Fireflies (2013)
“They eyed me with frank hostility as I approached; I was aware of how conspicuous I was in my uniform. The train gave a piercing whistle and as it lumbered away, I lingered, watching it disappear along the tracks. An acute, heavy silence descended.
The roof at one end of the narrow ticket hall had caved in. Riveted iron beams hung down from the brickwork and rubble was heaped high on the floor. The other end of the hall was bare but for a solid desk, where a guard sat, his moustache bristly... beneath his peaked cap. He gasped when he saw me, sprang to his feet, and bobbed there for a second, as if unable to decide whether to salute me or not. I extracted my crumpled train ticket from my pocket. As I tried to press it into his hand, he shrank backward.
In broken Japanese, I asked him the way “to the city.” He tugged at his moustache for a second, then beckoned for me to follow him through a pair of splintered wooden doors. He pointed.
The desolate plain stretched for several miles to a heavy ridge of rugged mountains.MoreLess
The roof at one end of the narrow ticket hall had caved in. Riveted iron beams hung down from the brickwork and rubble was heaped high on the floor. The other end of the hall was bare but for a solid desk, where a guard sat, his moustache bristly... beneath his peaked cap. He gasped when he saw me, sprang to his feet, and bobbed there for a second, as if unable to decide whether to salute me or not. I extracted my crumpled train ticket from my pocket. As I tried to press it into his hand, he shrank backward.
In broken Japanese, I asked him the way “to the city.” He tugged at his moustache for a second, then beckoned for me to follow him through a pair of splintered wooden doors. He pointed.
The desolate plain stretched for several miles to a heavy ridge of rugged mountains.MoreLess
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