouver, BC through the rocky mountains, and on to Calgary in Alberta. She had a friend there we were planning to visit. The train journey itself was brilliant – I was about six at the time, and the glassed-in carriages where you could see the landscape as it passed were thrilling for me.

I don’t remember much about the trip, other than worrying that my mother was going to get trapped in a lift at one point, and visiting a dinosaur museum. What I do remember is the trip home. We returned by the same train route we had taken going out, and I was excited for the trip. We hadn’t been on the train that long, however, when there was a sudden flurry of activity and an announcement saying that there was going to be an unscheduled stop. We didn’t know why, but we disembarked from the train and followed the group of travellers to a community building in a small town. On the way off the trains, I saw a lot of official-looking people in uniforms, many with dogs on leash.

I don’t know how long we stayed in this town – long enough that I remember them handing out beverages, food, and scratchy blankets for us to sit and lie on the floor. Eventually we were told we could return to the train and resume our journey. I don’t remember at what point we were informed about why we had stopped, but it turned out there had been a bomb threat phoned in against our train. The dogs I had seen were bomb-sniffing dogs, who had gone to work scouring the train for any sign of explosives. As I didn’t know about this until after the fact, I don’t remember feeling very scared. I was young enough to take things at face value, and to trust that the adults around me would keep everyone safe. What I do remember, however, is feeling outraged and deeply upset that they had sent dogs into a train that very well could have been full of explosives, and could have blown them all up at any moment. I understand why now, but I still don’t agree with it, and I still feel upset when I think about it.

So that’s my story for this week – and I very well may have shared this one before, in which case I apologize. My life isn’t that interesting.

What about you guys? Any great stories to share beyond what’s in your post this week? Has anyone taken this train journey or had a similar experience?

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is a blog hop hosted every Wednesday by Long and Short Reviews. The weekly prompts range widely, including both book-related and non-book-related topics. The idea is to get bloggers to interact, share a bit about their lives and connect with other bloggers. Click here for the list of upcoming topics, and visit here to join in the fun!