In A Fog

Written for Sadje’s “What Do You See” #321.
Here’s where the photo prompt took me.

Russell checked his phone again –7:42. The train was late, or perhaps she’d changed her mind. Six months of emails, each one peeling back another layer until he felt he knew Abigail better than anyone else in his life.

The fog rolled thick across the platform, muffling the city’s usual roar. He’d memorized her description: auburn hair, freckles, green coat. But would she recognize the careful words he’d crafted as belonging to this ordinary man in a baggy jacket and scuffed shoes?

The train emerged from the mist like a mechanical ghost, its brakes hissing steam into the winter air. Doors opened. Passengers spilled out, a river of strangers flowing around him. Then, there it was …. her green coat. She stopped mid-platform, scanning faces with an expression he imagined was much like his own: hope wrestling with fear.

Their eyes met.

Abigail’s face broke into that smile he’d pictured a thousand times, and suddenly all those perfectly chosen words evaporated. She walked toward him, and he realized they’d need to learn an entirely new language now …. one without the safety of edits, the comfort of delete.

She stopped inches away. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he whispered.

The fog closed around them and suddenly, they were the only two people in the world.

NAR©2026
#WDYS

This is “Just The Two Of Us’ by Bill Withers

What do you see # 321- 29 December 2025

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