“Okay class!” Mr. Hanson exclaimed as his sixth-grade students settled down into the classroom. “As you know, today is a big day. We are going to Grand Central Terminal!” He announced gleefully.
The class stared back at him silently, clearly not as enthusiastic. “Why are we taking a field trip to a train station?” Henry grumbled. Henry did not find the trip interesting and he was not used to staying quiet about his opinions. “Why can’t we just go to the zoo or something?”
“Because Henry,” Mr. Hanson responded annoyed, “it is not just a train station, it’s a whole different world right in the middle of our city. Has anyone ever been to the Grand Central? No one! Well then, I’ll tell you a little bit about it right now!
“The Grand Central is a majestic landmark – a location of cultural and commercial capital. During the 1800’s New York was energized and booming with new business and new people. As the city grew, so did technology. Can anyone guess what new innovation I’m referring to?”
“Railroads!” shouted Kathy, one of Mr. Hanson’s favorite students.
“Very good! Railroads expanded our nation. However, as railroad companies began to grow and prosper- the city began to establish rules that regulated where they can go. For example, in 1854 the city prohibited steam engines below 42nd Street. As a result, railroad companies had to coordinate their services and they found it easy to share a transit hub – and so in 1871 the original Grand Central Depot was born.
“Over the years the station has been enhanced many times to meet the demands of efficiency in a bustling city. However, I think when we visit the station today you’ll find that it still maintains an elegant and charming ambiance of the past while accommodating to the future – but I will let you judge that for yourself when we get there! Let’s go!”
“It still sounds very boring.” whispered Henry.
“Shhh!” Kathy shot him a look.
The class left the school together, walking toward Court Square station. “We are going to take the subway to get to the Grand Central today, so stay close and listen carefully to my instructions. We will take the 7 train…”
“This is so weird. I’ve never been to the subway without my parents, have you?” Henry asked Kathy.
“Shhh!” Kathy hushed.
“What?”
“We are supposed to be listening to Mr. Hanson.”
“Geez. I was just asking a question.”
“Well you’re going to get us in trouble!”
“No, I’m – Hey, that’s the train!” Henry suddenly shouted “We have to go in!” Henry and Kathy ran for the doors just as they were about to close.
“We made it!” Kathy smiled.
“But where’s the class?” Henry asked as he looked around a sea of strangers seated in the subway car. Suddenly Kathy gasped loudly as she realized the terrible mistake they both made.
“What! What happened!” The awful look on Kathy’s face frightened Henry.
“They’re out there.” Kathy said in a low voice, pointing at Mr. Hanson through the door windows. Henry and Kathy kicked and banged on the doors, hoping someone would open them. The two desperate kids finally caught Mr. Hanson’s attention. As he turned around his heart skipped a beat.
“You’re on the wrong train!” he shouted at the two even though he knew they could not hear him. Mr. Hanson whipped his head around, looking around for an MTA employee, but there was no hope. The train made a squeal and slowly turned its wheels, taking the children with it. Mr. Hanson ran along the windows of the train, franticly gesturing and mouthing at the kids to wait at the next stop.
“What’s he saying?” Henry asked.
“I think he’s telling us to get off at the next stop.” Kathy responded doubtfully.
“No, he’s pointing up, he’s saying go to the top.”
“Why would he want us to go to the top? Oh Wait! I think he’s saying go to the clock! Look, he’s even pointing up at a clock!”
“What clock?”
“Remember? When he was showing us pictures of the Grand Central? The famous clock?” Kathy look at Henry, who maintained a blank expression. “The big golden clock in the middle of the Grand Central Terminal, Henry!”
“How are we supposed to get there?” Henry asked, still unsure.
“Well maybe, if you were listening to Mr. Hanson’s instructions we would know.”
Henry rolled his eyes and walked through the subway car, looking for a map. After finally finding one, he stared at the mess of green, orange, red, yellow, blue, purple lines tangled in an impossible web. Each line twisted and turned about the others and was surrounded by a clutter of letters, dots, and numbers. “How do people read these things?” Henry cried.
