“Time to get up James,” coaxed James’s father. “You are going to need some breakfast. Today is the big day!”
James stirred awake and tried to shake the sleepiness from his mind. He had been too excited to go to sleep the night before and that, mixed with an odd set of medieval dreams had left him feeling unready for the task at hand, even lightheaded and dizzy. Luckily, his packing had been done yesterday afternoon and all James had to worry about was the trip. James’s father was giving him a lift to the ferry dock and his mother would be waiting in Thurso for him. It would be a nice visit with mum, after which he had two train changes to think about, eventually arriving in London at 10:00pm. The National Academy of Science was providing the hotel for the weekend.
James had won the Orkney and Shetland Islands science fair two weeks previous. He was 18 years of age and a good science student at the Orkney Academy school. His project measured the distance of the Earth to the Moon, the Earth to the Sun, the Earth to the stars, as well as the diameter of the Earth using just technologies available to astronomers who lived previous to the 16th Century. The blue ribbon earned James an invitation to the National Science Fair. James was thrilled at first but it soon became obvious that considerable money would be required to attend. Two nights hotel was included in the invitation, but transportation was not. This was a considerable disadvantage for someone living on the mainland of the Orkney Islands, and had led to several previous winners being unable to attend the national fair. Neither of James’s parents could remotely be called wealthy, and neither fancied traveling themselves. At first James felt ready to give up the dream of traveling to London, despite the fact that he had been dreaming of the possibility for months, while he put together his project. It all seemed so impossible. But, he did have a job, and had saved some money. He had never exactly been the most enthusiastic employee at the Stromness Grocers, but he had managed to keep his job through the past two years. Two shifts a week, one after school on Friday, and one during the day Saturday, had funded his science project work, and produced a bank account of about £500. A quick check online showed that this would be sufficient to pay his way to London and back, and after some encouragement, his mum had given the necessary permissions to the rail companies. James would be boarding the train Friday morning for London.
As James’s dad drove towards the Stromness ferry dock, James felt quite elated. It was actually happening. His Stromness Grocers manager had given him the weekend off, and wished him good luck. His academy teachers offered to let him hand in his Monday due homework later in the week, while emphasizing he was still responsible for completing the assignments. They too encouraged James. His dad was more reluctant.
“James”, he explained. “ I don’t like you traveling to London on your own. If you go missing, I’ll be the one who has to come looking for you. Call me each day, and answer your phone if I call you. I don’t want to be worrying about you not coming back.”
“I’ll be okay dad,” replied James, well used to his fathers’ concerns about such matters. James remembered his dad being much worse when he was leaving on his bicycle to ride the length of England.“The Academy said that they would take care of me. I will call mum too.”
It was difficult to be in the car with dad, as clearly he was uneasy about the whole idea of James traveling across England by himself. But James had to go. He knew that. He didn’t really know why, but this trip was necessary, and he was ready to give it his best go. The move to Orkney, to live with his father had been a good move, given James’s difficulties living with his mother. His father gave him more freedom, and was not so offended by James’s hobbies and interests. James was a miniatures gamer and loved games that included models of demons, warriors and magic users. His mother was deeply religious and took offense at such things. Just as controversially, James had a great interest in science, especially evolution and astronomy. When he had obtained a copy of Charles Darwin’s, Origin of Species, read it and reread it, usually under the covers at night when he was supposed to be sleeping, his mother had hit the roof. ‘Oh well”, thought James. The move to Orkney from Thurso had provided some distance and his relationship with his mother had improved over the past two years as a result. Still, she was even less enthusiastic about James’s trip to London.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
They arrived at the ferry terminal and James’s father helped him gather up his project and other luggage, which he checked in at the ticket desk. Boarding time arrived and James said goodbye and walked down the aisle with the rest of the passengers. He felt great! This was really happening.
The two hours passed quickly. James spent most of his time reading parts of a book detailing the history of Astronomy. He wanted to be absolutely familiar with the methods used by the ancient astronomers. James was sure that many questions of his methods would be directed towards him while he was present at the exhibition of his project. And he had been told that just about anyone might be present at this event, famous scientists included. James did not want to goof up in front of them. The familiar arrival recording announced the imminent arrival in Thurso. James made his way to the foot passenger exit doors.
James’s luggage and project arrived on the baggage carousel right on time, but not before James panicked for a moment as he considered the consequences of something going missing. His mum was waiting dutifully at the passenger exit doors, and greeted him with an emphatic hug.
“Oh James, dear, you are so much bigger every time I see you,”she exclaimed. “The Lord has blessed me dearly to have had such a healthy son. Come quickly, James. The ferry was late getting in, and your Auntie Alexa is waiting at home for us. We are going out to lunch with her. Please don’t mention anything about your trip to London, James. She would consider me an unfit parent for allowing you to make such a trip on your own, at this age, and she thinks even less of your interest in science than I do. Oh James, if only you had applied that strong mind of yours to studying religion, you would have made my family proud,” added James’s mum.
“It is nice to be home,” thought James sarcastically. But, actually it was nice to see his mum, and more importantly, it would only be a few more hours when he would be boarding the train to London. His first trip to London on his own, and James was going to the Nationals! Amazing…..
The train trip was great. Even presenting his tickets to conductors along the way was special because James knew that he himself had paid for them. He spoke with many individuals, as passengers boarded and left the train along the way. Everyone showed interest in what he was doing in London, and everyone was encouraging. The most unusual fellow passenger was an old and very wise man, who was traveling to Edinburgh in order to attend a conference regarding the cultivation of potted citrus trees, an activity which he had devoted many years of his life to. The fellow showed James photographs of large potted trees, covered in lemons, limes, tangerines and other strange citrus fruit of all shapes and sizes, and all grown in a greenhouse attached to the south wall of his stone house in Perth.
He arrived in London late, and he was very tired, excited beyond measure, but tired nonetheless. It was 10:00 pm in London, and an Academy official greeted James at the station to drive him to his hotel, right around the corner from the Science Fair building. He helped James check in and encouraged him to be at the Academy no later than 8:00 am, in order to be able to set up his project. James set his alarm accordingly. The last thing he did before bed was call his mum and dad, to tell them he had arrived in London safely.