What Are the Odds?

by E. F. S. Byrne John bumped into a stranger, his head falling onto her shoulder. She shrugged him off. The rattle of carriages filled his ears, swamped his mind, blotted out memories, thoughts, imagination, leaving him with the ceaseless rumble of lives shuttling from one station to the next, squeezing in and out of electronic doorways, minding gaps, diving Read More

Offer Your Seat

Would you offer your seat to someone on a public bus or subway? To whom would you offer it? I have my own criteria, which may not be as chivalrous as people like. First, though, some context. New York City Public Transit Unbelievably, I have been living in New York City for nine years. There was a time when I Read More

Sit

Ellerey wobbled and swayed as he walked. His ears drooped more than usual, he knew, and sweat pooled where his hat met his gray scalp. The big male felt exhausted, but an age-old aphorism kept him on his feet. At least he could rest on the subway. First fifteen minutes of respite until his station, then one last trudge to Read More