Tate found a window seat toward the rear of the nearly empty train, but held no expectation of privacy in the car. His wife used to remark on his knack for drawing to himself unsolicited the most spirited of fellow travelers on such trips as this. Perhaps he invited it subconsciously. He rightly maintained that… More

The white noise of the early morning enveloped the old man as he moved down the street. Starlight etched the tops of the trees in the distance. The cold jet of his breath invigorated him. The cab, waiting a block away consistent with his instructions, chugged a stream of white puffs under the halo of… More

His clothes were pressed, well-tailored, and he remained elegantly put together though he felt the weight of his eight decades, especially this early in the morning. He cleaned his rimless spectacles with a handkerchief, then set them a quarter of the way down his broad nose, this being their natural resting place. Before putting the… More