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the ball goes careening into the darkness after hitting a rock by the child foot as his eyes fly open and he stares in horror and lurches forward hands outstretched as the train approaches and his mother reaches out and grabs him by the collar and he is snapped back from the platform's edge just before the rush of wind blowing scarves and the business men hold their hads and the kindly gentleman on the bench smiles and says hello and the japanese tourist smile and giggle and say hello as the child's mother tells him to be nice to the old homeless man who eats soup because it is cold and he is hungry. the passengers stand aside to clear an aisle so that the people may leave first and the station ejoys its first moment of sanity and the air still echos with the voices of the children who had been playing there moments before and the train pulls away and the old man looks down and sees a small ball rolling at his feet that he picks up and puts in his pocket as he waits for the next train to arrive. |