yarnfire

YARNFIRE GATHERING STORIES · 06 / 10

The Station Between Plans

Connection · friends & mixed-age groups

Download booklet PDF ↓Begin reading ↓

Make a little room for each voice.

Four short reader parts. About 2–4 minutes of reading, or 12–20 minutes with discussion and the closing activity. Invite four readers, rotate in pairs, or let one person read it all. Listening and passing count as participating.

Suggested for ages 8+ with a facilitator who has previewed the story. No acting, personal disclosure, or materials are required unless you choose the optional activity. These are original fictional stories, free to read together in this preview collection.

READER 1 · PASS THE STORY

The departure board changed from TEN MINUTES to PLEASE WAIT. An exhausted musician sat beside a student with a heavy bag. Across from them, a parent tried to entertain a child using three coins and a paper cup. Rain filled the tracks with silver lines. Everyone kept looking at the board, as if attention could persuade a train to arrive.

READER 2 · PASS THE STORY

The student took out a book, then discovered that she had already finished it. “Would anyone like this?” she asked. The musician had a crossword with two empty clues. The parent had a notebook full of shopping lists and several blank pages. Soon the bench between them held a book, a puzzle, and a page labeled THINGS TO DO WHILE WAITING.

READER 3 · PASS THE STORY

The child drew a station for snails. The musician added a very slow express service. The student wrote a one-sentence review of the book, carefully avoiding the ending. A traveler nearby watched but did not join in. The parent slid an unused pencil toward the middle of the bench, within reach, and returned to drawing. After a while, the traveler added a tunnel.

READER 4 · PASS THE STORY

When the train finally arrived, they nearly left the little collection behind. The student took a picture of the snail station. The traveler asked to keep the drawing. The musician finished one crossword clue and left the last for later. They boarded different carriages. No one promised to remain friends forever. Still, the delay had become something other than lost time, and the child waved through the glass until the platform disappeared.

AFTER THE LAST LINE

Let the story start a conversation.

  1. What made the invitation low-pressure?
  2. Does a brief connection matter even if you never meet again?
  3. What could we bring to a waiting room or a rainy afternoon besides a screen?

A small thing to do together

Make a tiny shared drawing. Each person may add one mark, a word, or nothing. Give the finished piece a title together.

Keep it optional. Discuss the characters instead of your own life whenever you prefer.