I noticed that something was missing from all this. That being I didn't see anyone there to greet me like last time. And yet, the only thing that happened was that I heard the clang of a heavy door that opened near me.

"Hey, I've seen your face before!"

I knew that voice, there in the open door was one of the kids that I have seen on the Polar Express. In the light I can see that she still had the same dark hair with pigtails weaved together and held with small pink bows. She even had the same pink pajamas I had seen on the way to the North Pole.

Though in my slippers, I carefully walked across the snow over to her. "It's you again."

"I know, are you here for the train too?"

I looked up and down the row of cars, "What is all this?"

"Did you get a valentine's day card with a ticket and a watch? Apparently that's meant for this train."

"Do you know where you're going?"

She shook her head, "No, but I do want to see where it ends up." Going down the metal steps, she reached out to me, "You wanna come with me?"

Even as a kid, I knew that in a way, this was a major leap of faith. I was being asked to come along on a mysterious train with a girl that I still remember a few months back. Yes, it was very easy to say no and go back to bed. But with all that has happened, I remembered that I wanted answers. And the only way to get it was to board the train. So, I took her hand, and she pulled me up. We boarded the Valentine Express.

No sooner had I walked on that I felt the train start to move. With it starting to gain speed, it was clear that it was already too late to change my mind. But then again, it was nice, at least, to be with a friend that I've made from the previous trip.

"I was picked up not too long ago," she told me, closing the door behind me. "I somewhat remembered that you lived around here so I thought I'd come by to see if you would get on."

"Have you met the train conductor?" I asked.

She shook her head, "Not really, and neither has anyone else."

"Are there anyone we know on the train?"

"So far I haven't met anyone except for you. But now that you're here, let's go take a look around." She took me by the hand and led me towards the back of the train where she opened a latch and the door slid open.

The car we entered was brightly lit where everything about it seemed that it came from another time. Above was a curved white ceiling where small crystal chandeliers illuminated the car, the sides were made of a dark red wood that was carved with utmost care of floral patterns. The rows of chairs and the carpet were draped in a heart-theme pattern. Now and then between the windows were lamps that looked like they used to be lit by oil but now were replaced by electricity. To me, it seemed like how a train used to look at the turn of the century.

My friend guided me down past the rows of seats, some of which sat kids that were no older or younger than we were. Around twelve or thirteen - all of them in their pajamas and talking to one another as we went by.

It was like that for another car or two until we found the dining car where there seemed to be a party going on. The first thing I noticed when we entered was the banner that hung right in the middle of it all that read: WELCOME TO VALENTINE EXPRESS! MAY YOU FIND YOUR TRUE LOVE. On one side was a bar that had rows of food - all heart-shaped with a bowl of red punch. Some of the kids there were eating while others were having fun dancing to the music being played on an old record player in the corner.

After that was a car that had games, a car that was a mini movie theater, a library, an ice cream parlor, and the rest right up to the combose were sleeping cars. Yet, even with all the kids on board the train, neither of us had seen one adult anywhere. This was indeed strange. A train full of kids and there's hardly anyone to look after?

I even pointed this out to my friend, "Where do you think they are?"

"Who?" She asked.

"The grown ups. We've gone up and down this train and never once had we ever come across anyone that isn't a kid. Don't you think that's a little weird?"

"Well so does going to the North Pole. Maybe this must be another magic train, and, you've got to admit, this place is incredible."

"Yes, but at least we know where we were going the last time. But we got on without knowing where in the world we'll end up."

"Maybe," she shrugged, "then again, you have to take a leap of faith sometimes. Who knows, this might be fun..." She paused, "You know, I just realized that I don't think I got what your name was."

It made me realize that I didn't think I had either.

She shook my hand, "Name's Holly."

"Chris."

Holly has an embarrassed laugh, "It's funny how after you spent the whole night with someone that has helped you out that you don't ask for their name."

"To be fair, it was a strange night."

"But exciting. Who knows, maybe we might be up for another one."

"Yes… if only we know what we're getting ourselves into." I reached into my pocket to take a look at my ticket. Thinking that maybe there was something on it that I might have overlooked. On the back I saw some numbers that shined when the light hit it just so. It has the number fourteen.

