18

18 The train hisses and sighs as you turn things over in your mind. Things catch fire repeatedly, like piles of dead leaves. Each thing is ignited between fear for yourself and fear for your mystery. The mystery binds you and your friend, yet the separation means that you each must survive in your own way.

As day fades, sleep swallows your mind. You stay in place for the night.

Before day breaks, you are illuminated by a flashlight. “Out,” the railman says. “In,” the police woman says, and you are escorted to the police station.

Your mind begins to spin, repeating itself blindly in a dark jail cell. Later, you recount the story in search of what went wrong.
[return to chapter 1]