A birthday in the train

Night train to Turpan

We go into our carriage, number 8, and find in our compartment a mother with her 6 year-old son who runs, dances and jumps everywhere. Once settled, dad proposes we go eat. We head towards the restaurant but it’s too late, there’s no more service. We wait for the food trolley to come around but there is only pork, so for his 56th birthday, dad eats only rice. Dad wanted to buy fruit but they had run out. So at the next stop, dad and Liu Jia got off the train and ran to buy fruit. He came back at the last moment with apples, peaches and a Chinese fruit that’s called “the fruit of long life”. In front of our compartment, there’s a window and the curtain representing nomads with camels and dad plays a lot between the landscape and the curtain. Then, a lot of family members call dad to wish him happy birthday; he’s very touched. For his birthday, I have him blow in his pocket lamp and pretend it’s a candle. I lie down, read my book and fall asleep hoping that tomorrow we’ll be in Turpan.