[Mattymo]

November 15, 1910

"Excuse me? Sir, Excuse me?"

The young man jolted awake and looked around, half-confused of where he was.

"I'm sorry to wake you but we've hit a snow storm and are going to stay here for the night. Hopefully the snow slows in the morning," said the stewardess.

The young man straightened himself in his seat, fixing his hat and rubbed his eyes slightly. "Where are we?" he asked, straining to see out the dark window.

"Buffalo," said the stewardess, "about three hours from Toronto. We should be there by tomorrow afternoon."

He looked around the cabin, realizing that most seats were empty. He then focused on the stewardess. She was strikingly pretty with long blonde hair pulled back in a bun, soft brown eyes and a thin build hidden by her white uniform.

"W-what time is it?" he asked sheepishly, "Where is everyone?"

"It's about 10pm," she answered, smiling at his quick change of facial expression, "most people got off at the last stop, others went to a hotel. You can stay here and sleep, I just wanted to let you know why were stopped. Sorry to wake you."

"No, it's ok," the boy answered, now wide awake. "I'm hungry, is there anywhere to get something to eat?"

"I was just about to go to the little diner over there," she said, leaning over and pointing out the window, "You're welcome to come."

"Uh, yeah, that'd be great," said the young man, quickly rising out of his seat and hitting his head on the low ceiling above.

"Relax," she said calmly, letting out a soft laugh, "I'll be waiting in front of the cabin. I'm Helen by the way."

"I'm Francis," he said, giving her an awkward half-wave.

As Helen walked away shaking her head while giggling, Francis put on his shoes, pulled his coat out of his bag and quickly walked down the aisle to meet Helen. The two stepped off the train and onto the platform, looked at each other in shock of how cold it was, then put their heads down and trecked about 200 yards through 9 inches of snow to a small building with the name "Dot's Diner" on the door.

The place was nearly empty except for an older couple sitting in the corner, watching them. The lone waitress, a heavy woman who likely looked older than she was, took their order and disappeared into the back. Helen and Francis sat in eery silence, looking everywhere but at each other while they waited for the waitress to reappear.

After their food came, Helen watched as Francis ate quickly, mixing his mashed potatoes and turkey together. He never looked up, never stopped for a breath, and never said a word.

"You don't say much, eh?" Helen asked, intrigued at how handsome he was despite his messed up hair and wrinkled shirt, "Where are you…what are you doing here?

He looked up, swallowed and slumped his shoulders. "Sorry, I'm just so hungry," he said, looking back down at his food, "I just decided to leave home, I needed a new start."

"Where's home," she asked, her smile now gone, her forehead wrinkled in concentration.

"I lived in a small town in Connecticut," he answered, avoiding eye contact, "from a military family. I was born in Toronto, my mom is Canadian, we moved to the United States when I was five. But I've never felt like I had a home because we were always moving."

Helen stayed silent for a few minutes while he finished eating. Without talking Francis paid the bill with change he pulled out of his pocket.

"So what are you going to do in Toronto," she asked him as they put on their coats and hats and walked towards the door.

"I don't know," he replied, the most calm he's acted since he awoke, "I'll…I'll figure it out".

Once outside, as they were showered with snow, Helen stopped walking and reached into her pocket. "Cigarette?"

"Oh…uh, no, uh, I don't smoke," he answered uncomfortably.

Helen let out a loud laugh. "It's ok," she said, smiling wide at Francis' uneasiness, awed by his sheepish charm. "I have a feeling you've never done anything even remotely bad, huh?"

This time he looked at her, then down at the ground and didn't answer. He continued walking towards the train. Helen, sensing his embarrassment, rushed to keep up and quickly changed the subject. Smiling and cocking her head to one side, she put out her hand. "Well Francis, thank you for the wonderful date."

"Y-y-your welcome," he said, in an aww-shucks way, his face turning red.

"Go back to your seat and get some sleep, I'll wake you up when we get to your stop," Helen said, exhaling smoke into the frigid air.

With that, he walked up the stairs and disappeared into the darkness.