Grand Central Station is certainly a place that evokes awe. With soaring ceilings sprinkled with constellations and Beaux-Arts scrollwork, it is truly a unique building in the cityscape of Manhattan. When I entered the Main Concourse, for the first time in quite a while, I was blown away. Pictures, as its grandiose is often lost, have not done the icon justice. Seeing it for myself, walking through the nooks and crannies, and truly learning about them has shaped a unique perspective for me of Grand Central Station. Some facts and features, though, left an even deeper impression on me:
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The windows are really walkways, there are two walls of glass that connect the four towers in the corners. They painted windows during WWIl to block light from reaching enemy planes.
- The Biltmore room, named for the hotel on top of it, was known as the Kissing Room, reminiscent of the hugs and kisses that occurred there when people traveling from far away returned home.
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The ceiling is painted cerulean blue and depict the zodiac constellations. 60 stars, the most notable constellations, are actual lights that were changed by hand above the ceilings.
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Grand Central Station really lends itself to romance of the trains of the past, especially those like the Pullman sleeping and dining cars.
Using these notes, I tried to imagine a story that would illustrate the childlike experience of wonderment in being in Grand Central Station. The result:
Her little footsteps are deafening in the screaming world around her. She darts behind strangers and weaves her way through the scarves and coats of the crowds, searching. The rays of moonlight are blackened, and she looks upwards to the only source of light coming from the twinkle of the constellations strewn across a cerulean sky. She runs to the Biltmore Room and gazes at families hugging and crying and families kissing and rejoicing. They look at her, but she is unaware of their pitiful glances; instead, she looks at her face in the shining buttons of their uniforms. They came home tonight. She races up and down the stairs and raises her eyes towards the paint-covered windows, trying to see into the artificial night. She salutes the flag that hangs over her head, just as she has seen him do. Poking her fingers through the holes of her sweater, she raises her arms heavenward and dances in the darkness, just as she always had with him. He’s coming home tonight. So, she waits. And waits. And waits. The clock adorned with the acorn strikes one, strikes two; one world war, two. He has been gone, but he has not left her. She, his child, is not alone. He’s coming home tonight. But she’s been waiting. And waiting. And waiting. The people pass by in a blur, disappear under the archways, and meet in the center. As the vision of his smile grows, her eyes become heavy. Tick-tock, and she sleeps at the clock. They approach her as they have done for weeks and take hold of her hand. They lift her up, untangle her fingers from the holes in her sweaters, and straighten the red ribbon that sits atop her head. They try to remove and bring her home, bring her mind home. But she is awakened and makes a dash for the windows and stares out into the painted darkness. He’s coming home tonight. And she continues to wait. And wait. And wait.
Grace, your story is wonderful! I love how you described so many details without excess words and you created a story that readers could ponder upon. Great job on adding many details that you noticed on the trip into the story. I really enjoyed reading your blog post!
Wow Grace, your story was amazing. You created such a powerful story in so few words. I felt like this was a scene out of a movie, the little child waiting for her father to come home. I like how you didn’t give an ending to the tale. Did she finally see her father appear amidst the crazy crowd? Or, did Emily wait and wait… until she realized the tragic and heartbreaking reality?
The unknown ending had me creating my own ending. I loved this tale! Great job.
Your story made me tear up. It was very well written and extremely descriptive. I liked how you included everything that you noticed about Grand Central. It really shows how carefully you explored the station. I also was interested by the window walkways. I was hoping that we would be able to walk through them but it was a little disappointing to find out otherwise. It was still interesting to see people walking through the glass, I never actually noticed that before even though I’d swear that I looked up to those windows a million times.