DELAYED
A Train Station Drama
NOTE: Everything [in these brackets] is a voice over of what that person is thinking.
Setting is an average two platform train station in a vague unremarkable corner of England. Large adverts for cereal and cheaper fares, a ticket machine and no smoking signs. A number of typically arranged people are already stood on platform two, awaiting the next train to other unremarkable locations. Nobody talks to one another. Occasional checking of watches as well as glances at the electronic signs for updates. It’s a dull cold day. Coughing, snuffles and the odd sneeze amongst the figures exposed on the open tracks.
These people include –
§ Business Man (mid 40s, cheap suit & glasses)
§ Female Student (early 20s, gym bag, tracksuit & scraped hair)
§ Loved-up Couple (mid 20s, alternative clothes, piercings, dyed/messy hair)
§ Old Woman (late 60s, big woolly coat, thick glasses & trolley-dolly)
§ Polish Woman (late 20s, rucksack, fleece, trainers and jeans)
An electronic voice is heard announcing –
“We are sorry to announce that the sixteen-eleven service to Stanchly Green is delayed by approximately eight minutes. We apologise for the inconvenience to your journey. Have a nice day.”
A few people tut. Business Man huffs audibly and starts playing on his mobile, swiping a finger across the screen. Old Woman starts rooting in her bag. Girlfriend pulls change from her pocket and looks through it.
Girlfriend You got...30p?
Boyfriend No. Wait. Hang on. (searches in pocket, takes out change)
Girlfriend There’s a machine. I want crisps.
Boyfriend Thought we were going for summat to eat?
Girlfriend Hungry now. (pulls a mock-sad face)
Boyfriend I got a pound?
Girlfriend That’ll do. (Girlfriend takes the coin, smooches Boyfriend) Want anything?
Boyfriend No.
Girlfriend Sure?
Boyfriend Yeah.
Girlfriend Mmm. Yeah.
Girlfriend wanders off. Boyfriend gets phone out and starts texting.
Bus. Man [Take that - fucking kiwi]
Old Woman Tut. Where’d it go... (takes out tissues, purse, receipts, Polo’s)
Bus. Man [Shit – stupid fucking fruit]
Old Woman drops the items she took out of her bag and Polish Woman crouches down to pick them up for her.
Old Woman Oh, hey hey now...erm (snatches her things back)
Polish W Thank you, sorry.
Old Woman Thank you. Dear. (looks Polish Woman up and down)
Bus. Man [Fruit bomb] (swipes furiously)
Polish W [What is she looking at me like that for?]
Old Woman Thanks. (puts her things back in the bag and keeps looking)
Polish W [Old bitch]
Bus. Man [Yes! High score. Fuck you!]
Business Man shakes fist and silently cheers – then notices he was spotted by female student
Bus. Man [Oh fuck. She saw that. Look a dickhead now]
F Student [I think I’m gonna throw up]
Bus. Man [And she’s pretty. Ah fuck]
F Student [Still feels like my head might fall off]
Bus. Man [Yeah. Bet she scrubs up nicely]
During this the Old Woman produces a paperback romance novel from her bag and reads intently. Boyfriend puts phone away.
F Student [Is there a toilet at this station. Guts wanna fall out]
Bus. Man [Nice arse]
F Student (discomforted) [God, if I fart now it might not stop there]
Bus. Man [Bet she’s got a tight little body under them baggy clothes]
F Student [Should not have gone footy practice. This is dire]
Bus. Man [ (laughing to self) Stop staring at her you perv]
Girlfriend reappears with a bag of Nik-Naks.
Old Woman (reading her book) [“We met in a secluded field, the sun nearly kissing the evening horizon. The warm breeze was full of that earthy, musky scent that only those fortunate enough to live outside the urban rat race know, and a quiet whispering of leaves in the weeping willow overhead added the final touch to the most romantic scene...]
Girlfriend Machine stole my change.
Boyfriend M’aww.
Girlfriend I know. Want some?
Boyfriend We’re going for something to eat.
Girlfriend I know...I couldn’t wait.
During the following Boyfriend takes his phone out again and is busy texting.
Bus. Man [I wonder if she’s good at sucking. I bet she is. Bet she loves it]
F Student [I’m going to be sick or shit myself. Something’s got to give]
Old Woman (still reading) [We lay there, both naked. I knew I had to have her, and have her now. Without a word being spoken, I moved to a position of dominance. I could feel instantly that this was what she was waiting for as she frantically thrust her pelvis at my approaching organ...] (she starts to cough)
An electronic voice is heard announcing –
“Passengers please be aware that it is against the law to smoke in this station and is not permitted anywhere on the platform. Have a nice day.”
Boyfriend smiles at a text.
Girlfriend [Who is he smiling at!?]
Bus. Man [Then again she could be a lesbian]
Girlfriend Who’s that?
Boyfriend What?
Girlfriend On your phone. Who texted you?
Bus. Man [I mean, look at her outfit, she’s clearly sporty]
Boyfriend You mean who text me, not who texted me...
Girlfriend Oh shush...
Boyfriend Well it’s true
Bus. Men [Bet she showers with her other lesbian team mates]
Girlfriend Who text you?
Boyfriend Nobody.
Old Woman (reading) [I moved slowly at first, inch by inch, until I was fully inside her. Then a the tension rose, we threw caution to the wind and abandoned ourselves to the moment. Although inexperienced, she approached every change of position with enthusiasm, moaning with despair every time I withdrew to prevent myself ending it all too soon...]
F Student [Is that man staring at me]
Bus. Man [Stop looking at her] (turns away, then back to phone)
Polish W [It’s fucking freezing. Fucking trains. Fucking cold]
Girlfriend Is it Greg?
Boyfriend No, no...It’s nothing.
Girlfriend Go on...
Boyfriend It was just Janie, she sent me this picture of this thing...
Old Woman [As the sexual tension heightened towards the inevitable mind blowing climax, it was all I could do to hold out any longer...]
Girlfriend What picture is that then?
Boyfriend Oh, you won’t get it, just funny thing she said the other day and –
Girlfriend Yeah, Janie’s funny...
Boyfriend Yeah. She’s...yeah.
Old Woman [Finally, the moment we had been building up to was upon us, and passed too quickly. (Typical) Breathlessly we rolled together in the now damp grass]
