I’ve been in Grand Central many times and I’ve definitely stopped to look around a few times. But I never really explored. I never knew about the The Whispering Gallery but it was my favorite part of the trip. I learned that if two people stand in diagonal corners of the gallery and speak into the wall, it will sound like the other person is standing right next to you and speaking. I was kinda skeptical and couldn’t believe it when it proved to be true.
The first thing I actually noticed when standing in the middle of Grand Central was was the mural on the ceiling. I’m a strong believer in zodiacs and I was so excited to see the constellations on the ceiling. I was excited to see my Taurus sign up there, but I noticed that 6 of the signs were missing, which was unfortunate but realistic because the art didn’t go all the way around. It was really cool to see that and to see little lightbulbs light up some of the stars on the ceiling.
While listening to the walkthrough, our group headed toward the Market. We realized that there was a mural somewhere in the Graybar Passage. The little phone that told us facts about Grand Central showed a picture of the mural and we walked all around to try to find it, but we just couldn’t. We looked at all the walls and just couldn’t figure it out, until we looked up. We thought the mural would be on the wall but it was actually on the ceiling. It was the only ceiling in the whole hallway that was painted. 
On May 15th, 1995 two little girls were born in a small Dayton, Ohio hospital. One was named Kristina and the other Olympia, born just 5 minutes apart. The families of each of the girls had no knowledge that the other existed and took the girls to their homes after a few days at the hospital. The girls grew up separately and eventually met eachother in preschool. They were placed into the same class and instantly became best friends. They had so much in common besides their birth date. Kristina and Olympia joined soccer together and had lunch at the same cafeteria table every single day. They shared everything from Barbie dolls to fruit snacks. Kristina and Olympia were inseparable until Olympia’s father got transferred to New York for work.
At 12 years old, the best friends were separated completely. Once Olympia made the move to NYC, they tried to keep in touch by writing letters and sending eachother presents, but eventually the distance got the best of them. Kristina’s family bought a new house and Olympia’s letters eventually got lost in the mail.
Fast forward 10 years and Olympia was still living in NYC. She decided to attend Fordham in the Bronx and commute to school every day. She went through Grand Central on a daily basis but never really stopped to examine the station. One Tuesday, as Olympia was on her way to class she got an email from her professor cancelling the class. Instead of heading to school anyways to prepare for the following class, Olympia decided to stay around Grand Central and see what she has been missing. She first stopped by the market and grabbed herself some pasta and found herself a seat to eat her food.
On this same day Kristina found herself making her way to the NYU dorms to finalize her move to NYC. Her things have flown in and everything was waiting for her at her dorm. She decided to make a stop in Grand Central because she’s watched Gossip Girl one too many times not to take in the beauty of the well known station. She walked down to the main concourse and looked up at the ceiling looking up at her zodiac sign; the Taurus. There was one attraction that she has always wanted to see. The Whispering Gallery.
While Olympia was enjoying her meal, she realized that she never experienced the wonder of The Whispering Gallery. She has heard about people going there and able to hear someone from across the gallery as if they were right next to them. She walked down to the gallery and examined her surroundings. She saw a girl standing in the conrner speaking into the wall just like she was supposed to. Olympia crossed the gallery and stood in the diagonally placed corner and whispered “Hello?”. “Hello. What’s your name?” she heard in response. Quickly she turned around because the voice seemed to be coming from someone standing right next to her, but no, it was the girl across the room. The gallery really does make the voice travel. Olympia whispered her nickname “Oly” in response and the voice said “Hi, I’m Kris” back. Before Olympia could hear Kristina’s response, her phone rang and she had to walk away to answer it. Her friend wanted to meet up for coffee and so she made her way up to Fordham.
After her little trip to Grand Central and fun encounter with a stranger at The Whispering gallery, Kristina traveled down to meet her new roommate and get ready for the semester.
Wow I really loved your story. It was quick but I was entrapped so quickly.
I loved your story! It was very interesting to see how you incorporated a very interesting and unique part of Grand Central (my favorite, too) into a story that had an unpredictable ending! In all honesty, I thought that the two friends would reconnect in the Whispering Gallery, but you surprised me with the ending that leaves readers thinking! Great job!