Kathy shrugged “The lines show where the different trains go. That’s all I know”. The two continued to gaze through the lines, taking in the tiny words spread throughout the map, hoping they would reveal a clue.
“Look! This one says Grand Central 42nd St!” Henry yelled. “I bet that’s where we need to go.”
“Yes! And it goes through the green line and the purple line!”
“That’s the 4,5, and 6 train and the 7 train.” Henry explained, reading the map.
“Whatever! We need to get on that train! Right now, we are on the orange train.”
“THE M TRAIN!” Henry shouted
A woman’s voice came on the speaker. This is Lexington Avenue 53rd Street. Transfer is available to the E and 6 trains.
“Did she say 6 train?” Kathy asked Henry.
“She did, this is where the 6 train is! Let’s get off.”
Stand clear of the closing doors please. Henry and Kathy quickly jumped off the train, as the doors slid shut behind them. As they looked around the vastly different train station, now clustered with different signs, stairwells, and exits, the two began to feel hopelessly lost once again.
“Let’s look at another map again” Kathy uttered miserably. “Ok so now we are at Lexington avenue 53rd street need to go on the green line – I mean the 6 train – I think. Oh wait! I think we’re almost at Grand Central. It’s just one dot away on the map – it must be really close!”
“That sign says that the six train is upstairs. Let’s go before we miss it.” The two kids ran up the escalators to the main floor of the station. They followed signs on the walls with a green 6, leading the children through a maze of hallways. The familiar sound of a train screeching to a halt filled the station and a hoard of people began to rush out. Kathy and Henry ran faster pushing against the crowd of annoyed adults, until they finally stepped through the train doors.
“Now we just wait for Grand Central Station and then we can find the class.” Kathy wheezed trying to catch her breath.
“Cool!” The two kids sat by the window, relieved that they made it, as train rolled into the next station. Kathy and Henry pressed their faces against the window, looking everywhere for a sign saying Grand Central. This is 59st, stand clear of the closing doors the conductor announced.
Henry looked as Kathy. “I thought you said that Grand Central was close by.”
“It was on the map!” Kathy defended herself. “It has to be the next stop.” The two waited in the train as the train moved to the next station, but this time they were no longer calm – the sick feeling of being lost slowly returned.
This is 63rd Street. “Were still not at Grand Central. Maybe we got on the wrong train again.” Henry panicked. “Let’s just get off.” The two quickly left the subway car. Out of ideas, the thought of never finding their class again slowly formed into a real possibility in their minds.
“I guess we can look at another map again.”
“The last map said to take the 6 train – we were on the 6 train!” Kathy said, now frustrated. The two kids had never felt more hopeless. They had no clue where they were or where the class was. As they tried another map again with heavy hearts, the confusing words and symbols made them even more miserable.
“Look!” Henry quickly pointed as the map. “The train went the wrong way, we went up from 53rd Street, we were supposed to go down. We have to take a train that goes the other way.”
“How do we do that? Which train goes the other way?”
“Let’s just ask someone.” Henry tried to muster all his courage as he approached an older woman sitting on a bench. “Excuse me? Do you know how to go the other way?”
“What?” She asked.
“Do you know how to go the other way?” Henry repeated. “We need to go down.” He tried to be clearer.
“What? Down where?” The woman was still confused
“We need to go to Grand Central Station.” Kathy said, shyly.
“Oh downtown.” The woman pointed to the end of the station, “You’re at the uptown side. You need to go up those stairs, then make a left and go down the stairs on the other side. Take the 4, 5, or 6 to 42nd and you’re there.” The two kids stared at the woman. She repeated herself slowly again.
“Ok that seems doable.” Henry said slowly, trying to stay positive. “Let’s just get on the right train this time.”
