The train was extremely packed at this time of the evening and every inch counted to make the trip more bearable. The air had been used over and over again making it hard to catch some air in there. The windows, all closed in order to keep the air conditioning working, were covered with a thick, milky layer of human breath and heat.
Exhausted as she was after a very long day at work, she let her thoughts tell her that changing her clothes would not suffice to get rid of all the filth; She would need a change of skin. Given the fact that getting the novel she had been reading for the last three weeks from her purse would be close to a challenge, let alone reading in these circumstances, she contented herself with the somewhat weird pastime of checking the faces of the individuals around her; Shinny, yawning, smiling, thoughtful, sleeping, upset faces all going in the same direction. Not only checking the face features was very pleasant, but also imagining what kind of person that face belonged to.
If you think a second about it, in your daily train ride you can be standing (or sitting if you get lucky) right next to the hardest working man, the sweetest mom, or the typical playful schoolchild. It is not always the case though; your neighbor can also be today’s groper, an abusive husband or simply the next nation-wide known serial killer. To let your mind wander on top of all those people’s heads, giving one life story to each face can be the perfect way of making the clock tick faster in the stuffy public transport.
When she was on her third elaborate fantasy about a guy’s face some inches away from her, presenting a tone and texture indicating he probably suffered from some kind of skin ailment, caused by all the alcohol he had consumed in the last months. Since his wife had left with the children in a one way trip disappearing completely from the man’s life this had been the man’s new routine. As it dictated, it had been entirely his fault (As it always is in the mind of a woman) for having fallen for one of his work colleagues; a younger, whiter, prettier but also much more ambitious woman who had extorted the man for a couple of months exchanging a big chunk of the guy’s monthly paycheck for keeping her lips sealed. When the man could not take it anymore, the younger, whiter, prettier woman had simply revealed every single detail to his wife with e-mails, voice mails, letters, pictures and checks of meals they had spent together but for which he had always paid.
The man had refused to be defeated in such a way, reason why he had decided to make the younger, whiter, prettier woman look older, red and uglier. This had been his first and only victim, until that train ride.
The train suddenly came to a halt after someone pulled the emergency lever, passengers standing stumbled and fell due to the powerful shove and the screams started to echo all through the wagon. Her body was found under a pile of strangers that had fallen like dominoes. People started in a numb and painful way to realize what had happened. All the oppressive weight on her fragile, skinny body just made it quicker and less painful, the puncture had been deep and direct to the heart, a couple of last attempts to grasp some air and it was over.
The guy with the skin ailment just kept his gaze on the body for some more seconds to make sure she was no longer here. Having confirmed this, he just became one with the mass waiting for help which would not take long to arrive from the closest station. He kept thinking that this time had felt much better than when he got rid of the younger, whiter, prettier woman. He had finally discovered his way, his passion.
"this will definitely not be the last time!"-she exclaimed, without even noticing she had said this out loud. Several pairs of staring eyes made her realize she was getting carried away, perhaps it was time to pick another face and start making up the next story from scratch.
Exhausted as she was after a very long day at work, she let her thoughts tell her that changing her clothes would not suffice to get rid of all the filth; She would need a change of skin. Given the fact that getting the novel she had been reading for the last three weeks from her purse would be close to a challenge, let alone reading in these circumstances, she contented herself with the somewhat weird pastime of checking the faces of the individuals around her; Shinny, yawning, smiling, thoughtful, sleeping, upset faces all going in the same direction. Not only checking the face features was very pleasant, but also imagining what kind of person that face belonged to.
If you think a second about it, in your daily train ride you can be standing (or sitting if you get lucky) right next to the hardest working man, the sweetest mom, or the typical playful schoolchild. It is not always the case though; your neighbor can also be today’s groper, an abusive husband or simply the next nation-wide known serial killer. To let your mind wander on top of all those people’s heads, giving one life story to each face can be the perfect way of making the clock tick faster in the stuffy public transport.
When she was on her third elaborate fantasy about a guy’s face some inches away from her, presenting a tone and texture indicating he probably suffered from some kind of skin ailment, caused by all the alcohol he had consumed in the last months. Since his wife had left with the children in a one way trip disappearing completely from the man’s life this had been the man’s new routine. As it dictated, it had been entirely his fault (As it always is in the mind of a woman) for having fallen for one of his work colleagues; a younger, whiter, prettier but also much more ambitious woman who had extorted the man for a couple of months exchanging a big chunk of the guy’s monthly paycheck for keeping her lips sealed. When the man could not take it anymore, the younger, whiter, prettier woman had simply revealed every single detail to his wife with e-mails, voice mails, letters, pictures and checks of meals they had spent together but for which he had always paid.
The man had refused to be defeated in such a way, reason why he had decided to make the younger, whiter, prettier woman look older, red and uglier. This had been his first and only victim, until that train ride.
The train suddenly came to a halt after someone pulled the emergency lever, passengers standing stumbled and fell due to the powerful shove and the screams started to echo all through the wagon. Her body was found under a pile of strangers that had fallen like dominoes. People started in a numb and painful way to realize what had happened. All the oppressive weight on her fragile, skinny body just made it quicker and less painful, the puncture had been deep and direct to the heart, a couple of last attempts to grasp some air and it was over.
The guy with the skin ailment just kept his gaze on the body for some more seconds to make sure she was no longer here. Having confirmed this, he just became one with the mass waiting for help which would not take long to arrive from the closest station. He kept thinking that this time had felt much better than when he got rid of the younger, whiter, prettier woman. He had finally discovered his way, his passion.
"this will definitely not be the last time!"-she exclaimed, without even noticing she had said this out loud. Several pairs of staring eyes made her realize she was getting carried away, perhaps it was time to pick another face and start making up the next story from scratch.
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