mason & the train station

Mason, the one-year old golden retriever, loved everything about his hometown of Southern Pines, North Carolina.  On the weekends he loved walking downtown with his big brother, Rocky, to take in all of the hustle and bustle of the small, friendly community.  It was during these jaunts downtown that Mason felt an overwhelmingly large amount of pride for this town he called home.  Or maybe  he was just excited that the owners of the deli and the ice cream parlor would always give him a sampling of the day’s speciality… Regardless of whether he was influenced by his heart or his stomach (often times the two were interchangeable), he decided that he would put this love to good use and start the first-ever official Southern Pines Welcoming Committee!

For his first act as President of the Southern Pines Welcoming Committee he decided to visit the train station downtown, which was conveniently located in between the ice cream parlor and the deli…  What better place to share his love for Southern Pines than with the town’s newest arrivals!  So one Friday afternoon, Mason began the short stroll downtown to welcome the train and all of it’s passengers.  Who knew, maybe they would even buy him a treat from the snack car for his warm greeting!  Mason smiled to himself as he walked through town, thinking how great his plan was.  When he arrived at the train station he could barely contain his excitement!  After a few minutes of near silence at the station, Mason heard his tummy growl as he looked across the street to the deli and just over his shoulder to the ice cream parlor.  ”Not now,” he told his stomach, “I have work to do!” 

When nearly an hour passed without a single sign of any train, Mason became a little discouraged.  He walked to the other side of the platform to investigate this strange occurrence and realized, when he saw an Amtrak poster, that he forgot to check the train schedule!  Sure enough, there were no trains arriving at the station until after dark- which simply translated into “after dinner” for Mason.  Having gone nearly three whole hours without a bite to eat, Mason decided that he would return tomorrow.  Surely there would be just as many smiling faces to greet tomorrow!

The Southern Pines Welcoming Committee could certainly wait until tomorrow after breakfast, right?