There was still a light drizzle of rain when Umi opened her eyes, 'Yikes! How long was i asleep?' she thought as she quickly looked at a nearby clock. Whew. There was still about ten minutes left until they reached the train station.

"Er...um hi there!" A small voice peeped from the seat behind her, "My name's Rover!" Umi swirled around to meet the eyes of her new friend.

"Hello there Rover! My name's-"

"Umi." Rover cut her off. Umi stared blankly at this odd gray cat. 'Wait how did he know that?' she thought. Maybe she should just camp out in the snack car for the rest of the ride.

"I read your bag." Rover said shyly. 'Ohhhh right!' thought Umi. So maybe he wasn't that creepy after all!

"Well that was pretty clever of you! So when do you get off?" Asked Umi. She was silently hoping he would say Okinawa. Umi used to think she would like to have a fresh start, but now that she had it, she was feeling a bit lonely. A friend might be a nice thing to have!

"I don't!"

"Don't what?" Umi was slightly confused. Surely this cat had a home!

"Get off. I pretty much stick with this seat til I find somewhere nice to stay. But only for a little while! A day or so, then it's back to the train for me!"

"That must be hard!" Umi decided, "I don't think I could do that."

"Oh, it's not so bad. I'm seeing the world! Meeting new people! Trying new foods!" Rover sighed with content as if he were dreaming of what new exotic foods he could try.

That did sound pretty nice. If you put it that way. Umi wondered how long Rover had been on the road. Whether he had a family or not. 'I bet he gets to tell his friends all sorts of things!' Umi thought, 'Let's hope I can do that too in this new town!'

The train's speakers began to crackle, "NEXT STOP...OKINAWA!"

"That's me!" Umi told Rover as she zipped up her jacket and stared out the window.

The train came to a gradual stop. Passengers started to stand up and putter about impatiently.

"Well it was nice to meet you, Rover! I hope you'll come and visit some time!" Umi kindly shook his paw and started to walk away.

"Oh I'm sure I will!" Rover called out after her. But Umi didn't hear him. Already she was full of amazement as the train doors slid open.