At no time from the age of 10 to 14 does Coos know what he's doing - but you wouldn't know that to watch him in action.
A voyage... in someone else's world.
Writer’s note
Coos is caught in a world where trains leave, languages go off the grid, and continents shift. Then he's got this attractive habit of trust - something that comes natural for him. It's the type of thing they always issue a caution about.
From the steps of a moving train, a socially unskilled Dutch boy makes a friend on the platform. The first-time-ever connection stays with him. It means more to him than he can know, that he has joined the battle of his own emotional distance - just by being there one afternoon in Amsterdam, just by meeting a boy he won't forget.
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The beginning of the story…
COOS LIKES to stand on the steps of the train when it pulls out of station. At the age of 10, he isn't supposed to do that. But what his parents don't know won't hurt them.
An older boy is standing on the platform. Coos likes his hat, which is Dutch but it's also not Dutch. Therefore, the boy is interesting.
The boy turns and looks directly at Coos. It's as if the boy knows that Coos is thinking about him. Coos tries to look away but can't. The hat is blue, like Dutch skaters wear.
The boy continues to stare. He pats the left lapel pocket of his coat, then the right. In rapid order, he checks the pockets of his pants. He even takes off his hat and swirls it.
"My passport," he says to Coos. "I think I left it on the train!"
The train is moving slow. But trains gain speed eventually. They leave Centraal Station and soon all of this easy conversation is gone. You are talking to a boy who is not from here and it is springtime in Amsterdam, which is not your favorite time of the year because at 10 you don't yet have a favorite time of the year. The boy seems nice. Frantic, yes, but nice.
Coos speaks English. The boy is probably American. The British don't wear hats like that.
"Where is it?" Coos says.
"Your car." The boy points. "Seat 24."
Coos runs through the open door. It is fairly easy to find seat 24. Nobody's there. But there's no sign of a passport either. Coos checks the pouch on the seatback. His fingers feel something that could be a little book or something. He draws it out quickly.
A passport of the United States of America. Coos has never seen one before. He feels important. He is involved in significant diplomatic things. That boy is counting on him. There is a way in which Coos is counting on that boy for something, too. The boy will make Coos a hero. That's not what he wants but he knows it's going to happen. First he has to get back to the train steps and hope the train has not rolled away from the platform, where the boy will wait forever and never get back to his home. Coos feels sorry for him.
The train is slow. The platform is like a sidewalk cafe, except slightly in motion. You have time for serious conversation with people from foreign lands. But you don't know what to talk about.
"I found it," Coos says.
"Oh man, that is fantastic!"
Coos stretches the official booklet forward and the boy reaches out to receive it. The boy has to jog to keep pace with the train. But it's not that hard. In fact, there is time and distance remaining before Coos and the boy will never see each other again. But what do you say when you don't know somebody - and you want to know them.