Train Chips - Old Barn

Train Chips - Old Barn 

My dad loved trains. He and my mom would take me to see them before I could even walk. It was something they really loved to do together. Sadly she passed away when I was very young, but he and I would still go down to the tracks quite often. He would take me to collect and save these pennies he would call train chips, that would someday take us on a special train, to see her again in Heaven.

For years I remember he used to take me down by the trains and we’d put a penny on the track. We’d go back the next day and look for it. I thought it was like finding a piece of gold. I would have to do a bit of searching, but we always found our pennies. I would pick up the copper-looking, metal chip and study it with wonder.

I remember him telling me how a lot of people wanted to get rid of pennies. He thought differently though. My dad believed they were magic. He believed everyone and everything had the potential to be great. I remember sitting on a park bench with him one day and he said, “You just have to find the right ingredients and qualities to bring out the greatness in anyone or anything.” He was more right than you’ll ever know. He would discover something no one would ever believe was possible.

A young Robert of 27 years, sits at a workbench in the daylight of the barn. Train chips are dumped from an old, Folgers coffee can into a jar over a workbench. Robert holds up the jar of train chips, checks the level and puts a cover on them. He places them on a shelf with other jars of train chips. He records his progress and writes on a four by six index card. Various bottles of mysterious liquids sit on the bench in front of him that read; compassion, love, kindness, empathy, grace, patience, helpfulness, unselfishness, acceptance.

Robert spins to the left in his chair and looks at a wall full of diagrams and notes. He turns back to his workbench and pages through a thick book. He reaches for an eye dropper and grabs the bottle marked love, extracting a small amount of the liquid. He squeezes the liquid from the eye dropper into a flask filled with another liquid. Robert stirs the mixed liquids.

To the right of the workbench is a series of planters positioned under heat lamps. He carefully pulls train chips from a jar and places them strategically into the dirt of the planter. He covers them with more dirt. Using the liquid from the flask, Robert meticulously waters the buried train chips.

Robert organizes his shelves, notes, books and work area and grabs his coat to leave for the day. He stands in the doorway of the barn, staring at the planters, studying their silence. He closes and locks the barn door.

The next day, Robert returns to the barn. The sun had yet to illuminate the barn so only the light of the planters lit the space. Robert rushes to the planters and a look of disbelief fills his face.

He grabs an object from one of the planters and puts his other hand to his mouth with great surprise. Robert brushes off a dirty, twenty-dollar bill. He turns over each shoulder to see if anyone is looking.

My dad knew he had created something amazing. Something miraculous. He knew what he wanted to do and then did what he thought he had to do. He took a chance with his discovery and secretly met with two men who he thought might be able to support his dream of helping others.

Robert sat in the booth of a coffee shop, button-down shirt and khakis nervously staring across the table. Across from him sat two men, dressed in suits. One wore a weathered, serious face and the other an abundance of confidence and slicked-back hair. Robert showed them a train chip and then the dirty, twenty-dollar bill. He handed them the bill along with a counterfeit detector pen to check the validity of the bill. It worked and the men were instantly impressed and interested. The meeting ended with two firm handshakes and an agreement of future partnership.

My dad spent his entire life working a 9-to-5 job as an insurance salesman, trying to figure out the big idea that would get him out of his cubical and allow him to help countless others. His wondrous discovery of the secret formula to turn train chips into money was his ticket out.

My dad knew nothing of greed. He simply wanted to better the lives of others. Unfortunately, not everyone felt the same as he did. I would come to find that the two men had different plans for his discovery. A late evening phone call told my dad that he would be producing money for an organization that was well known for its shady and unethical practices.

Robert sits alone at his workbench with the formula, a stack of money and a jar of train chips. He stared for a long time and pensively thought of the possible ramifications of his cooperation with the two men and the organization they represented. It pained him beyond words.

But how do you take something that is so amazing, so wonderful, and so life-changing and keep it a secret? You can’t. But my father knew he had to. He had every intention of doing good and he couldn’t find it in his heart to take what he had beautifully created and use it for the malevolent and immoral.

