Three minutes late, the train hauled itself slowly out of the station. She settled back into her seat, thankful that no one had joined her table.
As the lights of the town disappeared into the night her mind drifted to think of the early women train passengers. The 'experts' had said that women were too delicate to travel by train. That if they went over 50 miles an hour their insides might fall out.
How did those women feel when they travelled safely for the first time? The men who'd always made the rules, cowering behind a screen in case a woman exploded as the train hit a certain speed, were wrong about that - so what else were they wrong about?
Was it this simple act of rail travel, that we now take for granted. that empowered women to begin to challenge the established ideas that had been imposed on other areas of their lives?
She wanted to believe it. Needed to believe it. Their strength would fuel her strength.
As the train gathered speed she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew what she had to do.
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(Writing challenge on the words - 'As the train gathered speed')
