The boys who saved the day

After a while, drowsiness settled between the aisles of the train cars. Like a blanket, it enveloped the passengers of the Barcelona -Madrid AVE, spectators trapped in that freeze in time. They had been bored for hours, gazing out at the Castilian plateau. Without cell phones, without news from outside, having accepted defeat, they settled down to nap.

They fell asleep, silence, shhhht.

In the void, on the train tracks, they carried water, played music, and shared smiles.

(...)

Suddenly, a torrent of voices broke the half-sleep. It came from the next car. They were young voices, young people humming in French, chants that no one understood.

"How annoying!" someone thought.

He thought to himself, he thought silently, as many others thought.

And someone asked:

–But who are those shouting?

And someone answered:

–They're kids from a French rugby team, who were going to Madrid for a match...

Little by little, the noise grew louder: the boisterous crowd grew, and the roar emerged outside, as the train crew opened the doors and removed the fences surrounding the camp.

With the passengers scattered across the plateau, the rugby boys brought out oval balls and loudspeakers and, like messiahs, spread the sport and joy to the children who joined them. Other men and women did the same. They drew marks on the plain, just as children used to spread their backpacks to simulate goalposts. Those who had previously been trying to nap sat on the edges, ready to enjoy the spectacle. They were excited: for the first time, they were watching rugby live.

The show went on for hours, there were some melee and some rehearsals between imaginary poles, and after a while the inspector said:

–We need hands to distribute water in the wagons.

"Let's go, then, let's share it out!" the rugby boys shouted, still sweating.

And now the boys ran from one car to the other, carrying jugs like the water carriers of the platoon, asking in French:

– Quelqu'un at-il besoin d'eau? (anyone need water?).

And by then, as dusk fell over the plateau, their voices were nothing but the song of angels, and when a boy emerged in a wagon, offering more water, the parish would cheer him:

– Thank you, thank you!

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And already in the deep night, when the light came back on and the conductor ordered everyone to return to their seats and a tugboat pulled the train towards the nearest station, one of those passengers who had put on shorts said to himself:

–Well, look, today I did something I never would have imagined: I played a game of rugby.