Lucas Stensland

Long Island Rail Road

Somebody had a bad Valentine's Day, and now the train from Babylon isn't rolling. I heard a conductor say that someone should get the boys from Hallmark Cards down here to clean up this mess. Trains have been delayed for over an hour. Luckily there's a vendor selling beer on the platform. Trying to wait out a police investigation is a waste of time. I decide to take the Ronkonkoma train and pay the twenty-dollar cab ride home. A woman with dirty blond hair is standing to my left. She reminds me of someone, so I ask her if this is the 7:27. She smiles and tells me it is. We board the train and take our seats, she across the aisle from me. The conductor announces the next stop and wishes everybody "a happy Valentine's Day from the Love Island Rail Road." I shake my head at the bad joke, look over at the dirty-blond woman and groan.

trying to recall
their final afternoon
mountains in the mist