it's 5 pm & I'm sitting at a cocktail table at a train station. I walk to the counter.  the clerk has bleachd-blond hair but the stubble on his chin is dark.  I ask him if the 5:45 westbound is on time.  he says it's ahead of schedule. so ahead of schedule that there no longer is time for my complimentary mini-massage. as I walk back to my table I see my cousin Regina in front of a mirror.  she's removing makeup & crying.  when I return to the table I spread out newspaper clippings my mother sent me.  hidden in the clippings is a twenty dollar bill.

the sound of a real train wakes me.