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Tue | April 18, 2006

Passengers

On a spring morning the 8:02 train came a minute early. Lara, twenty-six years old and in white sandals, darted up the crumbling concrete stairs to the platform and then onto the train. She settled into a seat-- a blue bench that was coated with grime. She leaned against the window and closed her eyes.

After four minutes she opened them as she felt the train slow down at the next station. She watched the commuters from Oakwood file into the car. A girl with surprised eyes got on, out of breath. She sat down next to Lara. She was not a stranger to her. They had sat together before.

"Was the train early?" she asked.

"Yeah," Lara said.

Lara secretly wanted to talk about work and how unhappy she was. She had recently been passed up for a promotion. It had gone to Vicky, who did nothing but strut around all day and exercise her jaw. It had seemed impossible when Lara first found out, but then it had started to make miserable sense.

"I like your pants," Lara said. The girl wore cropped trousers.

"Thanks," she said.

"Where did you get them?"

"Forever 21."

"Oh," said Lara. "Cool."

She turned back to the window and watched the wasteland mixed with marshland. She thought about how she spent her days moving from one confined place to another. It would never change. Most of all, all the work she had done seemed to have suddenly become worthless.

The previous night Lara had cried from depression. Now she sat pleasantly and quietly. When she walked into the office she would smile at whoever was there. Over the next half hour she would note who came in. She would remember what everyone was wearing so that she could tell who walked by without turning her head. Throughout the day her consolation would be the thought that she would leave. Not just for the day, but perhaps forever. In the afternoon she would close her eyes and take microscopic two-second naps. At five Zack would leave. And then she would watch the clock until six.

The electronic voice announced the train's arrival into New York.

"Have a nice day," Lara said to the girl as they disembarked.

"You too," she said.

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