It was late at night, when she hopped on the first subway to town…
Back in the days, it wasn’t recommended for young girls to travel around by themselves past midnight, in this area. Ok, she wasn’t young anymore, but still. She felt the change as soon as she sat in the coach.
None of the strangers had given a look her way, when the train started rolling towards the city. She didn’t expect glances and smiles, this was New York after all. But she felt like a ghost, holding her purse on her knees.
A ghost…
Station after station, all eyes remained on the cell phones’ screens. Even the people who seemed to be traveling together were glued to their phones. A sad sight, really. Lulled by the soft and repetitive rocking of the subway on the rails, she started imagining what was going on in these strangers’ lives.
Maybe this guy was planning a first tour with his underground band, and she might hear him on the radio sooner than later, not even knowing they had shared a coach once in their lives. Maybe the man in the chic leather shoes was sending a note to his lovely wife, announcing his coming back home, though keeping for himself that he had just gotten fired, for now. She saw successes and failings in the making.
She was probably wrong about them all, but at least she still had an interest for the other human beings in the train. Did it even matter? Probably not.
The subway came to a halt again, and she stood up to exit the wagon. Her high heels clicked on the floor, but her presence remained unnoticed. She stepped out and got swallowed by the heart of the city almost right away.
Maybe that’s all we are… Ghosts.
But her words fell short of an ear to catch them. Which didn’t matter, because she had already disappeared in the downtown maze of pedestrians. Going where? Doing what? No one would ever know…
Cyranny's Cove 
Wow! So good!!
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Thank you Joy 🙂 I was checking some pictures taken during our last trip to New York, last October. When I found this one, it immediately spoke to me ! Glad you enjoyed the story it whispered to me… xx
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🙂💜
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Suddenly these words (someone else’s) come to me ….
I don’t know what to do about you
What if you walk away?
I got a problem I can’t explain
It keeps on twistin’ ’round in my brain
When we meet
It’s got me beat
We’re just like strangers on a train
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I looked up The Sports’ song 🙂 How very fitting words! Thank you for sharing this verse with me, Good Sir. xx
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Wow! That is impressive research! My first meeting at Sydney University about 100 years ago. Have a look at Stevo Cummo on Instagram. It will give you an idea of how truly ancient I am
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Did your research include this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcCA0mLihj0
A personal favourite of mine but, in this case, you’ll have to forgive the Dame Edna intro – which seems ever weirder 45 years later.
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This is excellent
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Thank you, Alice 🙂 I am happy this spoke to you!
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Awesome! Just the right amount of spooky 😊 People in the subways here can’t use their phones much since we can’t get a signal underground with a lot of carriers so they just read or stare straight ahead which doesn’t leave much to the imagination.
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That picture was taken in New York, but the view is pretty much the same in Montréal. Hey, people are so stuck to their screens, that a couple of years back, a girl fell in between wagons because she was texting while walking in (or so she thought). She’s on the Darwin Awards website now!!
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Whoa! That’s distraction!
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LOL At first, I read ”Whoa! That’s a distraction!” as in entertaining event 😛 Thanks for the good laugh!!
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🤣🤣
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