Chance of a Lifetime: Charlie Holiday, #3

By Bradley Charbonneau

Did you see that?

 

I didn't.

 

But Charlie Holiday did.

 

Are there more than the five senses?

 

What if there were and the key to unlocking them was hidden in undercooked scrambled eggs on a Thai night train?

 

Very unlikely.

 

Wait. Which part?

 

The eggs on the night train?

 

Or unlocking a sixth sense?

 

Charlie Holiday is about to find out.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bradley Charbonneau
• Release date: May 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201610098

Bradley Charbonneau

The following is an excerpt from the foreword to Bradley's upcoming book "Every Single Day" (available Oct. 17, 2017). "He no longer resembled the mopey dejected "former writer" I'd known. He became unstoppable. A machine. It wasn't just about the writing, either. It was a deeper transformation. He became much more confident and bold. He was inspiring and even intimidating in some ways. He wasn't the same person anymore. He took risks and wrote books and closed his business and moved his family halfway across the world. He's done so many things I couldn't imagine "2012 Bradley" doing. That he couldn't imagine actually doing. I barely recognize my old friend these days, and I'm glad.  He realized his dream and became a professional writer. This book is only a small piece of the proof of that." -- John Muldoon, excerpted from the foreword to "Every Single Day"

Book preview

Do you trust me?

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to sleep.

Y ou order breakfast now? For tomorrow morning. Eight o'clock. Menu here, she said all of those words in a sing-song Thai accent and they fell into his brain one by one and he only translated them slowly and finally got to the idea of breakfast tomorrow morning.

How are you? Charlie asked in his best overzealous and chipper friendly voice.

Ooh, very good. How are you? she asked back, quick as a whip.

Never better, he said, happy to have the game back in his court.

Ooh, never better, she repeated. Good one. I like you. What's your name?

Holiday, he said then followed up as he always hoped he one day might be able to do with just the right timing and setting and finally, finally, it was happening. Charlie Holiday.

He laughed out loud at his movie hero's reference and she laughed with him. But the party was soon over as she got right back to business.

Ham, egg, toast? For family? How many? Two babies? Four breakfast?

Ooh, so many questions, so few answers, he said, scratching his chin in mock deep concern. I ask my family.

OK, Charlie, she said with a huge smile that seemed to go from one side of the train car to the other. You find out, you tell me tonight. I need to know.

I'll get right on it, he said, enjoying his relationship with the Thai train steward more than he had many relationships in his life. He flashed her the biggest smile he could muster in return and placed his hands together in front of his chin and gave her a slight bow in a show of local respect.

See you later, she said and immediately continued her song, Breakfast? Order now for tomorrow morning. Eight o'clock. Ham, egg, toast. Order now, please. She pranced down the narrow corridor of the sleeper car as they left the Ayutthaya station en route to Chiang Mai in the north.

The train clicked and clacked down the tracks and what seemed to be mostly Europeans in the Thai train settled in for a long-night's sleep. The mattresses were thin and the lights above bright and horrifically flourescent, but with a healthy dose of fatigue and the calling of that horizontal position, it was going to be an easy transition.

Charlie made sure his kids and wife were settled into their beds and as soon as they were, he felt a strong calling to close his eyes and sink into the lull of the night.

The air conditioning was on at full power and even though it was a humid summer outside, inside the train could keep beers cooled. Except there weren't any beers.

Within seconds of his head hitting the pillow, he felt as if his bed was suspended by a magnetic force and somehow floated and moved together with the rocking of the train. At times, he even gripped the sides of the mattress as if it were a rollercoaster ride and he needed to hold on. But when he did nothing and let his body float is when it worked best and then he too floated with the movements of the train.

Thai voices drowned out and the hum of the steel on steel of the wheels took over. It was a massage, a water bed, and one of those cheesy alarm clock sound machines tuned to the 'exotic night train' setting all in one.

As with the best of transitions into sleep, he wasn't sure when it happened and it came over him like a silk blanket.

Charlie, came the voice so close by that it seemed inside of his ear. But the accent was all wrong. It wasn't his wife.

He felt a slight push on his shoulder. Then came his name again.

Charlie, she said.

He opened his eyes, realized he was on his back, turned his head away from the wall and towards the passageway of the train and saw the breakfast woman at his same level.

He didn't say anything because he had no idea what he should say. Also, he wasn't completely sure it wasn't a dream.

Come with me, she said.

Is it breakfast? was all that he managed.

Orange juice, she said as if that explained it all.

The lights were on, but he wasn't sure if they had ever gone out. There didn't seem to be any windows in the train car, so he couldn't tell if it was still night or morning. For some reason, he started to climb out of his bed and his feet found the narrow ladder.

He peeked through the curtain under him at his youngest son Lu, but he was sound asleep.

Just you, she whispered in his ear and he didn't need to turn towards her to realize that she was right next to him, right behind him.

But, he started, Shouldn't I wake up my family?

No, we just need you, she whispered again and somehow he heard her over the clamoring of the