I saw her walk past me. With a friend. They sat down opposite each other.

I chose not to notice. But out of the corner of my eye I could see her head bobbing and moving.

I glanced for a second. But she wasn’t talking.

But my intuition nudged me. There’s something more happening here. 

I glanced again.  And then I understood.

She’s listening. To everyone. To her friend in front of her. To the people across the aisle on the train. To the people passing through. She was awake and alive and alert to all occurring around her.

She alighted off  the train.  She and her friend walked in front of me.  A crowd of us were taking the bus from Caulfield to Darling.

She sat near me. Or I sat near her.

She listened to her friend show her phone photos. She listened to the two children on her left. She laughed while they played peep-bo while sticking out their tongues! She listened as the girl next to me gave up her seat before I had even thought of it.

She was awake and alive and alert to all occurring around her.

And the joy she gave me was watching someone really listen.