The Last Train Out of Ada

✿ This article was featured in Issue #1 of the Atlantic Bulletin

They both watched as train 416 pulled away from the platform. And that was that — there would be no school in the morning. That was how it worked in rural Vekllei, a million miles from the automatic trains on endless timetables. Out here, you paced life around the station.

There was not much to say about this, between the two of them. Tzipora looked at Cobian and pulled a froggy smile that tried to express that it was nobody’s fault. Sure — it was Tzipora who had misplaced her purse, and it was also true that it was Tzipora who’d stopped by the orchard to steal a peach, but as to how they’d missed the train? It was simply impossible to say.

“You’re a complete idiot,” Cobian said matter-of-factly, and Tzipora wilted. They watched 416 trundle into the sunset. A picturesque vision of rural utopia — if only they were a part of it.