Robert sits at the same table and with deep distress and discomfort, motions and explains to the men that he cannot help them. The two men stand and surround him. The weathered man points and the slick-haired man grabs Robert by the shirt, pinning him against the booth. In no uncertain terms, they explained to Robert that he had a small window to change his mind and do what they needed him to do. In as quick a moment, Robert was released and the men excited the coffee shop. Robert remained in shock and fear.

I’ll never forget the fateful day that was to follow. While I was only five, I remember it like it was yesterday. My dad and I returned home to a door that was cracked open. The apartment was ransacked and turned upside-down. He was afraid for us. I know he did what he had to do to keep us safe. After that day, we moved away and never returned. My dad realized the secret was too great and too dangerous for anyone to handle. Sadly, he hid it from the world.

Robert knew what he had to do and made his way to the secluded barn as quickly as possible. Robert slams down a tote on the workbench and quickly gathers the sealed bottles of liquid, arranging them into the tote. He turns to the wall of papers and notes, pulls them down and stacks them together alongside the bottles. He then grabs the multiple stacks of twenty-dollar bills that are neatly rubber-banded and organizes them into the tote with haste. The cover is quickly and aggressively put on and Robert exits the barn.

Robert walks in the darkness, a headlamp lights his way. He struggles to carry the tote and a shovel. His light illuminates a hole that he digs arduously into, as the tote sits patiently to be buried. Robert gets to his knees and lowers the tote into the hole. He stands and wastes no time refilling the hole as quickly as he can. Sweat runs freely down Robert’s dirtied face and hands as he gives one long, last look to the hole of the secret he hides from the world.

Ever since that night we packed up and moved, we never again stopped to watch the trains or search for the treasures we called train chips. Nor did we talk about them. That is, until the day I received the tearful news. My father called and said he needed me to come see him. He was told he had terminal cancer and it had spread vehemently throughout his body. But that was not all. He had something else he had to share with me.

I sat by my father’s bedside and he was holding a box. A sparkle had returned to his eye and he shared with me the story of his amazing findings. He told me of his dream, his discovery, the events surrounding the men and our inevitable move. He could not apologize enough as he tearfully shared the story with me. He spoke of his regret for the lost years he wished he had back with my mom and me as a young boy. I knew immediately he had been holding it deep in his heart for countless years.

He showed me the round, copper piece of metal that we called a train chip and I was taken back to the tracks like it was yesterday. Then he handed me a picture of him, my mom and me when I was just two years old. Tears silently rolled from my eyes. My dad explained to me how I eased his pain from losing my mom, and it helped him to see that I was more important than anything in this world.

I’ll never forget what he told me next. He said, “David, from the moment you were born, your mother and I knew you were going to make this world a better place. I’m proud of the man you’ve become. Please, take the secret of the train chips, help those in need and help others to see their potential and greatness. You’re the best thing to ever happen to us, and I love you.

My dad handed me the box and held my hands tightly, mustering the best smile he could. I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. I looked in his eyes, paused and said, “I will Dad. I promise. And I love you too.”

I was happy to be able to give my dad one last moment of joy before he passed away. I think he finally found that train to Heaven to be with my mom. We spent a day at a nearby train track and watched trains pass. I sat next to my father in his wheelchair as he quietly and joyfully watched the trains pass.

David stands in the woods with a map and a shovel. He looks around then down. He folds and puts the map away. His shovel pierces the ground and he begins digging.

A young mother holds and gently bounces her baby. She focuses her attention to her baby. David walks with a brown backpack. He quietly walks by the mother’s stroller, which is out of her sight and away from her attention. David pulls out a stack of bills, rubber-banded and with a 3 x 5 card attached to it. The card reads, “Hope this helps!”, with a smiley-face next to the words. David secretly places the stack of bills into the mother’s stroller and walks away smiling.

A short while later, the mother comes back to the stroller with her baby and sees the money and card. She is shocked. She pulls it out, looking around the park and no one can be seen nearby. She begins to cry.

David stops and takes off his backpack. He takes out a pen and a small journal, and pages through it. He checks off, young mother. Next on the list are homeless person and church pastor. The list continues; elderly couple, food pantry, veteran, pet rescue. David closes up the journal and puts it back into his backpack. He smiles and continues on his way.