Henry and Kathy went upstairs and looked across the hallway, finding a sign that said “Downtown & Brooklyn 6”. They hesitantly made their way over, hoping and praying that they were going the right direction this time. Soon the train arrived, but the kids were anxious about entering. “If this doesn’t work, I don’t know what will” Henry said sadly. This time they sat next to a map, keeping their eyes on it the whole time to make sure they were going the right way.
“Oh, wait I get it now!” Kathy said pointing at the map. “Uptown goes to the top of Manhattan. That’s where the last train was going. Downtown goes down to the bottom – that’s why it said downtown and Brooklyn, because the trains all go down Manhattan to go to Brooklyn.”
Henry was not listening, his eyes incessantly switched from the map to the station signs. “Look we’re here!” He soon shouted. “Grand Central 42nd St! We did it! We finally made it!”
The children ran out the doors, eager to find their classmates again. “I don’t see a clock, Kathy!” Looking across new station, the two children found another maze of hallways, stairwells, and exits, each labeled with confusing signs.
“It’s here somewhere…” Kathy’s voice trailed off as she looked down the different paths in search of the giant golden clock. Exhausted from the day’s distress and worried that she led them to the wrong place again, Kathy was on the verge of crying. She looked down at her shoes, ready to give up.
Henry felt bad. He was sure they were close and he tried to console her. “We’ll find it! Don’t worry.” He quickly led them through the first hallway only to find many twists, turns, and other connecting hallways, after walking through the station for ten minutes, something caught Kathy’s eye.
“Look over there: ’Exit 42 Street Grand Central Terminal’. I think we go up there.” The children quickly made their way through the exit, going up the escalators, and soon walking into a fancy building with marble floors and walls, lit up with funny golden chandeliers. It wasn’t long until they found a big hallway, through which they saw a giant, golden clock in the center of an immense room. Surround the clock was a group of familiar children and an extremely red-faced Mr. Hanson.
“Uh oh. He doesn’t seem very happy.” Henry nervously said.
Reflection
I was inspired to write this story about two children being lost in the city’s subway by my own similar experience when I when I was younger. The first time I was lost in the subway, I was in the sixth grade and I was trying to find my way home by myself. Like the characters in the story – I was only vaguely aware of New York’s spatial organization, however I had to navigate through the subway system using only my limited knowledge of the city and the confusing subway map. Although the experience was frightening, it taught me a lot about the city’s subway, how the city was structured, and how the different boroughs were connected. For example, like Kathy, through my experience I was able to figure out what words like uptown, downtown, express or local meant, which are key word in commuting through the city.
I chose to write a short story because it gave me room to expand on the characters’ actions, feelings, and thoughts in a way that I might not have been able to communicate through a different medium. Instead of writing a personal narrative about what actually happened in my life, I decided to write a fictional story where I added different characters because it would allow for dialogue between the characters that could showed the confusion and thought process of the lost children, instead of just having a stream of my thoughts that told readers how I found my way home. This confusion of the children was key to the story because at some point, new subway riders go through a phase where they are forced to figure out this intimidating and complex system in the city. This frustrating process, that is universal to so many New Yorkers, allows us to be a part of city as the fast-paced chaos and madness of the subway systems mimics city life in many ways.
I referenced the Grand Central Terminal in my story because it was a location that we explored that was directly related to subway and because we learned a lot about the history of the terminal in the audio tour that I added into my story. In my story I often referenced the golden clock at the center of the main concourse of the terminal because it is an object that New Yorkers, even those who have never been to the Grand Central, can immediately recognize and picture. Most people identify the clock as a common meeting point in the terminal, which is why it made sense for the characters to think that they were supposed to meet their class at clock. I also referenced the terminal though its marble floors and chandeliers so that audiences who have seen the terminal can appreciate it. Referencing Grand Central and the trains that go there added to my story because it was another way in which New Yorkers who have been to the terminal could identify with the two main characters as they made the confusing journey to the site and as they finally entered the magnificent building.
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