Frederik rides the rails
Frederik was riding the rails traveling from Geneva to Paris, his little face pressed close against the window pane to get a better view of the beautiful Swiss countryside as it slid past.
About an hour into his journey the train stopped at a signal point. A second train travelling in the other direction pulled up opposite temporarily blocking Frederik’s view.
In the other train a young boy of about 4 or 5 was traveling with an older woman, likely his grandmother or an aunt. The woman pointed Frederik out to the little boy and he jumped to the window pressing his own small face against the glass to get a better view of Frederik. When Frederik waved to him in greeting the little boy’s face lit up with surprise and delight and he waved his own hand frantically in return while he shouted something to the woman.
Although I couldn’t hear their conversation from my seat beside Frederik, and may not have understood their language if I could, I understood the gist of the conversation from the little boy’s body language. ‘Did you see that? He waved to me!’
The little boy continued to wave and craned his neck to keep Frederik in sight as his train pulled away.
Have you figured out yet that Frederik is not a person? Well done. Frederik is in fact a teddy bear. But not just any bear; a bear who can help me meet new people when they can’t understand. That’s one of the joys of travel, like connecting with that the little boy on the train for just a few seconds and making him smile.
Of course Frederik didn’t really wave to the little boy – he is still a stuffed toy after all. I moved his hand with my own to make him wave. Our young friend on the other train couldn’t see this and probably thought the bear really moved.
This brief encounter as two trains passed each other lasted barely a minute but became a treasured memory of a month long European holiday. Several years later it still brings a smile to my face and my partner and I often recall ‘remember that time when Frederik waved to the little boy on the train in Switzerland?’ Then we both smile.