dandan.

Try to look out window but it's getting dark. Teen couple walks by. "Bet you couldn't get this view from the highway," she says. Stars in her eyes.

Find seat. A lady across the aisle cranes her head sideways, stretches a leg. "What kind of shoes are those?" she says to the guy wearing them.

"K Swiss." Sounds about forty and like he works in software. For most of the trip he's ignored this lady, probably his mother.

"Ya like 'em?" Thick Midwest accent.

"They're all right." Shuffles his feet. "They're supposed to be hip."

"What?" Her face balls up in a crinkle. Either she doesn't like the shoes, or she doesn't get it.

"Hip."

"What?"

"Hip. HIP. Somebody told me that."

She stares at them a second. "They're hip 'cause someone told ya?" Snickering.

"Yeah, well they said that after I bought 'em." Getting impatient.

Now the woman next to him says, "Cause he's not hip." She has blond hair and has been reading Gangs of New York.

The older woman goes, "Do you ever have trouble with the laces?"

"No," he steams. "What trouble would I have?"

BISTRO CAR CLOSE. THANK YOU. The train rolls into Edmonds.