It’s been fifty years since a train last came through here.
Still, the villagers keep the tracks clear, the rails rust-free, and they replace the wood ties every few years.
They think if they keep the tracks ready, a train will come some day.
“If you put food out on your porch, you get cats,” says the mayor. “So we figure the same for trains, right?”
At night, I like to lie on the tracks and look up at the stars.
As a kid, I heard the whistle, the soft ringing of the rails, the engines…
Lay back and listen.
The Rails
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I really liked this one.
I used to live next to the tracks (not sure if I was on the right or wrong side of them). There was a crossing not far from my house so the trains would come barrelling through at full speed, whistles blaring at all hours of the night. They were loud and it rattled the house, but I got used to it. When I went away to college one of the first things I noticed was how quiet it was at night without the trains running outside my bedroom window. I still love the sound of trains.