Before I could say anything, we heard a soft crackling sound. Over at each door at both ends of the car was a speaker that closely resembled my grandparents' radio. A voice spoke out saying: "Attention passengers! We like to thank you for boarding the Valentine Express. This train will be taking several stops - nine of them in fact of some of the most beautiful places on earth. We hope that by the end, our passengers will have their lives be changed in the best ways possible.

"And while this train will take a nine day trip, we would like to inform you not to worry as all of you will return to your homes by morning. Now since everyone here will spend quite some time aboard, we've also provided everyone a bed in the sleeping cards near the back of the train. Everyone has a number assigned to them on the back of their tickets where you'll have a bunk mate with you.

"By the time you all wake up, we will make our first stop in Paris. Once again, we thank you for boarding the Valentine's Express."

Even before our mysterious announcer had finished, there was a sense of excitement in the air. Holly too seemed pleasantly surprised by this.

"We're going to Paris!" Holly smiled as her eyes shined with joy. "I can't believe it! We're going to Paris!" In her excitement, she hugged me unexpectedly. Despite the strange events that have occurred, seeing Holly this happy, squeeing in utter joy made all the confusion so much welcoming. At the time, I didn't know why this was that to have her jumping and hugging me didn't put me off; instead, I did the same thing.

Still, as wonderful as it all was, a yawn escaped from my mouth. Although happy, I felt tired and in need of sleep. Then a thought came to me, "What time is it?" I asked aloud, taking out the pocket watch to see, but when I opened it… I tapped it to see if what it showed was right. "Huh… that's odd."

"What is?"

"Did you also get a watch too?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"What time is it?"

She reached into her night gown to pull out her watch and opened it. "It says 9:17 on mine."

"What? But mine says 10:47. That can't be right? Are the watches broken? Why would we be given watches that don't work?"

Closing up her watch to put it back in her pocket, Holly told me, "I don't know, but maybe we should get to bed, I'm feeling tuckered out already."

"Where would you be sleeping?"

Reaching for her ticket, Holly flipped hers over. It had the number fourteen. "Hey, at least we're bunk mates. Let's go find our room."

So together we searched for our room in the sleeping cars where I noticed some of the kids were looking for theirs as well. It didn't take us too long as we found the door that had in golden letters the number fourteen. Turning the small doorknob, we entered into a small space where there were two slanted walls and a window that showed the passing lights of the towns and villages that zipped by. Holly noticed that there was a latch at the top of each wall and assumed that this is where the beds must be.

I helped her lower the bed as soon as she got it free, and there was not only a bed that had a blanket that resembled a playing card with a single heart in the middle, but there were also small cabinets and drawers as well. Holly climbed up to see what was inside it. In the smaller drawers she found small treats like chocolate and candy hearts. But in the bigger drawers, there were clothes including a pink dress. Pulling it out to see the hearts and flowers that were sewn into it, she held it up closer to here.

"It's just my size," she beamed. "Oh this is beautiful! Is this really for me?"

"Maybe it is if this is meant to be our room."

She smiled as she felt the satan fabric, "It's almost too good to be true, my family would never be able to afford something like this. Even for my birthday."

"Really? How come?"

For once, her affectionate smile dropped, "Well, just that with my parents, money has always been an issue where I'd be lucky to get something. Not that they don't work hard - they do - it's just that times have always been tough. And I can only dream about having something like this." She looked back at the dress and her smile slowly returned, "Like, there's this clothing store downtown where I lived, and in the window there would be these manikins. A whole family of them where they would be changed out now and then with different clothes. And I… I would go by the window to see what the girl would be wearing. So I would get myself between me and the glass where if I stood just so, it would look like I was wearing that dress or that coat."

"How come?"

"So that if I had something like that, I would feel pretty."

That confused me. I remember tilting my head to the side saying innocently, "Why? I thought you already were."

Holly had a look that at the time I didn't fully understand. She didn't seem embarrassed or shocked but… it was as if she was never given a compliment in her life. Her head turned away to cover her mouth. For a moment, she didn't look at me and at first, I thought I said something that made her upset. Finally she turned back, a hand still over her mouth asking, "You… think I'm pretty?"

"I think so. Maybe it's because I'm a boy, but I don't see why you would need a fancy dress to make yourself look pretty when you already are."

Although I didn't see it, I believed that she was smiling. It was something in her eyes that shared the same kind of joy when told of where we were going to.

After another moment of silence, Holly climbed off her bed, "Here," she said, "let me help you get your bed down."

That night I fell asleep, unsure of what was going to happen next.