Page 54 of Serenade Me

“Lake Annecy,” he says, with both a sense of wonder and pride.

“It’s…”

“Fucking beautiful. I know.”

I can’t even explain it.

Even though the air is almost cool enough for you to see your own breath, there’s something of renewing, refreshing in the atmosphere.

Spring.

This is where spring begins.

In the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.

“Come on!” Marius yells and we’re on the move again, his hand never moving from my wrist as he pulls me across the street and over the grass field.

“We are we going now?” I can barely get out between pants and giggles.

“You ask too many questions, we’ll miss the train!”

I look around and I can’t see any train tracks anywhere let alone a train. And what a waste, a huge locomotive would ruin the scenery anyway. “What train?”

“That one!” Marius points through a gap in the trees, still dragging me along.

I try to squint to see through the gap in the trees, and when I finally see it, instantly drop to the ground, hugging my sides in laughter. Marius stops in his tracks once he realizes he’s lost me and comes running back, prodding my aching side with his foot.

“Ahem, and just what is so funny?”

With some effort, I roll over to my side, one hand shading my eyes to look up at him, the other pointing in the direction of the lake. “That’s not a train!”

“It is TOO!”

“It’s… a… it’s a…” I can’t finish my sentence from laughing so hard.

“It’s a what? It has carriages and a driver and they take money to ride it!”

“It’s a teeny tiny toy train!”

“A-ha! But train nonetheless!

“I was expecting a big one like the one we came on to get here.”

“That’s silly, it would ruin the view!” He scoffs, his arms still akimbo, looking at me disapprovingly.

“Exactly!” I dissolve into a fit of giggles again at the look on his face.

“Come on! Toy train or not, we’re going to miss it!” He grabs me by both hands and drags me to my feet.

The only reason I can move is because he’s dragging me along.

We finally reach the thing he insists on calling a train and find one last empty carriage right on the end. Marius pushes me onto it, and slides in next to me, each compartment only fitting two people.

“Oof,” he says, squishing his body against me. “Kinda tight in here.”

“Biiiig train.” I can’t help teasing him. And he pouts playfully for a moment, before digging his finger into my side making me squeal. He waves to the driver who holds his hand out for payment and then we’re off.

The open carriages rock gently as the “train” pulls out and onto the cement pathway that hugs the bank of the lake. On one side of the train the multicoloured sails of the motor boats lining the water’s edge are bright and brash against the crystal blue sparkles of the lake water. On the other, the grass field is coming alive with families with their picnic baskets who are coming out to enjoy the new Spring sun.