Strangers On a Train

I love the NYC Subways. I haven't given much thought to it until these past few months.

Sometimes on days, I'll just hop on and spend a few hours in one. Entertainment is never scarce. But recently and particularly, I enjoy playing this new sort of game I find myself enticed by. I named it "strangers on a train." Oddly enough a few months later in english class, I found myself watching a movie with the same title.

It's a sort of thirty minute fun that fills me up with a brief rush of happiness, curiosity, paranoia and silliness. It happens coincidently. I position myself as usual at the end of the long bench, in a near empty cart, before the train heads to Manhattan. I turn on my music and wait patiently. Within a few stops- plop, you sit across from me. Thirty minutes is all we have to tell our stories with our expressions. I steal a quick glance, I look down pretending I don't see you stealing a glance, as well. I sway my head to my music, you tap your feet to yours. You take out a book, I nod or tilt my head in disapproval. I bite my lip, you run your hands through your hair. We move our bodies, we understand, we feel- all without saying a word. We know nothing about each other and yet within half an hour, we become silent companions.

It's your stop.

He gets up and gives me a warm smile. I wave.

Goodbye Stranger.