Oh do be quiet!

I was looking forward to our train journey, travelling through Somerset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, passing through pretty towns and interesting cities.

I had my latest book to edit, and if I became dull with that I had other things to read, and a pad to write on, and my tablet too… we had a packed lunch, we could buy tea from the tea-trolley, we had window seats so a lovely view was guaranteed especially as it was a decent day, lots of blue sky and sunshine.

Across the gangway, sitting by the window on the other side was a woman of maybe late sixties, seventy. Well, by the time she left the train two hours later I knew everything about her life, her daughter, the famous bands she had sung with, the school she went to… she just went on and on… and on and on… She wasn’t shouting but she projected her voice so I could hear every detail about her family history, her Austrian and Russian connections, her daughter’s job, catching the train to Gatwick, problems with security guards at Butlin’s in Minehead… She spoke about her knee replacement and how she had progressed from a wheelchair to crutches to a walking stick… She just never stopped…

She was talking to a man who was sitting opposite, and surprisingly he didn’t make an excuse to start work on his computer, he didn’t move to another seat, his ears didn’t explode…

I couldn’t concentrate, I couldn’t block her out, I could just hear her prattling on and on and on…

In the end I fell Asleep, and didn’t edit my story, didn’t see the lovely views, didn’t read… driven into sleep by this woman who just WOULD NOT STOP TALKING!