(1) What if all of my stories are like this: Hope, Literary Allusion, Metaphor Relating to Story's Locale, Disappointment??? In no way did I mean this to be the case for my last story and my next, but it is turning out that way...

(2) When I hear a rumble between 8:45 and 9:15 that means just one thing: AMTRAK! It passes by twice a day, but the first is too early in the morning, so it's my only chance to creepily watch people from my bedroom window. (Alas, the other trains, while plentiful, have only rocks, chickens, and trailers as their cargo, not people.) The kicker is, nobody is looking out THEIR window. They're the ones on the train, and that is one of the quintessential stereotypes of a train rider, them looking out the window at everything passing by. They're too busy reading or listening to their ipods.