This is what it comes down to:
A boy, age eleven, heart beating fast with excitement
With a little fear, too, maybe
Standing at the platform, sitting in the train,
Waiting to leave
His parents behind and find a world of his own.
xxx
All adventures, ever-changing
All monsters and pets
All pranks and games and fights
All eternal friendship, love and hate and a thousand things in between
All battles, big or small, to save one's heart from breaking
Or to save the world
Lie past, and lie ahead.
xxx
The train leaves.
Loved ones wave goodbye.
One day, he'll do the same for his own child.